The Neglect of Fluency Instruction: What Can We Do

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The Neglect of Fluency InstructionWhat Can We
Do?
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What is Reading Fluency?

• The ability to read
• accurately
• quickly
• with expression

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Automaticity

• On the screen, words are going to flash in rapid
  succession.
• Read them aloud as they appear.
• A new word will follow every one to two seconds.

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Read these words
Conduct
Console
Bow
Contest
Convict
Do
Dove
Invalid
Minute
Object
Polish
Segment
Tear
Record
Read
Wound
Wind
Abuse

• Bass

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Do the Do in G Major

• The Polish maestro raised his baton to conduct
  the annual Tanglewood Music Competition. Record
  key pressed, the video cameraman caught every
  note as the young players dove right into the
  first segment of the first movement. The audience
  could hear each violins minute bow placement,
  even above the bass drum.

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More

• The principal clarinetist suddenly hit a sour
  note. Squeak! A tear in the reed broke the
  momentum, and the conductor shouted, Stop the
  contest. Expunge the record. We need to start
  over!
• The opposing conductor, bandages wound around his
  cerebral wound, shrieked, I object. You cant
  abuse the rules. No note you played is invalid.
  Continue.

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more

• Meanwhile the clarinet player sobbed violently,
  and the flutist had to console her while the
  paramedics removed her, chair and all. A brawl
  erupted and the Polish conductor slugged the
  opposing conductor, now an invalid, thus
  producing a juicy headline the next morning,
  Convict or Acquit the Maestro?
• The music students learned a lifelong lesson
• Do the do in G major

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Comparison

• What was the point of the word calling and
  reading of the passage?
• Just because a student can call words with
  automaticity, he/she has not achieved fluency.
• Fluency is achieved when the reader can adjust
  the understanding of the word, and sometimes the
  pronunciation of the word, to fit the context.

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Read this

• be still when you have nothing to say when
  genuine passion moves you say what youve got to
  say and say it hot
• D.H. Lawrence

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Evaluate the readers comprehension

• Can you be confident that a student understood
  what was read?
• What would help the reader be more fluent in the
  reading?

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Now, read this

• Be still when you have nothing to say when
  genuine passion moves you, say what youve got to
  say, and say it hot!
• D.H. Lawrence

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• National Reading Panel (2000)
• Five Key Instructional Components for Reading
• Phonemic Awareness
• Phonics
• Fluency
• Vocabulary
• Comprehension Strategies

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• WHO ARE THESE STUDENTS?
• DESCRIPTORS
• Read haltingly
• Slow, laborious readers
• Read wordbyword
• Uncertain of sight words
• Ignore punctuation

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• Multiple Causes of Comprehension Problems that
  are Widely Recognized
• Lack of sufficient background knowledge
• Lack of sufficient language foundation
• Fails to organize and use information to
  understand--Does not realize when s/he
  fails to understand
• Decoding skills poor

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But.

• Did you know that a lack of fluency leads to poor
  comprehension?
• Did you know that the higher the grade level, the
  lower the emphasis on fluency?

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Bridge to Comprehension

• Fluency forms the bridge between
  word recognition and comprehension

FLUENCY
Constructing Meaning
Identifying Words
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• WHY IS FLUENCY SO IMPORTANT?
• Comprehension limited by labored, inefficient
  reading (working memory)
• Lack of fluency lack of motivation fewer
  words read smaller vocabulary limited
  comprehension
  (self-perpetuating)
• There is no comprehension strategy that
  compensates for difficulty reading words
  accurately and fluently. (Torgeson, 2003)

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Measuring Reading Fluency
the number of words in text read correctly per
minute (wcpm)
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ROLES
FOR FLUENCY ASSESSMENTS
1 FINDING students who may need intervention
assistance in reading 2 DIAGNOSING fluency
problems 3 PROGRESS MONITORING
to determine if skills are improving
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• DIBELS
  Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy
  Skills (K-2nd)

