Fluency What is Fluency The ability to read

Fluency

What is Fluency? • The ability to read a text _______, and with proper _____ – _____: ease of reading – _____: ability to read without errors

Why is Fluency Important? Research says: Successful readers… o rely primarily on the _____ in the word rather than context or pictures to identify familiar and unfamiliar words. o process virtually every letter. o use ___________ to identify words. o have a reliable _____ for decoding words. o read words for a sufficient number of times for words to become automatic.

Automaticity with Code • Definition: – Reading words with no noticeable cognitive or ______. It is having mastered word recognition skills to the point of overlearning. Fundamental skills are so “______” that they do not require conscious attention. – Skills that are automatic: • shifting gears on a car • writing your name • playing a musical instrument

Students who are automatic with the code… • • Identify ____________ accurately and quickly. Identify familiar spelling ________ to increase decoding efficiency. Apply maximum resources to the difficult task of blending together isolated phonemes to make words. Apply knowledge of the _______ to identify words in isolation and connected text fluently.

What do fluent readers look like? • More fluent readers… Need to direct relatively little effort to the act of reading, allowing them to focus active attention on ____ and ________. • Less fluent readers… Must direct considerable effort to the act of _______, leaving little attention for reflecting on its meaning and message.

How Fluent? • It is not enough for students to simply meet a goal; they must meet the goal by a specified time period so that they can make the necessary progress they need to develop into lifelong readers. – End of 1 st grade: ___ cwpm (correct words per minute) or more – End of 2 nd grade: ____ cwpm or more – End of 3 rd grade: ______ cwpm or more

Instructional Approaches • _________ – Repeated reading procedures – Paired reading • ________ – Silent reading • Accelerated Reader • Drop Everything And Read (D. E. A. R. ) ** Research has not yet confirmed independent silent reading as a means of improving fluency and overall reading achievement

Teaching Fluency: Critical features of Fluency instruction

Effective Fluency Instruction • Three decisions: – Selecting appropriate _________(i. e. , letter sounds students can produce accurately but not fluently). – Scheduling sufficient ______ (multiple opportunities per day). – Systematically increasing the ____ of response.

Passage Reading • Structured activity in which students can read stories or connected text designed to provide practice and application of ______ and ________ skills. Passage reading provides students the ______ to become accurate and fluent.

Levels of Challenge § Independent Level: ____% § Instructional Level: _____% § Frustration Level: _____% or lower For fluency building, materials should be at ________ level or above. (Modified from Hasbrouck, 1998)

How to Determine Appropriate Level Text • Select text that students read with 95% accuracy # of words read correctly total words read % accuracy Example: 100 words read correctly 125 total words read 80% accuracy ________ be appropriate for fluency building

Fluency programs and materials • What you should look for in materials to build fluency: – Are passages within the learner's decoding range? (95% accuracy or higher) – Is there an _______ strategy for teaching students to transition from accuracy to fluency? – Is there _______ opportunity for fluency building? – Is there ______ in words (i. e. , words show up multiple times in different text)? – Are target rates identified?

Oral Reading Fluency Programs • Reading Mastery (focus on fluency checkouts) – Individual oral reading fluency checkouts scheduled every 5 lessons beginning at lessons 108, Level 1. – Target rates and error limits are established systematically – Student performance is graphed every 5 lessons documenting whether students reached reading criterion.

What is PALS for Beginning Readers? • Peer Assisted Learning Strategies • A __________ program to practice beginning reading skills • All students work in _____ several times each week for reading practice activities

Purpose of PALS • To develop important ________ skills for young children • To provide teachers with a practical and effective means of meeting early literacy needs for all students in _____________

PALS • Peer Assisted Learning Strategies – K PALS – 1 st grade PALS – 2 nd-6 th grade PALS – High School Pals • FLUENCY & COMPREHENSION!

Important Features of PALS • • • _______ (Coaches and Readers) ________ activities ________ support More time engaged on task Includes _____ students Opportunities for ______ for all students • Encourages positive ________ • Practical AND effective • Opportunities to _____ student progress

Benefits of PALS • Meets the needs of increasingly diverse population in classrooms • Strengthens general education’s capacity to meet academic needs of broader range of children • Uses empirically validated instructional practices

• Read Naturally (supplemental fluency building program for grades mid 1 -6) – A supplemental tape-recording program that build on three primary practices: model oral reading, repeated readings, and progress monitoring. – Students are place in appropriate level text and practice listening to and reading with tape-recorded passages. – Comprehension questions are included for each passage.