Rotating Role Reading

In a small reading group, we have been working on deepening our understanding of fiction and nonfiction texts. In honor of Read Across America Day last Thursday, we read an article about Dr. Seuss. Rather than reading the text in a more traditional way, we read the article using Rotating Role Reading.

In Rotating Role Reading, the students began by numbering off 1 through 4. Then I passed out the first section of the text. Person 1 got us started by reading the first section aloud. Then, Person 2 summarized what Person 1 read. Next, Person 3 came up with a heading or title for the section. Finally, Person 4 made a connection between what we read and what he/she already knew, or he/she made a prediction about what we might read about next in the article. After we finished reading and discussing section 1 of the text, we moved on to the next section of the article, and the students switched roles. Our text had enough sections so that each student got to experience each role. 

Rotating Role Reading allowed the students to not only read a text, but it also gave them the opportunity to practice other reading skills such as summarizing, determining main ideas, and making connections and/or predictions. Each student played an important role as we learned about Dr. Seuss’ life and career.