Reading fluency
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[edit] Definition
- Reading fluency is the ability to read accurately, quickly, effortlessly, and with appropriate expression and meaning (Rasinkski, 2003)
Reading fluency is an important topic when it comes to discussing developing sound readers. This is because fluency allows readers to focus on content, which is the aim of reading instruction. A reader can pay attention to the subtleties of the story when he/she does not have to expend all effort on decoding, thereby increasing overall reading comprehension. In the absence of fluency, readers may find the task to be tedious and difficult. This may lead to not only apathy, but a pattern of reading that does not allow students to find purpose in reading.
My focus on this site for reading fluency will be Oral Reading strategies that will build fluency.
[edit] Oral Reading
Everyone probably has a fond memory of becoming totally engaged in a text, as someone older reads a story. Children love it when they are read books. The child has the opportunity hear words in literature flow. They gain access to texts, information, and vocabulary that otherwise would be unavailable to them . There are many benefits of oral reading. The benefits are it improves comprehension and vocabulary, increases fluency, and it builds motivation.
Preparing for oral reading is very important. The teacher needs to decide on an appropriate time to read and for how long. The atmosphere needs to set the mood for reading. The teacher also needs to decide on what books to read. Some guidlines the teacher could use are 1.) consider their favorites, 2.) books that the students may not read or choose on their own, 3.) books that connect to the classroom or real life, 4.) award winners. The teacher also needs to practice what they will read to the class. In doing this, the teacher can be a model of fluency and to have an expressive voice that makes it enjoyable for the students.
After reading to the class, the students need to have the opportunity to respond to the reading. The teacher can have the students respond in several different ways. One way is oral responses. This can be done the day of the reading or the following day. The important key for this activity is for the teacher to have questions about the reading. Another activity is to have the student do a visual response. This would have the student draw a picture about their favorite happening in the story. When students make their drawings, they always tend to add some extra element that is not found in the reading. The student adds from their own thoughts and prior knowledge. When the student does this, it is showing higher-level thinking. The student can also give a written response to the reading. The teacher can let the student write an open-ended response in a journal or the teacher can give a writing prompt to the class. Another activity that the teacher can have the students do are physical responses. Students can do a tableau of the reading. This activity is very beneficial for the active students.
[edit] Supported Reading
Supported reading is the transitional phase, taking students from modeling to becoming an independent reader. This is the stage where a proficient reader helps support a reader who may be struggling. The main goal is having the reader become independent.
There are several different ways to make support reading part of the classroom. One way is choral reading. This is when a group of students read the same material aloud. Paired reading is another type of support reading. When students do paired reading, they are working with one competent reader an one that is not as strong in reading. The pairing can be a parent and child, teacher and child, older student and child, or two children from the same grade level. If paired reading does not work in your classroom, recorded reading may be the answer. Recorded reading is when the student follows the reading by listening to the book from a tape or CD. Echo reading can be another option for supported reading. This type of reading is when the teacher reads a sentence or phrase and the student echos back what was read and follows the words with a finger. This is to make sure the student is reading and not copying what was read. The last strategy for supported reading is buddy reading. This is when students at about the same reading level are paired up. They then choose a book and decide how they are going to read it orally together.
During the supported reading phase, the reader learns to become a more confident reader. The main goal is for the reader to gradually become more independent.
[edit] Repeated Reading
The students have had the opportunity to model through reading aloud and be given support when they are reading. Now they need the opportunity to practice what they have learned.
Repeated reading is having the student read a passage. When they read the passage the goal is to achieve a target number of correct words per minute. Once the student achieves this, the student will be assigned a new passage that is a little more difficult. The teacher will need to track the student's progress.
There are several forms of repeated reading. Radio reading is similar to round robin reading. What makes it different is that the reader reads the material the night before. This helps the student be familiar with the reading. Another form is say it like the character. This form has the student learn the feelings and emotions of a character. When the student reads the passage, they have to bring out what they have learned about their character. Cooperative repeated reading is used with two students. One student reads the passage several times. The partner helps when needed. Then the partner reads it with the assistance from the other student.
[edit] Personal Experiences
I think a great way to aid in the development of fluent reading is to read a story to a child. Then ask them to read it to you. As they read, ask them if that is the way it would sound on television, a movie, or in real life. Then ask them to say it the way they think it would sound. Reread the book until they can read it and sound very natural. It is important that they are interested in the story or topic! -NMF
Most of the reading done in my classroom is oral reading. My students are in 6th grade. Since I have only 38 minutes in a class, I do most of the reading from novels. I do not have enough copies for all 85 students to have their own copy of the novel to take home. I do majority of the reading because of the time factor. My students do have class time to read the novels on their own.
