April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education The Importance of Fluency and Time Spent with Eyes on the Page Teaching the New Frameworks 4 - 8

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education Vocabulary Alphabetic Principle/Phonics Fluency Reading Big Ideas in Beginning Reading Comprehension Phonemic Awareness

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education Mississippi NAEP Results

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education Mississippi NAEP Results

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education NAEP Oral Reading Study

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education NAEP Oral Reading Study 105 – 129 WPM 80 – 104 WPM 130+ WPM

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education Fluency Fluency is the ability to read a text quickly, accurately, and with proper expression. - National Reading Panel

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education 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

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education Three Components of Fluency Accuracy Rate Prosody--phrasing and expression

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education 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

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education 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)

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education Extensive Reading Practice Therein lie the most challenging aspects of teaching older students: they cannot read, so they do not like to read; reading is labored and unsatisfying, so they have little reading experience; and because they have not read much, they are not familiar with the vocabulary, sentence structure, text organization, and concepts of academic “book” language. Over time their comprehension skills decline because they do not read, and they also become poor spellers and poor writers. What usually begins as a core phonological and word recognition deficit, often associated with other language weaknesses, becomes a diffuse, debilitating problem with language—spoken and written.

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education 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

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education MLAF 2006 Fourth 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 fourth grader should read between 115 and 140 words per minute by the end of fourth grade.)

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education MLAF Fluency Recommendations 3rd grade words per minute 5th grade: words per minute 7th grade: words per minute

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education 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.

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education What Students Need to Learn How to decode words in isolation and in connected text. How to automatically recognize words accurately and quickly with little attention or effort. How to increase rate of reading while maintaining accuracy.

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education How Can Teachers Determine If Students Need to Build Reading Fluency? Select six students (e.g., two top, two middle and two low). Ask students to read a selection from the text orally. This will provide an idea of how well each group of students will be able to deal with assigned text.

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education Possible Supports for Students Needing Help with Fluency Independent reading vs. supported reading Building background information prior to reading Explicit instruction in reading for a variety of purposes Use of advanced organizers

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education 1.Model proficient oral reading Four Ways to Build Reading Fluency

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education 1.Model proficient oral reading 2.Scaffold instruction for students Four Ways to Build Reading Fluency

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education Scaffolding Instruction for Students May Include Echoic Reading Choral Reading Paired Reading or Partner Reading

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education Owen & Mzee The Language of Friendship IN A SPECIAL PLACE IN KENYA live two great friends: a yound hippopotamus named Owen, and a 130-year-old giant tortoise named Mzee. No one guessed that they would become friends, or that they would become famous around the world. And no one expected that their friendship would last so long. But the story of Owen and Mzee has always been full of surprises.

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education Choral Reading This is the great Kapiti Plain. All fresh and green from the African rains. A sea of grass for the birds to nest in, And patches of shade for wild creatures to rest in; With acacia trees for giraffes to browse on, And grass for the herdsmen to pasture their cows on. But one year the rains were so very belated, That all of the big wild creatures migrated. Then Ki-pat helped to end that terrible drought- And this story tells how it all came about!

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education Supplemental Texts The Hippopotamus is a well-known animal that most people will recognize instantly. Despite being depicted as a gentle, slow giant in many stories and cartoons, the reality is very different. Hippos are fast, they can outrun the average man, and they are big and bad- tempered if interfered with.

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education Supplemental Texts They have massive, curved canine teeth in both the upper and lower jaw which they use both in defense and attack. Their skin is almost completely hairless but does contain a large number of mucous glands which protect the animal’s hide in the water and prevent it from drying out. They spend most of the day in the water, coming out onto land in the early evening and then through the night to graze.

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education Independent Reading vs. Supported Reading Break the assignment down into smaller, more manageable parts Utilize opportunities for focused practice Read sections of the passage chorally Assign the reading to pairs or cooperative groups

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education Cooperative Group Reading Teacher assigns a section of text to a small group of students. Students read the passage, ask one another clarifying questions and interpret information in their own words. Groups “teach” the material to their peers. Students ask questions and are responsible for taking notes on the information.

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education 1.Model proficient oral reading 2.Scaffold instruction for students 3.Provide ample practice opportunities Four Ways to Build Reading Fluency

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education 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

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education 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 minutes a day

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education 1.Model proficient oral reading 2.Scaffold instruction for students 3.Provide ample practice opportunities 4.Encourage the use of phrasing Four Ways to Build Reading Fluency

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education 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!

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education 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

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education Increasing Reading Time Read in all subjects Alternatives to whole-class turn taking –Echoic reading –Choral reading –Paired reading Independent Reading Instructionally efficient planning--avoid instructional practices that take a long time with little return

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education 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

April 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Department of Education Final Thoughts Fluency aids the development of vocabulary and comprehension. Teachers should pay careful attention to building fluency activities into all lessons.