A local history club recorded stories from long-time residents. At first, student editors read each transcript aloud several times, believing that fluent reading would make the main point easy to remember. Their pronunciation improved, but when the transcripts were closed, many students recalled vivid details and forgot why the speaker had mentioned them. The club changed its method. Before reading aloud, students marked the central action in each paragraph and grouped details that explained a cause, a contrast, or a result. After one reading, they turned the page over and stated the relationship in a single sentence. For example, a resident's story about carrying water was not included merely to describe a difficult chore; it explained why neighbors later supported a shared well. In a later transcript, the topic changed from water to public transport, but students again had to connect an early difficulty with a later community decision. The club did not abandon oral reading. It used voice to preserve meaningful groups and pauses, then used recall to test whether those groups formed a coherent explanation. Fluency remained useful, but it was no longer treated as proof of understanding.