Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching - National University

Reading Practices in Elementary Schools:
Format of Tasks Teachers Assign
Thomas DeVere Wolsey, Diane Lapp, and Bruce Dow
Abstract
Teachers often use groups and various reading modalities (for example, independent reading, guided reading) to
meet the needs of students with divergent reading abilities. The study described in this article explores the
perceptions of teachers as to their grouping practices and reading formats when literacy tasks are assigned. The
survey results indicate that teachers in the sample tend to value small-group oral reading configurations and partner
work over whole-class or homework activities. Some whole-class oral reading is still used by some teachers.
Key Words
Reading format, grouping practices, literacy pedagogy, reading tasks, oral reading, read aloud, silent reading
Introduction
Andreas sat down with a group of his third grade classmates to read an article about bullying in
schools. Yesterday, his teacher read aloud a story on the same topic while the entire class read
along with her. Tomorrow, students will each choose one of four additional, topically related
articles of varying levels of difficulty to read silently in class. But today, the small group of four
students are taking turns reading the article and questioning each other about the author’s main
points. In Andreas’s class, it is not uncommon to see students engaged in a variety of reading
activities, depending on the instructional purpose for the reading, the difficulty of the text, or the
choices they make about what they want to read. His teacher knows that students learn to read
through deliberate instruction and through many opportunities to read. More specifically,
Andreas’s teacher designs instruction that supports students gaining the skills needed to read
complex texts, and also texts they are able to read independently. She believes that for students
to grow as readers, they must have time to read as well as instruction that models the strategies
that are used by proficient readers when reading a wide array of texts.
For some time, teachers have been aware that reading proficiency is individual and
situational. Reading difficulty has historically been described in terms relative to student
capability when reading a given text (Betts, 1946; Treptow, Burns, & McComas, 2007). That is,
some texts are those students can read independently or with relative ease, while others are so
difficult they produce frustration for the reader, and still others are challenging but not
overwhelming. Understanding this array suggests that students need both deliberate instruction
and independent reading time in order to grow as readers. In addition to deliberate instruction,
the value of reading independently has been shown to support literacy development (Anderson,
Wilson, & Fielding, 1988) for all students, including English language learners (e.g., Krashen,
1996) and students who struggle with academic reading tasks (e.g., Fader, 1976; Fisher, 2004),
while also promoting a positive school climate (e.g., Wolsey, Lapp, & Fisher, in press).
Instructional texts that are challenging but not overwhelming are those that require
deliberate instruction in order to support student learning as a result of the reading task.
Instruction often involves teaching informational content, while modeling the process of reading,
and introducing the nuances associated with different types of texts. Because students acquire
reading proficiency in idiosyncratic ways that are overlapping and incremental, a typical
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