Reading fluency is also gained by listening to a fluent reader. The listener is learning by example. Fluency can also be gained by reading stores of intrigue, suspense, and mystery. The interest and excitement of the reading helps the reader to speed up the reading process. The reader wants to find out what happens next. The more interest there is in the material being read, the more fluent the reading will become. M. Youngblood
Testimonial: Studies show that in order to increase fluency, students must first be reading text at their independent reading level, that is text with which they need no help to decode and comprehend. Rereading increases fluency. One technique that children enjoy is using Reader's Theatre. While it may sound overwhelmingly like a big, theatrical production, it's not. It is merely the process of reading aloud, given an assigned part. Practice reading and rereading is done beforehand, thus allowing for greater fluency and expression. POetry is another means not to be overlooke for increasing fluency. I will often put poems on an overhead or display form which all students can read. Attention is brought to the flow of the language, punctuation, and more. We can read chorally, in rhthym, or individually. My team of teachers is trying a Poetry Cafe for each quarter of this school year, in which a few designated students select and then eventually perform a poem from memory in front of his/her peers. While celebrating and enjoying poetry, fluency is increased as well. -Heidi M. Savoca
Reading fluency is one those skills that has been overlooked in the past. It can really improve a student's reading ability and self esteem. I would give the students a passage to practice at home and then the next day we would read the story together with each child reading his piece. The students who had trouble with reading showed they could be just as good as the good readers since he/she had practiced the piece. S.Morrisette
Although I am not a teacher as of yet, it seems to me that reading fluency could be aided by giving the child who is struggling, a piece of literature that they are interested in. Oftentimes, it seems that children feel embarrassed if they are forced to read out loud and lack the skills of their classmates. If they were given something familiar (as in a comic book, for example), it seems that they may feel more at ease and may actually surprise their classmates.
Reading fluency is important along with comprehension and accuracy. A child who is not fluent could indicate a learning problem. I had a student who read accurately and understood what he had read but his reading was so slow. He seemed to struggle with each word. He was tested and found to have dyslexia. E. Elrick
While reading fluently can indicate increased comprehension, it should not be the only factor used to assess a person's reading ability/level. When I taught 5th grade, I really noticed a large discrepancy between the reading level the teacher's felt the child was at in the lower grades compared to the reading level I felt the child was at in 5th grade. I soon found out that the lower grades mainly focused on a child's fluency and ability to decode words rather than on combining this with comprehension.
As students move up in grade levels, there is a major shift from learning to read, to reading to learn. This usually begins in 2nd and 3rd grade. However, some teachers don't begin to ask the hard comprehension questions until 4th and 5th grade. Therefore, when the 4th or 5th grade teacher starts to ask questions about text after the child has finished reading, the teacher begins to discover that while the child can read fluently, he cannot understand the text. - Tricia Pearl
It is important for students to practice fluecy in their reading, but often it is practiced in mostly fiction texts. I think students not only need to be taught how to read nonfiction texts more accurately, but also how to read nonfiction texts fluently and to read and use all of the text features. - E. Kilroy
After using the ISEL to test my students in reading I discovered that fluency was a skill that almost all of my students could use work on. I have now begun to teach more about fluency and how to build it. I do read alouds all the time. It models how to read fluently to the students. I also have the students record themself reading using audacity on the computer. The students then go back and listen to themselves read. This works really well! I have had several students reading more fluently after listening to themselves read. Anyone who has access to a computer and audacity in their classroom should try it! - R.U.
It is crucial to focus on reading fluency post elementary. As teachers begin to phase out reading aloud and time in class to read, student fluency levels plateau, instead we need to continue modeling fluent reading for our students using texts that are engaging/challenging for. With apprehension, I decided to read aloud to my high school sophomores--I figured they would scoff at this--instead, they loved it! Luke A.
[edit] Wikipedia link
[edit] References
Wiebe Griffith, Lorraine & Rasinkski, Timothy V. (2004). A focus on fluency: How one teacher incorporated fluency with her reading curriculum. The Reading Teacher, 58,126-137.
Rasinski, Timothy V. (2003). The Fluent Reader. New York: Scholastic Professional Books.
