Embedded Files
Fluency is a skill that is made up of multiple different skills. In order for a student to be a "Fluent reader", they have to already have the basic skills of reading down. Fluency is the ability to read accurately at an appropriate rate, while using expression. This means a student would have to have the skills to understand what was being read so that they could read it with expression. They also would need to have vocabulary and word recognition down.
Fluency is often associated with automaticity. This means the reader recognizes the words without having to identify each individual letter. A fluent reader doesn't even notice each individual letter, they just recognize the word.
Implications for Reading:
Fluency is essential for comprehension. A student that is spending too much time decoding a word, will not be able to remember what is happening in the story. This means that decoding the word will take away from the meaning of the word in context. Comprehension requires more than just word definitions, tone, expression and punctuation change the meaning. Students need to understand how to read using those pieces of the passage in order to gain full understanding.
Strategies
Poem/Rhyme Puzzle
Poem/Rhyme Puzzle
The words from a poem or nursery rhyme are split up and students put the poem/rhyme back together. This helps familiarize with what words make up the rhyme/poem.
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Reader's Theater
Reader's Theater
Student's practice acting out the story and develop understanding how meaning can change based on how something is read out loud. Through acting out stories, student not only practice reading but practice deeper meaning of the text. These class performances give students a reason to re-read text too.
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Tape Assisted Reading
Tape Assisted Reading
Students start by following along with their finger looking at text as they listen to the audio. They later read out loud with the audio. Eventually they are able to read independently.
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Paired Reading
Paired Reading
Students either read together or take turns reading, providing corrective feedback and praise as they go. A way to do this may be pairing a high level reader with a low level reader and having the high level reader go first and the low level reader follow along and then read it back to the high level reader.
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Shared Reading
Shared Reading
The teacher reads out loud modeling fluency skills. The teacher pauses at appropriate times for students to make predictions or answer and ask questions. Following the story students can share similar experiences and retell the story before a second read through.
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Interventions
Read Naturally Encore II
Read Naturally Encore II
Tier: 2 & 3
Grades: 1 - 3
Individual
Student's get to choose short non fiction passages to read. Vocab is taught before the story. Students look over the reading and make predictions before reading and underline any unknown words they come across. They read with the recording before reading independently.
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Great Leaps
Great Leaps
Tiers: 1, 2, & 3
Grades: K - 5
Individual
This program uses short stories that hold a student's attention. This is used for tracking word count errors and asking in depth questions.
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Reading A-Z
Reading A-Z
Tiers: 1, 2, & 3
Grades: K - 5
Independent or paired reading
Using the fluency passages and timed reading, this program can improve fluency for students. This program can be used for all of the reading skills and can be tailored to fit the needs of individual students.
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Six Minute Solution
Six Minute Solution
Tiers: 1, 2, & 3
Grades: K- 12
Small or Whole group
This program uses repeated reading and peer assisted learning starting at word level, moving into passage level. Partners read and provide feedback, measuring each other's growth. This is a 6-minute intervention to quickly work on fluency.
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Quick Reads
Quick Reads
Tiers: 2 & 3
Grades: 2 - 6
Small group or Individual
This program uses the 3 reads instructional routine. With each read through, there is a different prompt. It is most effective when implemented for 15 minutes 3-4 times a week.
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Formal Assessments
Gray Oral Reading Test 5th Edition (GORT-5)
Gray Oral Reading Test 5th Edition (GORT-5)
Author: J. Lee Wiederholt & Brian R. Bryant
Age: 6 yrs 0 months - 23 yrs 11 months
Cost: $311
Time: 20 - 30 minutes
This test is made up of 16 reading passages each followed by 5 comprehension questions. The examiner scores the student's accuracy, rate, fluency, and comprehension.
Woodcock Reading Mastery Test 3rd Edition (WRMT-3)
Woodcock Reading Mastery Test 3rd Edition (WRMT-3)
Author: Richard W. Woodcock
Age: 4 yrs 6 months - 79 yrs 11 months
Cost: $350
Time: 15 - 45 minutes
This test can be given as a full reading diagnostic battery test measuring readiness, basic skills, comprehension, and fluency. If just looking to measure fluency, the oral reading fluency subtest can be used on its own. The oral reading fluency subtest measures expression, phrasing and smoothness.
