FLUENCY Assessing & Teaching this KEY Reading Skill Fluency J. Hasbrouck, Ph.D. FLUENCY Assessing & Teaching this KEY Reading Skill Jan Hasbrouck, Ph.D. Seattle, WA ©2005 JH Consulting

WHAT IS READING FLUENCY? The ability to read accurately quickly with expression

WHO ARE THESE STUDENTS? DESCRIPTORS: Read haltingly Slow, laborious readers Read word—by—word Uncertain of sight words Ignore punctuation

REAL TARGET: Comprehension & Motivation Multiple Causes of Comprehension Problems: Lack of sufficient background knowledge Lack of sufficient language foundation Fails to organize & use information to understand--Does not realize when s/he fails to understand Decoding/fluency skills poor

Comprehension Strategies National Reading Panel (2000) Five Key Instructional Components Phonemic Awareness Phonics Fluency Vocabulary Comprehension Strategies

WHY IS FLUENCY SO IMPORTANT? Comprehension limited by labored, inefficient reading (working memory) Lack of fluency = lack of motivation = fewer words read = smaller vocabulary = limited comprehension (self-perpetuating) “There is no comprehension strategy that compensates for difficulty reading words accurately & fluently.” (Torgeson, 2003)

Bridge to Comprehension Fluency J. Hasbrouck, Ph.D. Bridge to Comprehension Fluency forms the bridge between word recognition & comprehension FLUENCY Constructing Meaning Identifying Words ©2005 JH Consulting

MEASURING READING FLUENCY the number of words in text read correctly per minute (wcpm) or… letters, sounds, words

3 ROLES ASSESSING FLUENCY: #1 FINDING students who may need intervention assistance in reading #2 DIAGNOSING fluency problems #3 MONITORING PROGRESS to determine if reading skills are improving

OSPI Reading Fluency GLEs Grade 1: 50-65+ words correct per minute Grade 2: 90-100+ wcpm Grade 3: 110-120+ wcpm Grade 4: 115-125+ wcpm Grade 5: 125-135+ wcpm Grade 6 & up: 145-155+ wcpm Unpracticed, cold reading by end of the year

Hasbrouck & Tindal Norms for Oral Reading Fluency for Grades 2-5 Fluency J. Hasbrouck, Ph.D. Hasbrouck & Tindal Norms for Oral Reading Fluency for Grades 2-5 Upper grades: 150 wcpm/50th percentile ©2005 JH Consulting

Fluency J. Hasbrouck, Ph.D. PROVIDING FLUENCY INSTRUCTION or INTERVENTION ON & BEYOND / APPROACHING LEVEL In-class practice opportunities INTERVENTION Explicit, systematic instruction/practice ©2005 JH Consulting

Key Research Findings Guided reading practice improves fluency for “typical” students Independent practice (silent reading) NOT sufficient to improve fluency

PASSAGE READING PRACTICES TO IMPROVE FLUENCY Traditional practice: Round robin reading from science, social studies, literature, chapter books Students take turns reading parts of a text aloud

ALTERNATIVES TO ROUND ROBIN Choral Reading Cloze Reading Partner Reading

CHORAL READING Whole class reads ALOUD & TOGETHER from same selection NON-THREATENING practice PROCEDURE: Orally read with students Read at a moderate rate Use pre-correction procedures: “Keep your voice with mine.”

CLOZE READING ASSISTS students in reading difficult material Provides GROUP PRACTICE & MAINTAINS student ATTENTION PROCEDURE: Orally read the material to students Read at a moderate rate Pause & have students say the next word Intentionally delete “meaningful words”

PARTNER READING EASY & EFFECTIVE way to involve students Increases instructional TIME ON TASK PROCEDURE: Assign students partners (#1 is higher performing student who readers first) Designate amount to read to partner When an error is heard, have students use the “Ask, then Tell” procedure: Ask “Can you figure out this word?” Tell “The word is _________.” “Read the sentence again.”

