Fluency

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.


Phrasing fluency practice Cluster reading into appropriate phrases, rather than reading word-by-word. Appropriate phrasing helps the reader to understand the passage


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

Education

Fluency