• Roland Good Ruth Kaminski University of Oregon
• Designed to assess 3 of 5 Big Ideas
  of early literacy
• Phonological Awareness
• Alphabetic Principle
• Fluency with Connected Text

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OTHER STANDARDIZED BENCHMARK SCREENING ASSESSMENTS

• READING FLUENCY MONITOR
• Read Naturally
• www.readnaturally.com
• AIMS-WEB
• EdFormation
• www.edformation.com

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• Read a passage at GRADE LEVEL for
  benchmark assessment (2-3
  passages if not standardized)
• Administered 11 for 60 seconds

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Oral reading fluency errors

• Mispronunciation/Substitutions
• Hesitations/No Attempt (3-5 seconds)
• Omissions
• Word reversals
• NOTE but dont count as errors
• Self-corrections
• Dialect, speech impairments
• Punctuation errors
• Repetitions
• Insertions

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OSPI Reading Fluency GLEs

• Grade 1 50-65 words correct per minute
• Grade 2 90-100 wcpm
• Grade 3 110-120 wcpm
• Grade 4 115-125 wcpm
• Grade 5 125-135 wcpm
• Grade 6 up 145-155 wcpm

Unpracticed, cold reading by end of the year
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Who Needs Fluency Instruction?
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NAEP Fluency Scale

• Level 4 Reads primarily in larger, meaningful
  phrase groups. Although some regressions,
  repetitions, and deviations from text may be
  present, these do not appear to detract from the
  overall structure of the story. Preservation of
  the author's syntax is consistent. Some or most
  of the story is read with expressive
  interpretation.
• Level 3 Reads primarily in three- or
  four-word phrase groups. Some smaller groupings
  may be present. However, the majority of phrasing
  seems appropriate and preserves the syntax of the
  author. Little or no expressive interpretation is
  present.
• Level 2 Reads primarily in two-word phrases
  with some three-or four-word groupings. Some
  word-by-word reading may be present. Word
  groupings may seem awkward and unrelated to
  larger context of sentence or passage.
• Level 1 Reads primarily word-by-word.
  Occasional two-word or three-word phrases may
  occur, but these are infrequent and/or they do
  not preserve meaningful syntax.

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Who Needs Fluency Instruction?

• National Reading Panel based its fluency
  conclusions on studies conducted in
• Grades 1 through 9.

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How fluent do you need to be?

• Accuracy
• 95100

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Independent reading level

• This is easy reading . In oral reading, a child
  would have one or less word calling errors in 100
  words of text, with 100 percent accuracy on
  comprehension questions about a story. The
  student can read alone with ease.

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Instructional reading level

• This is the best level for learning new
  vocabulary. It requires the assistance of a
  teacher. The word error range allowed while
  reading orally is 2 to 5 word calling errors per
  100 words of text ( 95 accuracy or better), with
  at least 80 comprehension on simple recall
  questions about the story.

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Frustration reading level

• This is hard for the reader. Word errors are over
  5 per 100 words of text. Comprehension questions
  are below 70 accuracy.
• Remember the 5 finger rule! When a student reads
  aloud, tally the errors on your fingers. When
  the amount reaches 5, you know the student is
  reading text that is too difficult.

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How fluent do you need to be?

• Proper Expression
• 3 or 4 on NAEP Scale

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Being fluent is more than automaticity

• Accuracy
• Rate
• Prosody

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Accuracy

• What is an Instructional level?
• Depends on level of child or whether child is
  reading cold or not
• Depends on level of instruction

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DIAGNOSING FLUENCY PROBLEMS

• Unpracticed passage(s) at INSTRUCTIONAL level
• Oral reading for 1 minute (can be combined with
  IRI,
• informal reading inventory )
• Same scoring as screening assessments
  

