Choral Reading

Choral Reading
Choral reading is reading aloud in unison with a whole class or group of students.
Choral reading helps build students' fluency, self-confidence, and motivation. Because students
are reading aloud together, students who may ordinarily feel self-conscious or nervous about
reading aloud have built-in support.
Reading Instruction
Aaron is a reading teacher; he wants to help his students, but many of them struggle, especially
when he asks them to read aloud. He's stumped; how can he help them? Reading instruction is
important to all readers, struggling or not. Reading aloud is a key part of reading instruction because
it helps students become better readers, and it allows teachers, like Aaron, to hear issues with
student's reading.
For example, as a student reads aloud, Aaron can hear the type of mistake they make, like
pronouncing the silent 'e' at the end of a word or rushing through and not listening to the word as
they are reading. By hearing these problems, Aaron can then help the student with them.
Let's take a closer look at how Aaron can incorporate audio activities to improve reading in students.
Choral Reading
Several of Aaron's students are too shy to read aloud. They are scared that if they mess something
up, Aaron or another student might laugh at them. What can Aaron do? As we've seen, the students
reading aloud can help Aaron diagnose and address reading problems. But if a student is too scared
to read aloud, Aaron can't use reading aloud as a tool to help. Aaron needs to increase his student's
confidence in reading aloud.
Choral reading involves reading aloud at the same time as other students. It's called choral reading
because, like a chorus of singers, they are all reading together, the same thing at the same time.
Choral reading is a great way to boost student confidence in reading aloud. Because all students are
reading aloud together, the students feel more comfortable reading aloud. After all, they are just one
voice in a crowd.
Besides boosting confidence, choral reading can help support reading in students by letting them
hear what they are seeing. As they read with others, they can hear any mistakes they might make
and learn from them.
Learn what works

Choral reading involves students reading in unison with a fluent reader.
Choral reading is an instructional technique for incorporating fluency training into the
general education setting. Teachers have the freedom of choosing materials which are
part of their reading series to assist students that need additional fluency practice.
These texts could be poetry selections or literature which are of interest to the students.
It might also be text from the content area, or text written by the student. Choral reading
provides a model of fluent reading for students as they listen to sound, stress, duration,
and pitch from the fluent reader. This technique is cost-effective and easy to implement
in any classroom.
Instructional Steps for Choral Reading
1. Students and teachers each have copies of the text. The teacher can use a big
book so all students can see, students can have individual copies of the text, or
students can be placed in pairs sharing the text between them.
2. The teacher begins by reading the text aloud to models fluent reading. Students
follow along in the text; some may have students point to the words as they read.
3. The teacher rereads the text, inviting students to join in as they recognize the
words.
4. Students and the teacher read the text several times (three to five) until students
are able to read the text independently. Successive readings may occur over several
sessions.
Watch and Learn: Choral Reading: Instructional Steps
Benefits of Choral Reading
Choral Reading can be adapted for use at any grade level. In student groupings, more
fluent readers provide support for less fluent readers, allowing less fluent readers to
achieve success, even on difficult passages. Less fluent readers can participate without
embarrassment as they read aloud in a group.
Teaching Suggestions
 Select a text to be read as a group in unison. For example, poems, predictable

books, and ritual text, such as the Pledge of Allegiance, are excellent choices.
 Make sure everyone has access to the text.
 Model the activity by reading the text aloud to students. Follow up with discussion
using expressive intonation.
 Practice the text several times over several days, and perform for visitors when
possible.
Choral Reading Variations
Refrain: One student reads most of the text and the whole group chimes in to read key
segments chorally. Robert Munsch’s Love You Forever is a good example of refrain.
Antiphonal Reading: Divide the class into groups and assign a section of a text to each
group. They read parts alternately.
Call-and-Response: Teacher or student reads a line or two of a text and the rest of the
class responds by repeating the lines.
Cumulative Choral Reading: An individual or small group reads one line or section of a
passage. Another reader or group chimes in for the next line, and a few more are
included for the lines that follow. Before the end of the text is reached, the entire class
should be reading.
Line-a-Child: Each child is given a line to read and reads at the appropriate time.
Unison: The entire class reads together, placing emphasis at predetermined spots
throughout.
Group Performance: Groups are assigned or select text to read aloud to the class. The
group is encouraged to vary pitch, volume, duration, and stress as appropriate to the
text. They may also assign different parts–with partners reading some lines and the
whole group reading other lines. As they practice these variations, they are repeating
their reading several times. Each group then presents its reading to a selected
audience.

Choral Reading

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Choral Reading

Learn what works

Instructional Steps for Choral Reading

Watch and Learn: Choral Reading: Instructional Steps

Benefits of Choral Reading

 Select a text to be read as a group in unison. For example, poems, predictable

 Make sure everyone has access to the text.

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