Making a Strong Commitment to Reading-Fluency Training

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Making a Strong Commitment to Reading-Fluency
Training

• Fredricka L. Stoller
• Northern Arizona University
• fredricka.stoller_at_nau.edu

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How fast do fluent readers read?

1. 100 words per minute (wpm)
2. 150 wpm
3. 200 wpm
4. 300 wpm
5. 350 wpm
6. It depends

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How fast do fluent readers read?

1. 100 words per minute (wpm)
2. 150 wpm
3. 200 wpm
4. 300 wpm
5. 350 wpm
6. It depends

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Fluent Readers

• 600 wpm scanning
• 450 wpm skimming
• 300 wpm reading with understanding
• 200 wpm reading to learn
• 138 wpm reading to memorize

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How fluent is the average 2nd grader (around 7
years old)?

1. 60 words per minute (wpm)
2. 80 wpm
3. 90 wpm
4. 110 wpm
5. 120 wpm

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How fluent is the average 2nd grader (around 7
years old)?

1. 60 words per minute (wpm)
2. 80 wpm
3. 90 wpm
4. 110 wpm
5. 120 wpm

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How fluent is the average 12th grader (around 17
years old)?

1. 150 words per minute (wpm)
2. 200 wpm
3. 250 wpm
4. 300 wpm
5. 350 wpm

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How fluent is the average 12th grader (around 17
years old)?

1. 150 words per minute (wpm)
2. 200 wpm
3. 250 wpm
4. 300 wpm
5. 350 wpm

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How fluent is the average university student?

1. 260 words per minute (wpm)
2. 280 wpm
3. 300 wpm
4. 320 wpm
5. 340 wpm

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How fluent is the average university student?

1. 260 words per minute (wpm)
2. 280 wpm
3. 300 wpm
4. 320 wpm
5. 340 wpm

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Fluent Readers

• 600 wpm scanning
• 450 wpm skimming
• 300 wpm reading with understanding
• 200 wpm reading to learn
• 138 wpm reading to memorize

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Why is Fluent Reading Important?

• Fluency is a defining characteristic of skilled
  reading comprehension abilities, especially in
  academic contexts. Skilled readers are fluent
  readers.
• Fluency is associated with reading comprehension
  development a lack of fluency is one source of
  comprehension problems.

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Why is Fluent Reading Important?

• Fluency helps develop a number of other important
  aspects of reading including
• word recognition
• vocabulary
• sentence processing
• motivation

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What Is Needed to Become Fluent in Reading?

• Fast and accurate word phrase recognition
• A large recognition vocabulary
• A lot of comprehension skills practice
• A reasonable level of grammatical knowledge
• A lot of practice reading

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Fluency-Building Activities

• Timed and Paced Speed Reading

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Timed and Paced Silent Reading
http//www.online-stopwatch.com
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Fluency-Building Activities

• Timed and Paced Speed Reading
• Listen-Then-Read-Aloud

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Listen-Then-Read-Aloud

• T selects short, interesting, level-appropriate
  passage (120200 words).
• T reads the text aloud to Ss with expression,
  while Ss read along silently.
• Class discusses the text or Ss turn to a partner
  to summarize the passage.
• Ss quietly read text aloud to themselves (timed)
  and mark end point in text. (2 times)
• Ss keep the text and revisit it multiple times,
  under timed conditions, during the week, noting
  how far they read in the time allotted.

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Fluency-Building Activities

• Timed and Paced Speed Reading
• Listen-Then-Read-Aloud
• Timed Word and Phrase Recognition Exercises

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• (from Savage, 2010)

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• (from Savage, 2010)

North Pacific Gyre
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• (from Savage, 2010)

North Pacific Gyre
The gyre moves in a clockwise direction
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Fluency-Building Activities

• Timed and Paced Speed Reading
• Listen-Then-Read-Aloud
• Timed Word and Phrase Recognition Exercises

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Word-Recognition Exercises(Timed)
Key Word

• through though thought through thorough
• objects object objects organic oceans
• truth trail trial trait
  truth

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Fluency-Building Activities

• Timed and Paced Speed Reading
• Listen-Then-Read-Aloud
• Timed Word and Phrase Recognition Exercises

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Phrase-Recognition Exercises(Timed)
Key Phrase

• by the way by the time by the way
• on the way by
  the end
• sea of garbage
• pile of garbage ocean of garbage
• sink of garbage sea of garbage

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Timed Semantic-Connection Exercises

• Key word a word that
• has a general or more specific relationship with
  the key word (e.g., hypernym flower - hyponym
  daffodil)
• is similar in meaning to the key word
• is a common collocate of the key word

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Timed Semantic-Connection Exercises

• toxins currents seawater disposable
• satellites
  bacteria
• harmful helpful dangerous surface
  
• however therefore
• (to) solve a problem the route the race
• an expert the surface

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Timed Lexical Access Fluency Exercises

• Involves the matching of key words with their
  definitions or synonyms under timed conditions

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Timed Lexical Access Fluency Exercises

• 1. ocean very big
• 2. huge large body of water
• 3. shocking area that is different
• 4. patch surprising
• 5.
• 6.
• 7.
• . . .

