Reading To, With AND By The Children Strategies for improving reading fluency: the bridge to comprehension

Recent studies on high frequency words (sight words): “A potential drawback to reading words in isolation is that it may reinforce the notion that reading is simply about identifying individual words. This could lead to word by word reading for some children, which is potentially a problem for some children because the word is not necessarily the carrier of essential meaning. The phrase is the key component. Practicing words in isolation too much could have a negative effect.” (Rasinski, 1990, 1994)

“If kids become readers by reading, then we must have texts that will entice them to pick up a book day after day. This has as much to do with having texts that are accessible in terms of students reading fluency as with having literature that interest them because of the topic.” Joanne Hindley, In the Company of Children

What Really Matters? Kids Need to Read a Lot! Allington says, “In learning to read it is true that reading practice-just reading-is a powerful contributor to the development of accurate, fluent, high-comprehension reading. In fact, if I were to required to select a single aspect of the instructional environment to change, my first choice would be creating a schedule that supported dramatically increased quantities of reading during the school day.”

Developing reading fluency Nuerological impress: reading silently and slightly faster Reader’s Theatre Echo/Choral or shared reading Buddy readers Audio tapes Repeated readings Fluency Development Lesson

Gradual Release of Responsibility (guiding principle for Reading with Meaning, Debbie Diller) Reading To Reading With (Shared reading) Reading By Degree of support determined by Student ability and text level match Focus on meaning/vocabulary always

Scaffolding “Scaffolding is the intentional, strategic support that teachers provide that allows children to complete a task they could not complete independently.” (Vygotsky, 1978) “To determine what kind and how much help is needed for a child to respond correctly to a task and to internalize the skills needed for independent performance.” (Ukrainetz 2006)

Paired/Choral/Echo Reading Research by Keith Topping found that as little as minutes per day of paired reading between a parent and child resulted in a significant improvement in the child’s reading. Reading together in a natural, comfortable manner, looking directly at the text while the student tracks with their finger. Adjust rate to match or “gently” push the student. Make corrections as necessary but do not interrupt reading for any decoding, word work lessons Release support when appropriate. Echo: You read a sentence and the child repeats

Fluency Development Lesson (FDL) A short, predictable passage, such as a poem, is read aloud several times Meaning and vocabulary are discussed A poem can be reread in different voices, like the robotic, disfluent voice Several choral/paired readings are performed Students practice independently Students perform for an audience

Fast Start Parent reads poem to child several times with good expression (words should be tracked with finger by reader as model) Read the poem together, child tracks with finger Discuss meaning and vocabulary Child reads independently Engage in word study choosing 2-4 interesting words

Choral Reading Poetry Song Lyrics Scripts, plays Speeches (MLK) Cheers Chants (must be in print also) Monologues Dialogues Journal entries Letters Other

Tips for Choral Reading Provide visible print for everyone Decide and assign group parts Allow for multiple practices Model and practice speaking dramatically

Steps of a: Fluency Development Lesson Introduce and discuss Model read and read together Coach and rehearse Build skills and strategies Perform and celebrate

Repeated readings Practice leads to improvements in the reading passage, but also of passages the students have not previously seen. As students become more fluent in one passage, their improved reading at both the word and sentence level transfer to new passages. (Samuels 1979) Fluency allows greater focus on comprehension.