Welcome to the Comprehensive Center-Region VI Audio Web Conference Workshop

1. Welcome to the Comprehensive Center-Region VI Audio Web Conference Workshop Sheryl Beglinger Training and Outreach Specialist

2. Fluency – the ability to: • read a text accurately and quickly • recognize words automatically when reading silently • group words quickly in ways that help them gain meaning from what is begin read • read aloud effortlessly and with expression • have their reading sound natural, as if they were speaking. Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read

3. How to Teach Fluency* • Repeated Oral Reading • Teacher-student assisted reading • Readers theater • Paired reading • Tape-assisted reading (reading while listening) • Partner (or buddy) reading • Cross-age tutoring • Independent Silent Reading *Focus on Fluency (2003) by Jean Osborn, MEd; Fran Lehr, MA (2003)

4. Teacher-student assisted reading • Includes: • A model of fluent reading, provided by the teacher or an adult • Student reading the same text with guidance on word recognition and expression from the teacher or adult • Student re-reads the passage until the reading is fluent – usually three or four re-readings

5. Ways to implement teacher-student assisted reading • Echo Reading • Can be used with small groups or whole class • Teacher reads aloud a selection of the text and students repeat the section as they point to the word they are reading

6. Fluency-Oriented Reading Instruction * • First day • Story is read aloud to class and discussed • Review key vocabulary and design comprehension exercises around the story • Sometimes, echo reading of story is used where teacher reads a paragraph, class echoes it back. • Story is sent home to be read with parent or other readers (Children are expected to read 15 min. at home for at least 4 days a week) *Kuhn, M.H. and S. Stahl. (2000) “Fluency: a review of developmental and remedial practices.” CIERA Report 2-008.

7. FORI* (cont.) • Next day: • Children reread story with partner-one partner reads page while other monitored reading, then switch roles until story is finished • Teacher does some extension activities and then moves onto another story • Later in the day, time is set aside for students to read books of their own choosing either alone or with partner

8. FORI (cont.)* • Results • 1st year – 4 teachers in two schools, 2nd year – expanded to 10 teachers in three schools • Both years, students gained on average 2 years in reading growth as measured by informal reading inventory • All children but 2, out 105 who began the 2nd gr. year reading at a primer level or higher, were reading at a 2nd gr. level or higher at the end of the year *Kuhn, M.H. and S. Stahl. (2000) “Fluency: a review of developmental and remedial practices.” CIERA Report 2-008.

9. Readers Theater • Students rehearse and perform a play for peers or others • Scripts are derived from books that are rich in dialogue • Students are assigned speaking roles • Provides a legitimate reason to re-read text and to practice fluency • Particularly effective in motivating students with reading difficulty

10. Readers Theater Scripts Teaching Heart.net Reading Lady Aaron Shephard (ages 8 – 15) Lisa Blau More Information on Readers Theater

11. Paired Reading • With Adult • Session begins with the adult reading the passage first • Child and adult reading passage together several time in unison • Child reads passage alone

12. Taped-assisted reading • Students read along in their books with an audiotaped fluent reader • Students point to each word as the reader says it • After listening to the entire selection, students choose one passage to practice • Students read aloud with the tape repeatedly until they can read it independently • Students read the passage to the teacher

13. Partner/Buddy Reading • Teacher first reads text aloud, pointing to the words that are read, and modeling expressive reading • Students follow along in their books • Pairs of students take turns reading a passage from the story to each other • Fluent reader first reads the passage following the teacher’s model • Struggling reader re-reads the passage until it can be read independently, usually after four re-readings

14. Partner Selection Process • Group 1 reader always reads first to set the pace and ensure accuracy • Group 2 reader reads and attempts to match the pace of his or her partner • Teacher closely monitors reading fluency, moving around the room to listen to each set of partners • Sam • Julie • Martin • Susan • Kelly • Brent • Rob • Jo • Matt • Bob

15. Cross-age tutoring • Older student who is a struggling reader is paired with a younger students who is also having difficulty reading • Older student practices reading a passage from the younger student’s textbook until it can be read with accuracy, and expression. • Older student reads the passage alone first, and then with the younger student several times. • Younger student reads the passage aloud to the older student who will offer support and guidance.

16. General Principles of Fluency Training for Students with Reading Disabilities* • Repeated Reading can lead to improvements in reading speed, accuracy, comprehension, and expressions • Students should be reading texts repeatedly at instructional or independent levels three or four times orally • Multiple readings of single words or phrases may improve fluency • Short, frequent periods of fluency practice should be scheduled on a regular basis with incentives *Meyer, Marianne S., (1999) “Repeated Reading to Enhance Fluency: Old Approaches and New Directions”. Annals of Dyslexia, Vol. 49, 283-306.

17. Effective repeated procedures • Provide students with many opportunities to practice reading • Provide students with guidance in how fluent readers read and with feedback to help them become aware of and correct their mistakes • Found to improve reading ability of developing readers until at least 5th grade, and also helps struggling readers at higher grade levels.

18. Independent Silent Reading For it to succeed: • Teach students how to select books at appropriate reading levels and related to their reading interests • After silent reading, set aside time for students to discuss what they read. • Give parents tips on how to read with their child Research has shown that even 15 minutes a day of independent reading can expose students to more than a million words of text in a year.

19. Text and the Development of Fluency • Sight word vocabulary: need to be recognized instantly for successful reading to occur. (107 words make up almost half the total words in written text) • Content vocabulary • Even with several readings, selections that contain a large number of one-use multi-syllabic words can hinder the development of fluency for some students

20. Selecting appropriate text • Struggling readers need practice reading texts that will allow them to develop a large sight word vocabulary and to increase their confidence as readers to the point where they can tackle more difficult situations • Researchers differ on whether to use independent level or instructional level text to build fluency

21. Helpful Websites Different forms of repeated reading instruction Activities for Increasing Reading Rate

22. Helpful Websites Readability Analysis and CBA (Curriculum Based Assessment) probe generator Level Estimator Dr. Edward Fry’s Instant Words

23. Fun Websites Clifford’s Big Ideas from PBSKids Printable Stories from Between the Lions Book Adventure The Indian Reading Series: Stories and Legends from the Northwest 

24. Wrap-Up Questions/Concerns? Remember – next week will be on Tuesday, April 20th at 4:00 p.m.