Six Minute Solution Stephanie Lemmer

Agenda What is Fluency? Research and Rationale Assessments Selecting fluency partners and instructional groups Introducing the fluency concept Establishing partner behavior Training students in the partnership model Managing materials Student progress and record keeping Comprehension and writing strategies Conclusion : more than six minutes a day.

December Is automaticity the same thing as fluency?

Automaticity is…  Performance of a skill without conscious thought. Necessary for proficiency. Improved through practice.

Automaticity in Reading Frees up cognitive space for comprehension and critical thinking. Leads to enjoyable reading.

Definitions of Fluency “ rate and accuracy in oral reading” (Hasbrouck and Tindal Davidson and Towner, Torgeson, et al., 2001) “accurate reading at a minimal rate with appropriate prosodic features (expression) and deep understanding” (Hudson, Mercer, and Lane, 2000) “ reading smoothly, easily, and quickly.” (Carnine, Silbert, and Kame’enui (1997)

Describe a dysfluent reader?

Dysfluent Readers 1. Students who struggle with underlying skill deficits, such as decoding and word recognition. 2. Students who have adequate skills, but are slow at word and text reading.

Adequate Skills but… sight word vocabulary sound symbol correspondences word meanings decoding processing speed What do these mean for designing instruction?

Strategies for Fluency Phrase-cued Reading Alternate Oral Reading Simultaneous Oral Reading Repeated Readings

Why could these be considered less effective strategies? Reader’s Theatre Choral Reading Round Robin Reading

December Is automaticity the same thing as fluency?

Six Minute Solution Overview (p.1) TimeMaterialsProcedures 1 minuteTimer Folder containing two copies of the same passage, two copies of the fluency graph, on dry erase marker and cloth Get Ready Teacher announces that fluency timing will begin 1 minutePartner 1 Reads 1 minutePartner 2 Gives Feedback 1 minutePartner 2 Reads 1 minutePartner 1 Gives Feedback 1 minuteStudents put away materials

Rereading to Build Fluency “Practice Makes Perfect” Repeated Reading Research (Levy, Nichools,& Kroshen, 1993; Meyer & Felton, 1999; Samuels, 1979)

Partnering Students to Build Fluency One student reads while the other follows along and tracks the words read correctly.

Decoding and Fluency In order to read fluently the reader must be able to decodes the vast majority of words automatically with approximately 95% accuracy. While fluency helps improve decoding it is not sufficient to remediate an underlying decoding problem

Comprehension and Fluency High correlation between reading comprehension and reading fluency Comprehension suffers when a student lacks fluency – (Farstrup & Samuels, 02)

Independent Reading & Fluency Students that are fluent generally find reading to be pleasurable and therefore read more Reading more increases reading related skills, vocabulary, background knowledge, decoding, and fluency skills The rich get richer and the poor get poorer

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

Work Completion &Fluency Think of the amount of reading assigned in upper elementary, middle school, and high school Both students are assigned the same amount of reading The student who reads 180 wpm will complete their work in 2 hours while a student who reads 60 wpm will need six hours to complete the same text.

Reading Achievement and Fluency Practice The National Reading Panel found that Repeated oral reading accompanied by feedback and guidance, resulted in significant reading achievement. I do it, we do it, y’all do it, you do it

Reading Achievement and Fluency Practice We have the tools to change the statistics! (44% of fourth graders were not fluent according to NAEP scores) Fluency improves -

Assessment Give each student a one minute timing on a grade level passage to determine oral fluency rate Give each student a test to determine instructional reading level (91-96%) - San Diego Quick, silent reading test or a passage placement accuracy test

What do you need 1-2 hours Two copies of a grade-level passage Data sheet for the teacher to record correct wpm Timer Materials to determine instructional reading level

Guidelines for Counting WCPM Errors Mispronunciations and dropped endings Omissions Out of sequence (count as two errors) Words supplied by teachers Substitutions with synonyms Repeated errors are counted each time Not Errors Mispronunciations or dropped endings due to dialect or speech problems Repetitions Insertions Self-corrections  Count a word read correctly as correct.  Don't say the correct word after the student has said an incorrect word.  Wait three seconds before supplying a word to a student who is stuck.

Curriculum-Based Norms in Oral Reading Fluency *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), 636–644.

Conducting a One-Minute Timing

Selecting Fluency Partners Partnering appropriately is essential to the success of the program

Selecting Fluency Partners Materials: Fluency data for each student A student ranking sheet Estimated Time 1 hour

Selecting Fluency Partners Fluency rates should be withing words of each other Rank by fluency and by instructional reading level 1 and 2, 3 and 4 would be partners, and so on You try it!

Troubleshooting partners Absenteeism Odd number of students One child who is far below all the others in reading ability Students who read less then 40 cwpm Noise Level

Selecting Instructional grouping Small groups Individual fluency programs Parent-student partnerships Cross-age partnerships

Introducing the Fluency Concept (p. 25) 1.Set aside 30 minutes for lesson 2.Select the Practice Passage (match lowest level of readability) 3.Introduce the concept of fluency page using activity procedure or scripted procedure.

Establishing Partner Behavior Set aside 10 minutes Instruct on appropriate fluency behavior Providing appropriate corrective feedback Noise level Use activity procedure or scripted procedure page 32-33

Training Students in the Partnership Procedure Set aside 30 minutes for 3 days at least! Put students in any partnership Model the fluency partnership using an overhead with a student Model the procedure of marking errors and noting the stopping point Model the error-correction procedure Model how to calculate the cwpm

Let’s talk about management Materials Page covers Zip lock bags Dry erase markers Erasers How to use these materials and put away materials The 6 minutes Monitoring accountability

Student Progress and Record Keeping Check for reading progress at the instructional level not at grade level Check students Fluency Graphs for -Is adequate progress being made? -Do students have the appropriate passage? - Are the partnerships appropriate? - Is it an appropriate time to increase the difficulty level of the practice passage being used by partners?

Let’s Practice Page Example 1: Kevin’s Fluency Graph Example 2: Sarita’s Fluency Graph

How to help a student who is not making progress Check instructional reading level Read the practice passage with the student to make sure that the student is placed appropriately Provide additional practice with the word lists Go a grade level below Check decoding skills Carefully monitor Consider a strategic partnership Give extra untimed practice

Comprehension and Summary Writing Strategies Summarizing Paraphrasing Retelling Describing Expository Sequence Structure Summary Writing Strategies

More than Six Minutes a Day On the first day of the week Some students may need additional fluency practice Certain grouping configurations Incorporating Comprehension and writing

Mondays Distribute new Practice Passage Preview the passage and underline unknown words Teacher supplies unknown words Make sure students are accurate before beginning

Tuesday – Thursday 6 minutes a day More if you want to include comprehension and writing More if needed

Teacher Duties Change partners if necessary Move students up or down in reading levels Monitor student reading and provide corrective feedback Monitor progress

Let’s Try it! TimeMaterialsProcedures 1 minuteTimer Folder containing two copies of the same passage, two copies of the fluency graph, on dry erase marker and cloth Get Ready Teacher announces that fluency timing will begin 1 minutePartner 1 Reads 1 minutePartner 2 Gives Feedback 1 minutePartner 2 Reads 1 minutePartner 1 Gives Feedback 1 minuteStudents put away materials