Ditch it! 3 Literacy Practices That Need to Go

Teaching practices change as we learn more about how children learn to read. Some activities that were once classroom staples are now better understood—and in many cases, there are more effective ways to use that valuable instructional time.

Here are three literacy practices worth rethinking, along with better alternatives.

1. Popcorn and Round Robin Reading

Most of us probably remember round robin reading. One student read aloud while everyone else followed along, waiting for their turn. Popcorn reading added an extra element of suspense because students never knew who would be called on next.

For confident readers, this may not have been a big deal. For struggling readers, however, reading aloud in front of the class could be uncomfortable and stressful.

More importantly, round robin and popcorn reading simply don't provide students with much actual reading practice. While one child reads, everyone else is mostly listening—or worrying about when their turn will come.

What to Do Instead

Use oral-reading routines that allow many students to practice at the same time.

Choral Reading: The teacher first models fluent, expressive reading. Then the teacher and students read the text aloud together. Students get repeated practice without being singled out.

Echo Reading: The teacher reads a sentence or short passage aloud, modeling appropriate phrasing and expression. Students then repeat it while following the words in the text.

Partner Reading: Students take turns reading short sections of text with a partner. The teacher circulates, listens, and provides support as needed. Students can also reread a passage to build accuracy and fluency.

These routines give students much more time actually reading—and that's what helps build fluency.

2. Unmonitored Sustained Silent Reading

Ahhh, the old SSR—Sustained Silent Reading—or DEAR: Drop Everything and Read.

It brings to mind a cozy classroom filled with children curled up with books on beanbag chairs and pillows.

And independent reading can certainly be valuable.

The problem occurs when a large block of classroom time is labeled "silent reading" without enough guidance or monitoring. Some children are truly reading. Others may be flipping through pages, looking at pictures, talking, or attempting books that are far beyond their independent reading ability.

For beginning readers in particular, silent reading should not replace explicit reading instruction or opportunities to practice reading successfully with support.

What to Do Instead

Silent reading doesn't have to disappear. It just needs a purpose.

Help students choose books they can actually read and understand. Observe them as they read. Confer with them occasionally. Ask about what they are reading afterward.

And remember that a student's ability to understand a book may be far ahead of their ability to decode it independently.

Audiobooks and text-to-speech can give students access to richer stories, vocabulary, and information than they may currently be able to read on their own.

Listening does not replace decoding practice. Beginning readers still need explicit instruction and plenty of opportunities to read words themselves.

But listening can build knowledge, vocabulary, comprehension, and a love of books while their reading skills are developing.

3. Rote Spelling Practice Without Sound-to-Print Connections

Say it isn't so—I love rainbow writing!

There is certainly nothing wrong with using colorful markers, crayons, or pencils to make spelling practice more engaging.

The problem comes when students repeatedly copy a word without thinking about the sounds in the word.

Writing:

ship, ship, ship, ship

isn't especially helpful if the student is simply memorizing the visual sequence:

s-h-i-p

Instead, students should learn to listen for the sounds in the word and connect those sounds to letters.

For ship, a student can segment the word into:

/sh/ /ĭ/ /p/

Then connect each sound to its spelling:

sh – i – p

This sound-to-print connection is much more powerful than copying a word repeatedly.

What to Do Instead

Whenever possible, spelling instruction should connect directly to the phonics patterns students are learning.

Instead of choosing unrelated spelling words around a theme—Halloween words, transportation words, or vocabulary from a story—choose words that allow students to practice a common sound-spelling pattern.

For example, when teaching the digraph sh, students might work with words such as:

ship, shop, shed, wish, cash, shut

As students become more advanced, spelling instruction can also include meaningful word parts such as prefixes, suffixes, and roots.

Start With Dictation

Dictation is one of the simplest ways to help students connect sounds and spelling.

The teacher might model:

"Let's spell the word ship. Say ship. What sounds do you hear? /sh/ /ĭ/ /p/. There are three sounds.

What letters spell /sh/? The letters sh.

What letter represents /ĭ/? The letter i.

What letter spells /p/? The letter p.

Now let's blend it: sh-i-p, ship."

Students can then practice listening to words, segmenting the sounds, and writing the matching letters.

Follow-up activities might include word building, word chains, word sorts, dictation, and games that reinforce the same phonics pattern.

The Bottom Line

Good literacy instruction isn't about abandoning everything teachers have done in the past. It's about asking a simple question:

Is there a better way to help students become successful readers and writers?

Sometimes a familiar activity only needs a small adjustment.

Replace round robin reading with routines that give everyone more opportunities to read.

Make independent reading purposeful and supported.

And turn spelling practice into an opportunity for students to connect the sounds they hear with the letters they write.

Those small changes can make literacy instruction much more effective.