Establishing Partners Avoid pairing highest and lowest skilled readers Consider taking lowest readers into a small group for practice with the teacher

Establishing Partners Ebonie Jazmine Bobby Celisse Marsha Krishon Sammy Jamie Orlando Miquel Michael Andrea Ezra Juan Amy Hyun Ha Mari Harry Sarah Ashante’ Quan Kyesha Francisco Angelica

PARTNER READING VARIATIONS Side by Side- Reading to a Partner Students sit next to each other with one book between them. One partner reads & points to the words; the other partner follows along. Shoulder to Shoulder- Reading to a Partner Students sit facing opposite directions with shoulders aligned. Each partner has a book. Reading WITH a Partner Students sit side to side with one book between them. Both partners read at the same time as partner one touches the words.

INSTRUCTION for INTERVENTION (a) FOLLOWING A MODEL Reading along with a model of accurate reading from an audio tape/CD OR a skillful reader

(c) MONITORING PROGRESS (b) REPEATED READING Students reread passage orally to themselves or a partner — until predetermined goal achieved (30-40 words above baseline) (c) MONITORING PROGRESS Students graph their performance: “Cold” reading first; then again after practice

Fluency J. Hasbrouck, Ph.D. PROVIDE FLUENCY INSTRUCTION AT A CHALLENGING INSTRUCTIONAL LEVEL Model provides SCAFFOLDING; Students must WORK HARD toward achieving goal to see real progress ©2005 JH Consulting

COMMERCIAL FLUENCY PROGRAMS Read Naturally Levels .8- 8.0 Audio tapes/CD or software editions Six Minute Solution 160 passages Grades 1.0-8.0 Partner reading

Focus on Fluency Osborn & Lehr www.prel.org FREE!

Assessing Fluency Tim Rasinski www.prel.org FREE!

REFERENCES Chard, D., Vaughn, S., & Tyler, B.J. (2002). A synthesis of research on effective interventions for building reading fluency with elementary students with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 36(5), 386-406. DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills). http://idea.uoregon.edu/~dibels/ Edformation http://www.edformation.com/ Fuchs, L., Fuchs, D., Hamlett, C., Walz, L., & Germann, G. (1993). Formative evaluation of academic progress: How much growth? School Psychology Review, 22(1), 27-48.

Fuchs, L. S. , Fuchs, D. , Hosp, M. K. , & Jenkins, J. R. (2001) Fuchs, L. S., Fuchs, D., Hosp, M. K., & Jenkins, J. R. (2001). Oral reading fluency as an indicator of reading competence: A theoretical, empirical, and historical analysis. Scientific Studies of Reading, 5(3), 239-256. Hasbrouck, J.E., Ihnot, C., & Rogers, G. H. (1999). “Read Naturally”: A strategy to increase oral reading fluency. Reading Research & Instruction, 39(1), 27-38. Hasbrouck, J.E., Woldbeck, T., Ihnot, C., & Parker, R. I. (1999). One teacher’s use of curriculum-based measurement: A changed opinion. Learning Disabilities: Research & Practice, 14(2), 118-126.

Hasbrouck, J. E. & Tindal, G. (Spring, 1992) Hasbrouck, J. E. & Tindal, G. (Spring, 1992). Curriculum-based oral reading fluency norms for students in grades 2-5. Teaching Exceptional Children, 24(3), 41-44. NATIONAL READING PANEL REPORT (2000) www.nationalreadingpanel.org Osborn, J. & Lehr, F. A Focus on Fluency www.prel.org (free booklet)

Fluency J. Hasbrouck, Ph.D. Rasinski, T. Assessing Reading Fluency www.prel.org (free booklet) READ NATURALLY “Reading Fluency Monitor” www.readnaturally.com 1-800-788-4085 info@readnaturally.com Shinn, M. R. (Ed.) (1989). Curriculum-Based Measurement: Assessing Special Children. NY: Guilford. ISBN: 0-89862231X SOPRIS WEST “6 Minute Solution” www.sopriswest.com 1-800-547-6747 ©2005 JH Consulting

Fluency J. Hasbrouck, Ph.D. Contact Information: Jan Hasbrouck, Ph.D. Educational Consultant Seattle, WA www.jhasbrouck.com ©2005 JH Consulting