I'd rather + past continuous

Hi there,

I was wondering whether 'I'd rather + the past continuous tense' is acceptable to show what we would like someone to do at the moment of speaking.
For instance, the student's reading out his essay, whereas you want him to retell it in his own words, without using his prompt.

'I'd rather/sooner you WERE retelling it than reading it.' (???)

Or just 'I'd rather/sooner you retold it than read it' works fine in terms of grammar?

Thanks for your comments.