|
What is
fluency?
According
the National Reading Panel (2000), fluency is the ability to
read text with speed, accuracy and proper expression. Fluent
readers:
-
Recognize words automatically
-
Read
aloud effortlessly and with expression
-
Do not
have to concentrate on decoding
-
Can
focus on comprehension
Why is
fluency important?
“Fluency is important because it provides a bridge between
word recognition and comprehension.” (Reading Links, 2002, p.
9).
Fluency doesn’t ensure comprehension, but comprehension is
difficult without fluency. If a reader is constantly stopping
to decode and figure out unknown words, most likely meaning
will be disrupted and the process of reading becomes long and
laborious.
When students make gains in reading fluency, they are able to
put their energies into comprehension and are able to analyze,
interpret, draw conclusions, and infer meaning from texts.
The 3
Components of Fluency
-
Accuracy: Also
known as automaticity, it refers to the person's ability to
read words in a text.
-
Rate: The speed a
person reads.
-
Prosody: Refers to
stress, intonation, and pauses. Commonly known as "reading
with feeling".
In order to
implement fluency teaching into reading instruction, teachers
need to be aware of the three components of fluency.
Fluency
Instruction
Teachers
need to select and facilitate the best methods of fluency
instruction for their children and their classrooms. The
following four components are needed for good fluency
instruction.
-
Model
fluent reading.
-
Use
guided oral reading instruction.
-
Give
students ways to practice and perform.
-
Implement word study activities to build accuracy.
Here are some examples of activities for each of the
components.
1.
Model fluent reading: Students need to hear and see
what fluent reading looks like.
- Read Aloud - An adult
reads aloud a text to the whole class.
- Books on Tape - Children
can listen to stories on tape as they follow along in
a book.
- Buddy Reading - An upper
grade child reads aloud to a lower grade child.
|
2.
Use guided oral reading instruction: Students need
assisted, guided oral reading instruction with a
teacher, adult, or a peer.
- Choral Reading -
All the students,
lead by the teacher, read aloud together.
- Peer/Paired
Reading- Students are required to work as pairs.
Each student reads their text silently. Then the
students take turns reading the passage three times
orally to the other student. The listening student
acts as the teacher by giving suggestions and
feedback.
- Echo Reading
- echo reading, the teacher reads a sentence,
paragraph, or page aloud and then has the students
chorally reread that segment.
- Tape Assisted
Reading - Children listen and read along with a
tape.
- Buddy Reading
- An upper grade student listens to a lower grade
student read, giving appropriate feedback.
|
3. Practice and Performance -
Children need lots of practice to learn to read
fluently. Performing helps students learn prosody.
- Repeated Reading -
Students choose their own appropriate text or the
teacher assigns a passage. The teacher discusses
reading behaviors such as phrasing, rate, intonation,
etc. The students practice their texts several times
until fluency has developed. Poems and rhymes are
great for repeated reading. There are three ways to
provide repeated reading experiences: direct
instruction (whole class), independent choice, or
assisted method (books on tape).
- Independent
Reading - Children choose text on their
independent level to read silently.
- Reader's
Theater -
Reader’s Theater is an oral performance of a script
usually based on authentic literature. Meaning is
conveyed through expression and intonation—students
need to interpret the script instead of memorizing it,
thus helping with comprehension as well as fluency.
Repeated readings, or rehearsals, helps students build
fluency in a natural and authentic manner.
-
Radio Reading - A form of Reader's Theater,
students, with copies of the text, perform in front of
class.
-
Oral Recitation Lesson - This is a combination
of a Reader’s Theater and Round Robin Reading. In
this strategy, the teacher introduces a new selection
with the focus being on comprehension. The teacher
reads aloud the text and fosters discussion on the
content. After modeling a fluent reading of the text
and teaching the comprehension lesson, the teacher
selects students to act out the text while the rest of
the class reads it from individual copies.
Nursery rhymes, poems, songs, speeches, etc. are great
for performing! |
|
4. Word Study - Children need to build their sight word
knowledge in order to recognize words quickly when
reading.
Using a list of sight words, such as a
Fry's 300 Instant Words and or
Fry's Instant Phrases and Short Sentences.
-
Speed drills
-
Flashcard practice
-
Word Walls
-
Sight Word Bingo
-
Vocabulary Activities
|
Not all
students need fluency instruction!
Fluency
instruction usually begins in the middle of first grade!
When to
Implement Fluency Activities
Here are some ideas on
implementing fluency instruction into your curriculum:
-
Whole group
instruction
-
Reading groups
-
Literacy Centers
-
At Home
-
Read Alouds
-
Silent Reading Time
Literacy Center Ideas:
-
Listening Center -
children can listen to books on tape.
-
Poetry Center -
children copy and read poems.
-
Song Center -
children learn to read and sing songs.
-
Recording Center -
children read a story on tape.
Assessing
Fluency
Repeated Reading Rate:
A child reads a text. Teacher counts how many words were read
correctly in one minute. Child does a few repeated readings
of the same text as the teacher charts the progress of child
on a graph. This tests for rate.
Miscue
Analysis/Running Record: A child is given a passage to
read. Teacher has copy of the same passage. Teacher marks
incorrect reading or omission of words. This tests for
accuracy.
Using either the Repeated
Reading or Miscue Analysis, teachers rate students' overall
fluency using an
Oral
Reading Rubric.
Many schools are now
using DIBELS!
|
