Silent Reading Without Lip Movement pt.2

If you have children in your home or classroom who can read with understanding at or above a first grade level, but either (a) cannot read silently; or (b) cannot read without moving their lips, some ways to address the behavior include:

• explaining to them the behavior desired and how it will help them as a reader;
  
• practicing with some short written statements to show them how it is possible (e.g., play Simon Says with written commands, or give short school directions in written form to be read silently without moving lips (Line up at the door.  Turn in your math sheet now.);
  
• giving them the easiest possible texts to read (preprimer level) for guided reading lessons and directing them to read silently during the lessons; 
  
• doing guided reading in the same text all week, each day for a new purpose, to build their fluency and ability to read silently;
  
• engaging in repeated reading for performance (i.e., read and reread a short text 6-10 times silently without moving lips), then read it aloud in order to record to Youtube using Screencast-o-matic or read it aloud to an audience (e.g., a book buddy, a younger sibling…).
  

Throughout all of these tasks, stop them whenever they slip into the habit of reading aloud or moving their lips.  Do NOT have them engage in physical behaviors like putting their finger on their lips while reading.  Or if you do, get them to stop doing so in a very short period of time, 1-2 weeks, or you'll have yet another distracting behavior to unteach.

Once they read silently without moving lips, teachers or parent-teachers can slowly start increasing text difficulty.  We would anticipate that most students could learn to read silently with comprehension within a month or less at or above the level they currently read with understanding while moving their lips or reading aloud.