FluencyAn Education

Workshop

Fluency Interview

Turn and talk to a person next to you about the following:

1. What is fluency?2. Do your students struggle with fluent reading?3. In what ways have you tried to improve their oral reading

fluency?4. Which methods have been most successful?5. Why do you think some methods are more successful than

others?

You will have 5 minutes to interview each other, and self-assess your reading fluency knowledge.

What is fluency?Fluency is a combination of “accuracy,

automaticity, and oral reading prosody, which, taken

together, facilitate the reader’s construction of

meaning… [as] demonstrated during oral reading

through ease of word recognition,

appropriate pacing, phrasing, and

intonation” (Kuhn et al., 2010).

Why does it matter?Fluent readers are able to derive more meaning from their reading

experiences because they are not struggling with word recognition

and decoding. Proficient fluency results in better comprehension!

RepeatedReadings Method

Repeated ReadingDefinition:

A method of monitoring students’ reading fluency in which

appropriate level text is read multiple times to help improve

fluency

• Improves reading rate and accuracy• Leads to improved comprehension

Ten Ways to Enhance the Effectiveness of Repeated Readings

1. Use Daily2. Use as a supplement3. Use materials on appropriate reading level4. Use error correction5. Provide performance feedback6. Reinforce performance7. Monitor progress8. Assess Reading Comprehension9. Include a comprehension strategy10. Individual instruction

Repeated Readings Method in Action

Repeated readings method without comprehension

Repeated Readings Method in Action

Repeated readings method with comprehension

Assisted Reading

Assisted ReadingDefinition:

Assisted reading provides students with a model of fluent

reading through various partnered and whole group reading

activities in which simultaneous, oral reading occurs

• Assists and supports readers with poor fluency• Leads to improved word recognition, rate, and prosody

Assisted Reading Strategies

Discussion of several assisted reading strategies and suggestions for technology integration

Paired Reading

BuddyReading

• Readers are paired with a partner, usually a more proficient reader with a less-proficient reader

• Partners read together, orally and in unison

• Partner pairs can consist of• parent and child• teacher and child• teacher aide or classroom

volunteer and child• older student and child• two children at the same grade

level, where there is some differential in reading proficiency

• Each pair chooses a book or other reading material.

• Students decide how they will orally read the text together (alternate pages, read chorally, read and reread one page at a time in echo fashion, or a combination of methods).

• Pairs to stop reading periodically, talk about what they have read, and ask questions

• Buddies decide which pages in their shared book they will read at home that night, so they continue the reading silently and independently.

• Choral reading exercises can help students to develop oral reading fluency.

• Choral reading can happen in a small group setting, or whole group.

• The students read aloud from the same text in unison with the teacher, who models accurate pronunciation, appropriate reading rate, and prosody (expression)

Choral Reading

Audio-AssistedReading

• Give students books and other reading materials on audiotape or a CD and allow them to listen on their own while reading a print version of the text.

• This method provides students with a fluent model while they are reading the text to themselves.

Suggestions for selecting engaging material for assisted reading

• Choose material that the student can read successfully—poems, song lyrics or picture books.

• Begin with simpler pieces until students are familiar with the procedure.

• Select text that contains words that encourage expressive reading• For example, use material that contains

descriptive words, vivid verbs, onomatopoeia, alliteration, and/or rhyming words.

• Use poems to teach, enrich, or reinforce content across the curriculum. • Poems can be used teach phonics, word

families, and vocabulary as well as math, science, and social studies content.

Reader’sTheatre

Reader’s TheatreDefinition:

Readers reading a script adapted from literature aloud with

appropriate expression and accuracy, enabling the

audience to visualize the action.

• Motivating & engaging• Improves, fluency, expression (prosody), and comprehension

Implementing Reader’s Theatreinto Your Classroom

Reader’s theatre can be implemented into an existing literacyprogram and aligned with current

grade-level objectives in yourclassroom in a five step/ day

process that focuses on differentskills in each step

Monday

• Scripts are introduced in a mini lesson lasting approximately 20–25 minutes to familiarize the students with the script.

• The teacher models fluent reading of the script in a read-aloud

• After the Monday mini-lesson, students choose their script, read it once to themselves, and take it home to read it again.

At this point, they have no assigned role andread the entire script for meaning. This helpsthem decide which role they want

Tuesday

• The goal for Tuesday is for students to choose their roles.

• Students work within their groups to choose roles and use highlighters to highlight their character’s lines

• 5-10 minutes of rehearsal time

Wednesday

• Identify any difficulties with meaning, word recognition, and prosodic features

• Students use peer-coaching strategies to work through issues.

• Teacher works with students who are still struggling

• Students use Wednesdays to work out any individual difficulties through discussions and advice from others

• 5-10 minutes of rehearsal time

Thursday Friday

• Rehearsal before the performance.

• Practice one last time before the big show as a cohesive group while reading accurately and prosodically.

Students have acquired the meaning,

repeated readings have created

automaticity in their reading, and

teacher/peer coaching has prepared them for a fluent performance.

Tips for Implementing Reader’s Theatre

1. Model expressive reading often.2. Introduce Readers Theater using pre-prepared scripts. 3. Teach the basic steps of performance: how to use highlighters to

mark the parts, how to interpret the part and read expressively, how to hold the script, and when to assume various stage positions.

4. Give the students lots of time to prepare. 5. Emphasize practice. Readers should practice their roles in

different ways: individually and in small groups, privately and in front of others.

6. Keep a copy of the marked script at school and send one home for parents to read and practice with their children.

7. Rehearse with the readers, providing needed direction and support regarding their interpretation, pacing, expression, volume, positions, and motions.

8. Begin with short presentations. 9. Perform for an audience as often as possible.

10. Use props sparingly (Cornwell, n.d.)

Putting it all Together!

Resources

https://www.pinterest.com/jasminewirth/fluency/

Visit my fluency Pinterest board where I have compiled fluency activities, resources, and ideas

to assist you in you effective fluency instruction!

http://www.thebestclass.org/rtscripts.html

Visit this site for an extensive list of pre-made reader’s theatre scripts by Dr. Chase Young (the

researcher who helped develop the five-day implementation plan)

https://www.readinga-z.com/fluency/fluency-

practice-passages/

Visit this site for leveled reading passages for repeated and assisted

reading

Helpful Web ReferencesRepeated Reading Method

• http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/timed_repeated_readings

• http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ843645.pdf

Assisted/ Paired Reading

• http://www.adlit.org/strategies/23354/

• http://www.readwritethink.org/professional-development/strategy-guides/using-paired-reading-increase-30952.html

• http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/audio_assisted_reading

• http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/implementing-assisted-reading

Reader’s Theater

• http://www.scholastic.com/librarians/programs/whatisrt.htm

• http://www.scholastic.com/librarians/programs/rt_resources.htm