Fluency
DEFINITIONS
“Fluent readers are able to read orally with speed, accuracy, and proper expression. Fluency is one of several critical factors necessary for reading comprehension.” National Reading Panel Report, p.11.
“Word recognition is a necessary but not sufficient condition for fluent reading.” Put Reading First, p.30
“Fluency is not a stage of development at which readers can read all words quickly and easily. Fluency changes, depending on what readers are reading, their familiarity with the words, and the amount of their practice with reading text.” Put Reading First, p.23
Fluency is “freedom from word-identification problems that might hinder comprehension in silent reading or the expression of ideas in oral reading: automaticity”. The Literacy Dictionary: The Vocabulary of Reading and Writing. Harris and Hodges (1995:85)
PURPOSEFUL TEACHING/LEARNING EXPERIENCES
1. Repeated readings
Repeated readings of sentences and passages are found to produce marked improvement in children’s word recognition, fluency, and comprehension. Repeated readings strengthen, through repetition, the links between letters in the orthographic processor. Indeed, repeated readings over time of passages with large overlaps of words are more effective than repeated readings of passages containing mostly different words. Repeated readings may also improve readers’ appreciation of the syntax of the passage. When readers are asked to undertake repeated readings in unison with an expressive model (such as someone reading on tape), marked improvements in their own phrasing are found.
Adams, Marilyn (1990). Beginning to Read: Thinking and Learning about Print (Center for the Study of Reading, The Reading Research and Education Center, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign p.92-93
- Oral reading experiences that involve preparation and audiences
The following experiences are outlined in detail in Good-bye Round Robin: 25 Effective Oral Reading Strategies). They are presented in the order in which they occur in this title.
· Revised Radio Reading, where students perform a selected part of a text that they have rehearsed. One reader reads, taking on the role of radio announcer. Although not mentioned in the teaching suggestions, Radio Reading works well with scripts, in which different characters have different roles to read.
· Shared Reading Experience, where a teacher provides a model of fluent reading of an enlarged text, and students join in the readings. The text should be at the Instructional Level of students, that is, a text they can read with 90-95% accuracy. The purposes for Shared Reading include teaching comprehension strategies, vocabulary, fluency, decoding, and concepts of print. For further information on Shared Reading refer to The Foundations of Literacy by Don Holdaway and Shared Reading by Diane Snowball.
· Choral Reading, where groups of students read a rehearsed text together before an audience, sometimes reading alternating parts, sometimes reading in unison.
· Readers Theatre where groups of students read a script: they do not memorise lines, nor do they act. Students can adapt a familiar story or factual text to a script. The effects that result in reading being a theatre performance depend on the readers using their voices as the group and individuals read aloud.
· Poetry Club, where students select, practise reading, then read or recite a favorite poem to others.
· Read Aloud sessions, among several other purposes, provide opportunities for teachers to model fluent and proficient reading.
· Paired Reading, where a less-experienced reader is paired with a proficient reader (teacher or student), and they sit side by side and read a text together.
· Recorded Texts that students listen to and read simultaneously.
· Fluency Development Lesson, which combines Read Aloud, Choral Reading, and independent reading of text.
NB Good-bye Round Robin: 25 Effective Oral Reading Strategies also contains chapters covering assessment of oral reading and fluency scales that could be used as a basis of discussion with students during reading conferences.
REFERENCES
Hill, Susan. (1990) Readers Theatre: Performing the text. Eleanor Curtain. South Yarra.
Holdaway, Don. (1979) The Foundations of Literacy. Ashton Scholastic. Sydney.
Opitz, Michael & Rasinski, Timothy. (1998) Good-bye Round Robin: 25 Effective Oral Reading Strategies. Heinemann, Portsmouth, NH.
Samuels, S. Jay & Farstrap, Alan E. (Eds.) (2006) What Research Has to Say About Fluency Instruction. International Reading Association, Newark.
Snowball, Diane. (2000) Shared Reading.
VELS
Words or phrases in VELS Standards, Learning Focus Statements and Progression Points relevant to development of fluency are in bold.
Notes added to a specific Progression Point re fluency are written in bold within square brackets, i.e. [].
ENGLISH – LEVEL 1
Reading
At Level 1, students match print and spoken text in their immediate environment. They recognise how sounds are represented alphabetically and identify some sound–letter relationships. They read aloud simple print and electronic texts that include some frequently used words and predominantly oral language structures. They read from left to right with return sweep, and from top to bottom. They use title, illustrations and knowledge of a text topic to predict meaning. They use context and information about words, letters, combinations of letters and the sounds associated with them to make meaning, and use illustrations to extend meaning.
