Fluency Instruction CAN Make a Difference! Please note: In order to post this on the web, weve removed all student photos.

Kelowna Vancouver

Phone: (250) Ext Fax: (250) Student Support Services SD#23 (Central Okanagan) Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada Heather Baptie Terry Dobson

Fluency Comprehension Phonics Phonemic Awareness Vocabulary National Reading Panel Five Key Components of Reading

Describe a Non-fluent Reader Reads haltingly Slow, laborious Uncertain about sight words Reads word-by-word Ignores punctuation May make many errors

What is fluency? Fluency is reading aloud with accuracy, appropriate speed and expression. (Huey, 1908)

Fluency is... Multi-dimensional Accuracy Automaticity Prosody

Why is fluency important? Fluency is a bridge that connects decoding to comprehension. (Padak & Rasinski, 2007) Identifying Words Constructing Meaning FLUENCY

Measure Validity Coefficients Oral Recall/Retell.70 Cloze.72 Question Answering.82 Oral Reading Fluency.91 Fuchs, Fuchs, Hosp, & Jenkins, SSR, 2001 Oral Reading Fluency Correlates Highly with Reading Comprehension

Why are fluency and comprehension so highly correlated?

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Students become fluent by reading Just setting aside time for independent silent reading is not sufficient National Reading Panel Report (2000)

In 10 minutes of independent reading… A fluent reader might read 2,000 words A struggling reader might read only 500 words Equal practice time, unequal practice

Why teach fluency ? Fluency instruction improves reading comprehension Transfers to other subject areas – improves overall achievement Fluency instruction can make a difference.

Assessing Fluency

Reading Fluency Assessments Read Naturally Fluency Assessments 3-Minute Reading Assessments – Tim Rasinski (Scholastic) Readinga-z.com Fluency Passages Jerry Johns Fluency Assessments

*WCPM = Words Correct Per Minute Hasbrouck, J., & Tindal, G.A. (2006, April). Oral Reading Fluency Norms: A Valuable Assessment Tool for Reading Teachers. The Reading Teacher, 59(7), Hasbrouck & Tindal Oral Reading Fluency Data

How do you assess fluency? Listen to student read three unrehearsed passages at his/her grade level for one minute, while simultaneously noting prosody. Compare average wcpm score to Hasbrouck- Tindal norms.

Who benefits from fluency instruction? Students scoring 10 words or more below the 50 th percentile on the Hasbrouck & Tindal table

What other information can we gain during a fluency assessment? High frequency words Decoding skills Prosody – punctuation, phrasing, expression Comprehension Confidence

How do you teach fluency? Monitor Progress Repeated Reading Modeled Reading

Principles of integrating fluency into classroom reading program Provide models of fluent reading Structure opportunities for repeated oral reading of text with guidance and feedback Establish criteria and monitor progress Increase time students actually spend reading

More time spent reading... More words read

R EAD N ATURALLY

Step 1 Select a Story

Step 2 Key Words

Step 3 Prediction

Step 4 Cold Timing

Step 5 Graph Score in Blue

Step 6 Step 6 Read Along

Step 7 Practice the Story

Step 8 Answer the Questions

Comprehension Questions All Levels 1.Identifying the main idea 2.Recalling a fact 3.Getting the meaning of a word from context 4.Making connections within the text 5.Connecting the authors and the readers ideas Levels 5.6 and Above 6.Developing vocabulary 7.Attending to details 8.Drawing conclusions 9.Summarizing or finding supporting details

Step 9 Pass the Story

Step 10 Graph Score in Red

Step 11 Write a Retell

There is no comprehension strategy that compensates for difficulty reading words accurately & fluently. (Torgenson, 2003)