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Hasbrouck Tindal Norms in Oral Reading Fluency
for Grades 2-5
Upper grades 150 wcpm/50th percentile
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PROVIDING INSTRUCTION TO STUDENTS
WHO NEED FLUENCY
INTERVENTION ON BEYOND /APPROACHING LEVEL
In-class practice opportunities INTERVENTION
Explicit,
systematic instruction/practice
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Key Research Findings

• Oral, guided reading practice improves fluency
  for typical students
• Independent practice (silent
  reading) NOT sufficient to
  improve fluency

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Passage Reading Practices to
Improve Fluency
Traditional practice Round robin reading
from science, social studies, literature,
chapter books Students take turns reading
parts of a text aloud
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Disadvantages of Round Robin Reading Does not
reflect real-life reading which is rarely read
cold Creates anxiety and embarrassment Hampers
listening comprehension Causes inattentive
behaviors and discipline problems Causes
unnecessary subvocalizations Produces faulty
rather than effective reading habits Consumes
valuable class time with meaningless activity
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• Passage Reading Procedures Which Involve ALL
  Students, Provide Practice and Increase Fluency
• Choral Reading
• Cloze Reading
• Partner Reading

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• CHORAL READING
• Whole class reads ALOUD and TOGETHER from same
  selection
• NON-THREATENING practice
• PROCEDURE
• Orally read with students
• Read at a moderate rate
• Use pre-correction procedures
  Keep your voice with mine.

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• CLOZE READING
• ASSISTS students in reading difficult material
• Provides GROUP PRACTICE and MAINTAINS student
  ATTENTION
• PROCEDURE
• Orally read the material to students
• Read at a moderate rate
• Pause and have students say the next word
• Intentionally delete meaningful words

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• PARTNER READING
• EASY and EFFECTIVE way to involve students
• Increases instructional TIME ON TASK
• PROCEDURE
• Assign students partners (1 is higher performing
  student who readers first)
• Designate amount to read to partner
• When an error is heard, have students use the
  Ask, then Tell procedure
• Ask Can you figure out this word?
• Tell The word is _________.
• Read the sentence again.

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Establishing Partners

• Avoid pairing highest and lowest skilled readers
• Consider taking lowest readers into a small group
  for practice with the teacher

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Establishing Partners

• Michael
• Andrea
• Ezra
• Juan
• Amy
• Hyun Ha
• Mari
• Harry
• Sarah
• Ashante

• Ebonie
• Jazmine
• Bobby
• Celisse
• Marsha
• Krishon
• Sammy
• Jamie
• Orlando
• Miquel

• Quan
• Kyesha
• Francisco
• Angelica

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PARTNER READING VARIATIONS Side by Side- Reading
to a Partner Students sit next to each other with
one book between them. One partner reads and
points to the words. The other partner follows
along. Shoulder to Shoulder- Reading to a
Partner Students sit facing opposite directions
with shoulders aligned. Each partner has a
book. Reading WITH a Partner Students sit side
to side with one book between them. Both
partners read at the same time as partner one
touches the words.
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INSTRUCTION for INTERVENTION (a) FOLLOWING A
MODEL Reading along with a model of accurate
reading from an audio tape/CD OR a skillful
reader
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(b) REPEATED READING Students reread passage
orally to themselves or a partner until
predetermined goal achieved (30-40 words above
baseline) (c) MONITORING PROGRESS Students
graph their performance Cold
reading first then again after practice
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Repeated Reading (classroom)

• Have children read from the same text.
• Have them start reading orally.
• After 3 minutes, say Stop
• Have them mark last word they read.
• Repeat.
• Children should read further down the page with
  each repeated reading.

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• PROVIDE FLUENCY INSTRUCTION AT A CHALLENGING
  INSTRUCTIONAL LEVEL
• Model provides SCAFFOLDING
• Students must WORK HARD toward achieving goal to
  see real progress

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Assignment

• In your group, write and display 5 significant
  findings on fluency.
• Break when your thoughts are posted.
• When you return, read the article and decide
  which strategies you have tried or will try.