Reading-Fluency

Burns and Kidd (2010) stated that reading fluency (depicted below) is dependent on and coordinated with all the previous mentioned aspects of reading as well as decoding and comprehension and is emphasized in instruction at all reading levels using various levels of text difficulty.

According to Griffin (2012), the whole task of reading involves identify letters, sounds and words quickly, accurately, and automatically.  It also involves comprehension and appropriate intonation and tempo for meaning.  Fluent readers know which words they are supposed to emphasize in a clause.  There are three aspects of oral reading fluency: rate, accuracy, and expression.  A typically developing child will reach about 60-70 words per minutes by first grade.  A fluent reader who is accurate with get about 90-95 correct word identification.  And lastly, expression is word emphasis, pause, and intonation.  Griffin (2012) used the following example for a rising tone: asking a question like “Did you open it?”  Usually your tone is falling for “wh” questions like “Why did you open it?”  

Fluency varies with the following:


  • knowledge of the topic, vocabulary, rhetorical genre
  • purpose for reading
  • reader’s skills (word, meta-control over comprehension)
  • Level of text, organization of text (formatting, use of headings, table of contents, glossaries, figures, tables)
Problems related to fluency:
  • false starts
  • frequent stops
  • mispronunciations
  • need to re-read almost every sentence or paragraph
According to Griffin, fluency leads to more reading and more reading leads to fluency.  Therefore, here are three ways to teach for fluency:
  • Good Integrated reading instruction
  • Extensive Reading of different materials
    • Teach children to read when you aren't there by matching up their reading levels, interests, giving them access to materials, helping them to create reading logs
    • create reading logs (which looks at how the children are doing reading, not what was read)
  • Repeated reading of same material
    • reading along with a person
    • reading same material at home and school
    • choral or echo reading

If your student struggles with reading fluency Rave-O is a great program that could help them.
Who is it for:
  • students in grades 2-5
  • students who are approximately one year below grade level
  • students who fall into the "at risk" category as measured by DIBELS
  • students who are struggling readers and also learning English
  • students who have been identified for Tier II or Tier III intervention in an RTI program
In each unit that Rave-O does students:
  • explore core words
  • discover related words and meanings
  • read words in context
  • respond to what they read
Resources:

 Burns, M. S. & Kidd, J.K. (2010). Learning to read. In Peterson P., Bake, E. & McGraw, B. (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Education, Volume 5 (pp.394-400). OxfordL Elsevier.
Griffin, P. (2012). Class 10 Foundations of reading fluency: from pretending to read & read alouds to independent reading fluency in different academic domains. [PowerPoint Slides] Retrieved from online.
RAVE-O.http://www.soprislearning.com/cs/Satellite?c=CLG_Content_P&childpagename=Sopris%2FSopris_Layout&cid=1277940914675&pagename=Sopris_Wrapper. Retrieved online May 8, 2012.

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