FLUENCY FLUENCY Assessing & Teaching this KEY Reading Skill Jan Hasbrouck, Ph.D. Seattle, WA

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

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 forms the bridge between word recognition & comprehension Identifying Words Constructing Meaning FLUENCY

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

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

OSPI Reading Fluency GLEs  Grade 1: words correct per minute  Grade 2: wcpm  Grade 3: wcpm  Grade 4: wcpm  Grade 5: wcpm  Grade 6 & up: wcpm Unpracticed, cold reading by end of the year

Hasbrouck & Tindal Norms for Oral Reading Fluency for Grades 2-5 Upper grades: 150 wcpm/50th percentile

PROVIDING FLUENCY INSTRUCTION or INTERVENTION ON & BEYOND / APPROACHING LEVEL In-class practice opportunities INTERVENTION Explicit, systematic instruction/practice

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

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

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 1.Ebonie 2.Jazmine 3.Bobby 4.Celisse 5.Marsha 6.Krishon 7.Sammy 8.Jamie 9.Orlando 10.Miquel 11. Michael 12. Andrea 13. Ezra 14. Juan 15. Amy 16. Hyun Ha 17. Mari 18. Harry 19. Sarah 20. Ashante’ 21. Quan 22. Kyesha 23. Francisco 24. 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

(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

PROVIDE FLUENCY INSTRUCTION AT A CHALLENGING INSTRUCTIONAL LEVEL  Model provides SCAFFOLDING;  Students must WORK HARD toward achieving goal to see real progress

COMMERCIAL FLUENCY PROGRAMS  Read Naturally  Read Naturally Levels Audio tapes/CD or software editions  Six Minute Solution  Six Minute Solution 160 passages Grades Partner reading

Focus on Fluency Osborn & Lehr FREE!

Assessing Fluency Tim Rasinski 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 ),  DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills).  Edformation  Fuchs, L., Fuchs, D., Hamlett, C., Walz, L., & Germann, G. (1993). Formative evaluation of academic progress: How much growth? School Psychology Review, 22 (1),

 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 ),  Hasbrouck, J.E., Ihnot, C., & Rogers, G. H. (1999). “Read Naturally”: A strategy to increase oral reading fluency. Reading Research & Instruction, 39(1),  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),

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

 Rasinski, T. Assessing Reading Fluency (free booklet)  READ NATURALLY “Reading Fluency Monitor”  Shinn, M. R. (Ed.) (1989). Curriculum-Based Measurement: Assessing Special Children. NY: Guilford. ISBN: X  SOPRIS WEST “6 Minute Solution”

Contact Information: Jan Hasbrouck, Ph.D. Educational Consultant Seattle, WA