Fluency

Katherine Barrood

“The fluent reader sounds good, is easy to listen to, and reads with enough expression to help the listener understand and enjoy the material.” 

- Charles Clark, "Building Fluency: Do It Right and Do It Well!" (1999)

Why has fluency moved onto the center stage?

• Fluency was once the most neglected aspect of reading instruction.

• When a reader does not have to focus on words, she or he can pay attention to meaning.

• Teachers have now come to think about fluency as a need to increase reading rate.

Is fluency the same as reading rate?

• Fluency without comprehension in NOT fluency!

• Fluency is reading words automatically and with expression, or prosody.

• Prosody includes volume, pitch, speed, phrasing and pauses.

• The reader has to attend to the meaning of the text to read with prosody.

How has fluency instruction changed?

Then• Oral recitation• Silent reading• Contrived text• Round-robin reading• Oral reading is

avoided

Now• Model good oral

reading • Provide support for

readers• Time to practice• Performance reading

How can we assess fluency?

• Informal reading inventories such as the DRA (Directed Reading Assessment) and the QRI (Qualitative Reading Inventory).

• One minute reading probe to determine WCPM (words correct per minute)

• NAEP Fluency Scale

• Multidimensional Fluency Scale

Fluency Development Lesson

“Reading fluency has become a speed reading contest and divorced from the essence of reading–comprehension.”

Rasinski & Hamman, Aug/Sept 2010

Why FDL?Fluency Development Lessons offer a scaffold instructional

routine. The routine entails modeled reading, supported reading, repeated readings and is enjoyable. All are desired components of fluency instruction.

Steps:

1. Teacher reads aloud a short poem or passage & spends a minute or two discussing meaning and any unusual or difficult words.

2. Choral reading & find words in the text3. Take turns reading to a partner4. Student performs for an audience5. Illustrate & take home a copy to get

“lucky listener” signatures.

Phrased Text Lesson

“Effective readers, even at their earliest levels, read in five to seven word phrases rather than word by word.”

Richard L. Allington, "What Really Matters for Struggling Readers" (2001)

Why PTL?

Struggling readers often don’t process text in phrased units. This impacts comprehension greatly. PTL gets kids to read in meaningful phrases and word groups.

Steps:

Designed to be taught to individuals or small groups over two days, 10-15 minutes each day.

Day 1- using phrased-cued text:1. teacher reads and rereads text2. read text chorally3. partner read4. Students perform for the group

Day 2- repeat day one using conventionally formatted text

“Students who do not develop reading fluency, regardless of how bright they are, are likely to remain poor readers throughout their lives.”

National Reading Panel, 2000

• Questions?• Resources:

– Recommended text• The Fluent Reader- Rasinski

– Web sites• ReadingRockets.org- for related articles and videos• ReadingResource.net- for free printable downloads and instructional videos