april 2007 copyright © 2007 mississippi department of education 1 the importance of fluency and...

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education 1

The Importance of Fluency and Time Spent with Eyes on the Page

Teaching the New Frameworks


Vocabulary

Alphabetic Principle/Phonics

Fluency

Reading

Big Ideas in Beginning Reading

Comprehension

Phonemic Awareness


Mississippi NAEP Results

NAEP 4th Grade Results

30%

15%3%

52%

Below Basic Basic Proficient Advanced


Mississippi NAEP Results

8th Grade Results

40%

41%

18%1%



NAEP Oral Reading Study

94 94

96

97Accuracy



NAEP Oral Reading Study

Basic and Below Proficient Advanced

105 – 129 WPM

80 – 104 WPM130+ WPM


Fluency

Fluency is the ability to read a text quickly, accurately, and with proper expression.

- National Reading Panel


Fluency is the ability to read the vast majority of words in a text quickly, accurately, and with proper expression so that meaning is retained. Ultimately, automatic and silent reading is what matters.

-National Reading Panel and Elfrieda Hiebert

Fluency


Three Components of Fluency

• Accuracy

• Rate

• Prosody--phrasing and expression


Fluency Matters Because:

• Associated with comprehension-fluent readers are more likely to understand what they read

• Associated with vocabulary development--the more you read, the more words you learn

• Which in turn facilitates more comprehension--knowing more words means new texts are easier to comprehend

• Facilitates pleasure, making you more likely to read more--the more you read, the easier it is to read, making it more likely for you to read more


The Matthew Effect

“For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.” (Matthew XXV:29)


Fluency is NOT a Competency

• Nor is fluency an objective/benchmark• Not easily testable• Fluency varies based on type of text,

background knowledge, purpose for reading, etc.

• Fluency is a support--a means by which students become proficient in other areas


MLAF 2006

Third graders should read accurately instructional level materials (texts in which no more than approximately 1 in 10 words are difficult for the reader) with an appropriate reading rate. (A third grader should read between 115 and 140 words per minute by the end of third grade.)


MLAF Fluency Recommendations

• 1st grade 40-60 words per minute

• 2nd grade: 90-100 words per minute

• 3rd grade 100-115 words per minute


Readable Texts

• Students need to regularly read instructional level texts, that is, texts they are actually able to read. Scaffold reading in the core program so all

students can be successful. Provide ample opportunities for reading in

instructional level texts. Provide access to instructional level texts for

independent reading.


1. Model proficient oral reading

Four Ways to Build Reading Fluency



2. Scaffold instruction for students



Scaffolding Instruction for Students May Include

• Echoic Reading

• Choral Reading

• Paired Reading or Partner Reading


The Honeybee Dance

One way honeybees communicate with each other is by dancing.

Honeybees do a special dance after they find nectar in flowers.

Honeybees need nectar to live.

When honeybees find nectar, they fly home to tell the other bees where to find the nectar.


Dogs A bark is a sound a dog makes to communicate something to people or other animals. A bark can be a friendly way to say “hi.” Sometimes dogs bark to tell their owners that they see people they do not know. Sometimes dogs bark to scare other dogs.

Dogs also communicate by moving their bodies. Dogs show their teeth when they are upset. They wag their tails when they are happy. They wag their tails when their owners give them food. Dogs also wag their tails when their owners take them for walks.




3. Provide ample practice opportunities



Repeated Reading

• Reading the same text several times builds fluency

• Poems and short passages• Choral readings• Performances• Reader’s Theater• Reading for pleasure• Read and time--keep charts


A Model for Repeated Reading

• Short, 1-2 minute passages • Students read• Teacher reads aloud to model

fluency• Students read again• Students write briefly to summarize

or answer questions--accountable• 15-20 minutes a day


How Animals Communicate

Animals don’t talk, but they do communicate. When you communicate, you give information to others.Animals have ways of communicating that are different from the ways that people use.

When your friend talks to you, your friend uses language to communicate information. In a language, each word means something.




3. Provide ample practice opportunities

4. Encourage the use of phrasing



Modeling and Explicit Teaching

• Using punctuation and other text features to determine phrasing, prosody

• Teacher modeling of fluent and choppy reading

• Remember--speed matters, but comprehension matters more!


Phrasing and Chunking

One day at the zoo, Pam and her mother bought a red balloon. Pam held onto the balloon by its string. She enjoyed watching it bounce in the wind. As Pam’s mom paid for their hotdogs, Pam’s balloon slipped out of her hand.


Working with Dialogue

Paired Activity for Reading with Expression

Additional copies of this activity may be downloaded from the following site:

www.fcrr.org


Time with Eyes on the Page

• Typical basal programs and literature based programs may minimize time spent reading

• Avoid round-robin reading or whole-class turn taking

• Avoid using teacher read aloud only


Increasing Reading Time

• Read in all subjects• Alternatives to whole-class turn taking

Echoic reading Paired reading Individual reading Choral reading

• Independent Reading• Instructionally efficient planning--avoid

instructional practices that take a long time with little return


Time with “eyes on the page”

• Spend time reading--read as much as possible

• Goal--90 minutes per day of reading--with “eyes on the page”--at all grades

• Goal--read 1,000,000 words by the end of third grade

• Goal--read half a million words a year from 4th grade on


Lesson Planning Activity


Final Thoughts

• Fluency aids the development of vocabulary and comprehension.

• Teachers should pay careful attention to building fluency activities into all lessons.


Think – Pair – Share

april 2007 copyright © 2007 mississippi department of education 1 the importance of fluency and...

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