Read it Again!

Today I would like to address the importance of rereading.

How many of us have watched a favorite show or movie more than once? You often hear people say "I missed that the first time" or "I love it more every time I watch it" or "every time I see it I see something new". Now how many of you have reread books you love? I'll bet that number goes way down! The exception to this - in my experience- are those that have a deep love for the literary world so much so they have read and reread the classics countless times and the young child...If you have children around or ever did you are familiar with the phrase "read it again" (and again, and again...).

Research has shown that rereading text is a very important component of not only learning to read but becoming a better reader at any age. Let me share with you some hands on research I conducted on my favorite guinea pig - my daughter Angela. She was in 8th grade at the time of my completing my graduate studies in Reading and Literacy. One of my assignments was meant to prove how powerful rereading was as an instructional tool. I choose a text that was too difficult for her to read (it was difficult for me as well-). I had her read a short passage three times with no instruction between readings. The first reading she made 28 mistakes and was in absolute tears. I felt terrible, she was angry, felt humiliated and frustrated and I was not earning any Mother-of-the-Year awards. I asked her to have confidence in the experiment and try a second read and when that didn't work I tried bribery. Ok -so the second read she made 14 mistakes - what!!! Yep - she fairly quickly went into the third read and made 3 mistakes - with no instruction!!!

In my classroom I have post-its on the back cover of their readers and have them put a tally on after each reread. They are so excited to share with me their totals as they turn in their readers each week.

Try it at home and let me know how it works for you!!!