Modelled reading can help pupils hear how an experienced reader handles dense sentences, technical vocabulary and subject-specific phrasing. It is most useful when it is brief, uses a current curriculum text and gives the pupil an immediate opportunity to reread the same section.

This is not only an English lesson strategy. Science, humanities and other subject teachers can model one difficult section without turning the lesson into a general reading session.

Select the right section

Choose a short extract that is important to the lesson and contains a real fluency demand, such as:

• a sentence with several linked clauses;

• technical terminology that affects meaning;

• an explanation where punctuation guides the logic;

• a short source or argument that pupils must interpret.

Do not model an entire page when only two sentences are likely to cause difficulty. Check the pronunciation and meaning of essential terminology before the pupil reads.

Use an “I read, we read, you read” routine

1. I read. Read one or two sentences aloud while pupils follow the text.

2. We read. Reread together, preserving the same phrase boundaries and pronunciation.

3. You read. Ask the pupil to read the section independently or rehearse with a partner first.

4. Feedback. Correct one important error or draw attention to one meaningful phrase.

5. Reread. Return to the complete sentence so the correction is integrated into fluent reading.

In science, a teacher might model “As the diver goes deeper, / the weight of water above increases, / so the pressure on the diver increases.” A short pause before “so” makes the cause and effect audible. In history, the teacher might model a source where a qualifying clause changes the writer’s position.

Keep correction focused

Correct errors that alter the terminology, logic or meaning. If a pupil mispronounces a technical word, give a clear model and ask them to reread the whole phrase.

Avoid stopping for every slight hesitation. The pupil needs to hold the meaning of the sentence as well as pronounce its parts. If the text contains many unfamiliar words, preview the key terminology or reconsider whether this is the right passage for independent fluency practice.

Preserve age and subject relevance

Use texts the pupil is expected to encounter in their subjects. Avoid childish passages or activities that feel detached from the curriculum.

Make the reason for the routine clear: “This sentence carries the explanation, so listen for how the clauses fit together.” Older pupils are more likely to engage when the reading work has an obvious purpose.

Partner rehearsal should be discreet and purposeful. Do not require public reading without preparation where this is likely to expose a pupil’s difficulty.

Reduce the modelling

As the pupil becomes more secure:

• model only the densest sentence;

• rehearse pronunciation but leave the phrasing to the pupil;

• use a brief cue about punctuation or clauses;

• ask the pupil to prepare independently;

• remove the routine when it is no longer needed.

Fluency support should not become an automatic prelude to every text.

Check meaning afterwards

Ask one subject-relevant question after rereading. For example:

• “What caused the change?”

• “Which phrase limits the claim?”

• “What sequence does this process follow?”

This keeps fluency connected to curriculum understanding rather than performance.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Treating fluency as fast reading.

• Choosing a long extract with no clear teaching focus.

• Asking a pupil to read a difficult passage without preparation.

• Correcting every hesitation and losing the argument of the text.

• Using only English texts when the difficulty appears across subjects.

• Retaining shared reading after the pupil can read independently.

• Assuming that modelled reading replaces targeted decoding intervention.

Evidence and further reading

The Education Endowment Foundation’s secondary fluency classroom guidance describes modelled and guided oral reading with older pupils. Its Improving Literacy in Secondary Schools report places reading within disciplinary literacy across the curriculum.