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TimedLexical Access Fluency Exercises

• 1. ocean surprising
• 2. huge very big
• 3. shocking area that is different
• 4. patch large body of water
• 1. ocean area that is different
• 2. huge surprising
• 3. shocking large body of water
• 4. patch very big

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Timed Recognition Exercises

• Focused on words or phrases
• Read silently
• Conducted in a beat-the-clock fashion
• Done 2 3 in a row
• Accompanied by student record keeping
• Completed in a short amount of class time, after
  initial procedures are introduced

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Fluency-Building Activities

• Timed and Paced Speed Reading
• Listen-Then-Read-Aloud
• Timed Word and Phrase Recognition Exercises
• Oral Reading

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Fluency-Building Activities

• Timed and Paced Speed Reading
• Listen-Then-Read-Aloud
• Timed Word and Phrase Recognition Exercises
• Oral Reading
• Choral Reading (with the teacher with an
• audio tape, DVD, or CD)

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Fluency-Building Activities

• Timed and Paced Speed Reading
• Listen-Then-Read-Aloud
• Timed Word and Phrase Recognition Exercises
• Oral Reading
• Choral Reading
• Echo Reading

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Fluency-Building Activities

• Timed and Paced Speed Reading
• Listen-Then-Read-Aloud
• Timed Word and Phrase Recognition Exercises
• Oral Reading
• Choral Reading
• Echo Reading
• Radio Reading

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Fluency-Building Activities

• Timed and Paced Speed Reading
• Listen-Then-Read-Aloud
• Timed Word and Phrase Recognition Exercises
• Oral Reading
• Choral Reading
• Echo Reading
• Radio Reading
• Oral Paired Re-reading

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Oral Paired Re-reading

• In pairs, decide who is A and who is B.
• A starts at the beginning (of the text) and reads
  as quickly and as clearly as possible, until
  asked to stop. B helps.
• B starts at the beginning (of the text) and reads
  as quickly and as clearly as possible, until
  asked to stop. A helpss.
• Repeat the process.

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Oral Fluency-Building Activities

• Use reading passages
• that your students are familiar with
• that are easy
• that are fairly short
• Read aloud
• Work with a partner

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Fluency-Building Activities

• Timed and Paced Speed Reading
• Listen-Then-Read-Aloud
• Timed Word and Phrase Recognition Exercises
• Oral Reading
• Choral Reading
• Echo Reading
• Radio Reading
• Oral Paired Re-reading
• Readers Theater

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Readers Theater

• Readers Theater represents another good way to
  build reading fluency, word and phrase
  recognition skills, vocabulary, and
  comprehension.

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Readers Theater

• Lets give Readers Theater a try.

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Readers Theater

• With Readers Theatre, students practice
  (rehearse) and then perform scripts (without
  memorizing them, without props, without
  costumes), usually in groups.
• Mini-lessons about expressive and interpretive
  reading, with teacher modeling, can be helpful.
• The key is reading, not drama.

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Readers Theater

• Scripts can be created from poems, speeches,
  stories, plays, and adapted textbook passages,
  all within students instructional range.
• Informational texts can be converted into radio
  scripts, with 1 announcers and experts who
  share the reporting

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Readers Theater

• Poems can be read every other line by different
  students, with up to three participating
  students. Refrains can be read by all
  participating students.
• An episode from a story can be converted into a
  short dialogue between 2 4 characters.

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Listen-Then-Read-Aloud

• Lets try this again. Try to get further in the
  text but still read clearly.

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Issues and Challenges

• Finding interesting and level-appropriate
  resources (that can be used multiple times)
• Fitting fluency practice into classroom
  instruction
• Keeping records of fluency improvement
• Assessing fluency gains
• Motivating students to practice
• Maintaining fluency practice as a consistent
  classroom activity

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Making a Strong Commitment to Reading-Fluency
Training

• Fredricka L. Stoller
• Northern Arizona University
• fredricka.stoller_at_nau.edu