Informal Assessments
Using a checklist when listening to a student read to the teacher can be useful. This checklist was copied from this link.
A checklist developed by Hudson, Lane and Pullen (2005, p. 707) provides a more detailed assessment of a student's prosody:
Student placed vocal emphasis on appropriate words.
Student's voice tone rose and fell at appropriate points in the text.
Student's inflection reflected the punctuation in the text (e.g., voice tone rose near the end of a question).
In narrative text with dialogue, student used appropriate vocal tone to represent characters' mental states, such as excitement, sadness, fear, or confidence.
Student used punctuation to pause appropriately at phrase boundaries.
Student used prepositional phrases to pause appropriately at phrase boundaries.
Student used subject-verb divisions to pause appropriately at phrase boundaries.
Student used conjunctions to pause appropriately at phrase boundaries. (Hasbrouck, 2022).
Another way to assess a student's reading fluency is: Counting the words correct per minute.
Apps
Reading Eggs
Reading Eggs
This app is available for both google and apple products. Fluency is practiced through repeated reading and practice with sight words in this app.
Star Fall
Star Fall
This is a free online program that is also available for google and apple devices. This program offers a ton of teaching resources as well as interactive games for students.
This is designed mostly for K-3.
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Reading Raven
Reading Raven
This interactive reading app helps students make connections between written and spoken language. This is for early reading (ages 3-7). It is available for both google and apple devices.
Teach Your Monster to Read
Teach Your Monster to Read
This app is available for both google and apple devices. Through reading challenges, students have motivation to practice their reading skills and build fluency.
Epic!
Epic!
Teachers can manage their class challenges and assign readings through this free to use program. There are books for readers up to grade 6 available in the library. Students can practice fluency using the audio books that are embedded.
References:
18 fantastic reading fluency activities to build literacy in young readers. We Are Teachers. (2020, July 29). Retrieved May 24, 2022, from https://www.weareteachers.com/reading-fluency-activities/
Audio-assisted reading: Classroom strategy. Reading Rockets. (2022, March 2). Retrieved May 28, 2022, from https://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/audio_assisted_reading
Build reading fluency in six minutes a day. Interactive Reading Fluency Instruction | K-12 | The Six-Minute Solution. (n.d.). Retrieved May 28, 2022, from https://www.voyagersopris.com/literacy/six-minute-solution/overview
Fluency: Instructional guidelines and student activities. Reading Rockets. (2013, November 14). Retrieved May 24, 2022, from https://www.readingrockets.org/article/fluency-instructional-guidelines-and-student-activities
Hasbrouck, J. (2022, February 24). Understanding and assessing fluency. Reading Rockets. Retrieved May 28, 2022, from https://www.readingrockets.org/article/understanding-and-assessing-fluency
Paired (or partner) reading: Classroom strategy. Reading Rockets. (2022, March 2). Retrieved May 28, 2022, from https://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/paired_reading
Read naturally® encore II. Read Naturally, Inc. (2020, March 23). Retrieved May 28, 2022, from https://www.readnaturally.com/product/read-naturally-encore
Reader's Theater: Classroom Strategy. Reading Rockets. (2022, February 28). Retrieved May 28, 2022, from https://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/readers_theater
Research based reading fluency, Math & Language Programs. Great Leaps. (n.d.). Retrieved May 28, 2022, from https://greatleaps.com/
Savvas. (n.d.). QuickReads: Essa strong rated. QuickReads Intervention–Savvas (formerly Pearson K12 Learning). Retrieved May 28, 2022, from https://www.savvas.com/index.cfm?locator=PS15K4
Shared reading: Classroom strategy. Reading Rockets. (2022, March 2). Retrieved May 28, 2022, from https://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/shared_reading
TheScholasticChannel. (2014, September 11). The "Essentials" of developing reading fluency. YouTube. Retrieved May 23, 2022, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM-mi_4usvE
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