fluency
TRANSCRIPT
Fostering Fluency
Why Fluency is Important
Reading is a multifaceted skill, gradually acquired over years of instruction and practice.
The Many Strands that are Woven into Skilled Reading(Scarborough, 2001)
BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE
VOCABULARY KNOWLEDGE LANGUAGE STRUCTURES VERBAL REASONING
LITERACY KNOWLEDGE
PHON. AWARENESS
DECODING (and SPELLING) SIGHT RECOGNITION
SKILLED READING: fluent execution and coordination of word recognition and text comprehension.
LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION
WORD RECOGNITION
increasingly
automatic
increasingly
strategic
Skilled Reading- fluent coordination of
word reading and comprehension
processes
WORKING MEMORY AND AUTOMATICITY
Colorado Reading First
AUTOMATICITY
Is quick, accurate recognition of letters and words Frees cognitive resources to process meaning Is achieved through corrected practice
FLUENT READERS
Read words accurately
Recognize words AUTOMATICALLY, giving attention to comprehension
Group words together quickly, not concentrating on decoding
Read aloud effortlessly, with expression, prosody
9 STEPS TO BUILDING FLUENCY
PIKULSKI & CHARD, 2005
1.Develop phonemic awareness, letter knowledge & phonics foundations
2.Increase vocabulary and oral language skills3.Effectively teach high frequency words4.Teach common word parts and spelling patterns5.Teach/practice decoding skills (including multi-
syllabic)6.Provide students time in appropriate text to
build fluent reading skills7.Use guided oral repeated reading strategies8.Support and encourage wide reading9.Implement screening and progress monitoring
assessments
STRATEGIES TO INCORPORATE TO ENHANCE FLUENCY
Echo ReadingPractice reading previously read text with accuracy, fluency, and expressionTeacher reads text first, students read same text aloud
Cloze ReadingTeacher reads the selection, teacher pauses on meaningful words, students read word chorallyCan modify with boys read, girls read, table groups, etc.
STRATEGIES TO INCORPORATE TO ENHANCE FLUENCY
Phrasing fluency practice Cluster reading into appropriate phrases, rather than reading word-by-word. Appropriate phrasing helps the reader to understand the passage
STRATEGIES TO INCORPORATE TO ENHANCE FLUENCY
PARTNER READING
Intentional pairing of students to practice reading
Examples: low student with medium student, medium with high, lowest readers in triadsProcedures for partner reading
explicit, modeled and practiced (including: seating arrangement; length of reading (sentences, paragraphs, pages, etc) correction procedure (ex: “Stop Check”, “The word is ____”, “Can you figure out that word?”)
REPEATED READINGS
Reading the same text numerous times with the goal being increased rate each time
Whisper readHot and cold timingsGraph and rubric
Whole group chorally or partners
Fluency and Comprehension
Fluent reading allows the reader to attend to the meaning of the text rather than the mechanics of decoding.
Fluent readers construct meaning as they read as evidenced by their phrasing, intonation and expression.
Creating a plan for fluency instruction and practice
Assess studentsIdentify children at riskIdentify specific needs and group children for instruction (i.e. accuracy, automaticity at word level, or rate fluency in connected text)Provide explicit instruction in automaticity and fluency as well as opportunities for practice.Monitor progress
Progress Monitoring Assessment
Purpose: Frequent, timely measures to determine whether
students are learning enough of critical skills.
When: At minimum 3 times per year at critical decision
making points.
Who: Students identified as at risk, some risk.
Relation to Instruction: Indicates students who require
additional assessment, more intensive instruction and/or
intervention.
Why assess fluency?
Oral reading fluency measures are valid: have been found to predict results on high stakes reading comprehension testsBenchmarks for satisfactory reading rates are the same regardless of reading programBenchmarks help teachers identify who is at risk for for below grade level performance
Most effective/less effective practices
Most effective practices include: Alternate and Simultaneous reading Repeated readings Minute trials and ChartingLess effective practices include: Choral reading Round robin reading Readers’ theatre National Reading Panel 2000
Instruction versus Practice
Instruction is: explicit and teacher directed and is provided in one to one or small groups.
Practice is: child directed conducted with a partner or partners at learning centers/stations in school or at home.
Fluency instruction for the struggling reader
Struggling readers need more structured, systematic, explicit emphasis on building both accuracy and fluency. (LETRS, Sopris West)
General principles for instruction
Text used for fluency instruction and practice should be carefully chosen by teacher.Frequent, brief practice on successive days.Charting of accuracy and rate is highly motivating and provides record of progress.Comprehension checks may be part of fluency lessons.
Instruction to develop automaticity of letters and sounds
Letter recognition, naming tasks (Alphabet Arc activities)Letter-sound correspondence (Sound card games and drills)Phonological awareness tasks (Rhyming)Phonemic blending and segmentation tasks (Elkonin box activities, finger tapping)
Instruction to improve automaticity at the word level
Onset-rimes (word sorts, drills)Syllables (Six syllable type review and drills)Irregular, sight words (sand writing, drills)Regular sight words (review phonic pattern, orthographic rule, word card games, drills)
Instruction to improve Fluency in connected text
Research has shown the following techniques to be most effective:
Alternate or simultaneous oral reading with a modelRepeated readingsTimed trials with Charting