Learning Focus Statement
Students learn to read simple, predictable texts that have familiar content. Texts at this level have simple sentences and predominantly oral language patterns, and include repetition of phrases and illustrations that represent the main ideas such as picture books. Students learn that print text maintains a constant message, and they use title, illustrations and knowledge of a text topic to predict meaning in texts.
They explore the purpose, formation and conventions of print and develop a working understanding of how sounds are represented alphabetically. To make meaning they use context and information about words, letters, combinations of letters and the sounds associated with them. They expand their vocabulary and use illustrations to extend meaning. With support they select their own reading material from a small range of familiar texts.
English – Progressing towards Level 1Progression Point 0.5
At 0.5, the work of a student progressing towards the standard at Level 1 demonstrates, for example:
· understanding of the directional sequence of text
· recognition of some letters of the alphabet and awareness of the relationship between sounds and letters [including knowledge of onset and rime]
· correct reading of some familiar words; for example, words in the title of a simple reading text, [language patterns] or labels on objects in the classroom
· retelling of the main ideas in a text; for example, the plot after listening to the reading of a picture story book or watching a video
· predictions about events in a text from looking at the cover and illustrations
ENGLISH – LEVEL 2
Reading
At Level 2, students read independently and respond to short imaginative and informative texts with familiar ideas and information, predictable structures, and a small amount of unfamiliar vocabulary. They match sounds accurately to a range of letters, letter clusters and patterns, and work out the meaning of unfamiliar phrases and words in context. They locate directly stated information, retell ideas in sequence using vocabulary and phrases from the text, and interpret labelled diagrams. They predict plausible endings for stories and infer characters’ feelings. They self-correct when reading aloud and describe strategies used to gain meaning. They identify that texts are constructed by authors, and distinguish between texts that represent real and imaginary experience.
Learning Focus Statement
Students work towards independence in reading short texts with familiar ideas and information, some illustrations, predictable structures, uncomplicated sentences, a variety of tenses and a small amount of unfamiliar vocabulary. These include imaginative texts such as stories and poems, everyday texts and informative texts in print and electronic form. They develop strategies for reading texts, for example predicting meanings using semantic, syntactic and graphophonic cues. They learn to self-correct when reading aloud. They read and retell ideas in sequence using unfamiliar vocabulary and phrases from the text. They comment and act upon information.
Students engage in individual, small group and teacher-directed activities in which they read a variety of texts and explore the wide range of purposes, contexts and audiences for which texts are produced. They learn to recognise that texts are constructed by authors, and distinguish between texts that represent real and imaginary experience. Through class discussions they consider the opinions and viewpoints of others and become aware that there are different interpretations of texts. They begin to connect the themes and ideas in texts to their own knowledge and experience.
English – Progressing towards Level 2
Progression Point 1.25
At 1.25, the work of a student progressing towards the standard at Level 2 demonstrates, for example:
· naming of all uppercase and lowercase letters in the alphabet
· identification of common sounds for letters
· independent reading of simple print and electronic texts with moderate accuracy and fluency
· accurate reading of high-frequency words
· retelling of what they have read using the text as a prompt
· prediction of what a text will be about, using textual features and some known words
· understanding of differences between real and imaginative texts
Progression Point 1.5
At 1.5, the work of a student progressing towards the standard at Level 2 demonstrates, for example:
· segmentation and blending of letters in words [onsets and rimes] of one or two syllables
· use of sentence context, predictable structures and initial letters when attempting to read unfamiliar words
· accurate and independent reading of print and electronic texts with high-frequency words
· self-correction, on recognition that their own reading does not make sense
· inclusion of main ideas in retelling what they have read
· prediction of what might happen next in a story read independently
Progression Point 1.75
At 1.75, the work of a student progressing towards the standard at Level 2 demonstrates, for example:
· recognition of a wide range of letters [onsets and rimes] and sounds [they represent], and blends in words of more than one syllable
· use of strategies for working out the meaning of unfamiliar words in context; for example, sounding out, rereading, using cues from illustrations
· self-correction, and use of punctuation to contribute to meaning when reading aloud; for example, recognition of quotation marks to identify a speaker’s words
· ordered retelling of main ideas from a text they have read
· response to ideas in short print and electronic literary texts
NOTE: References to fluency do not occur beyond Level 2 in the English Standards, Learning Focus statements or Progression Points, therefore Standards, Learning Focus statements and Progression Points beyond Level 2 are not included here. However, the synergistic relationship between fluency and comprehension is widely accepted: therefore it is essential ALL students in Primary and Secondary Schools be taught to become fluent readers.
Consequently, the Purposeful teaching/Learning Experiences referred to on Page 1 are equally applicable to students beyond Level 2.
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Faye Bolton
26/7/09