Fluency

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Fluency
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What is Fluency?

• The ability to read a text _______, _________,
  and with proper __________
• _________ ease of reading
• _________ ability to read without errors

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Why is Fluency Important?

• Research says
• Successful readers
• rely primarily on the __________ in the word
  rather than context or pictures to identify
  familiar and unfamiliar words.
• process virtually every letter.
• use ______________________ to identify words.
• have a reliable __________ for decoding words.
• read words for a sufficient number of times for
  words to become automatic.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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 1st grade ___ cwpm (correct words per
  minute) or more
• End of 2nd grade ____ cwpm or more
• End of 3rd grade ______ cwpm or more

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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

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Teaching Fluency Critical features of Fluency
instruction
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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.

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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.

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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)

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How to Determine Appropriate Level Text

• Select text that students read with 95 accuracy
• of words read correctly
• total words read
• Example
• 100 words read correctly
• 125 total words read
• 80 accuracy ________________ be appropriate
  for fluency building

accuracy
80 accuracy
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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?

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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.

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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

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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 _________________________

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PALS

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

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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

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Benefits of PALS

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

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• 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.