FLUENCY Assessing & Teaching this KEY Reading Skill

1. FLUENCYAssessing & Teaching this KEY Reading Skill Jan Hasbrouck, Ph.D. Seattle, WA

2. WHAT IS READING FLUENCY? • The ability to read • accurately • quickly • with expression

3. WHO ARE THESE STUDENTS? • DESCRIPTORS: • Read haltingly • Slow, laborious readers • Read word—by—word • Uncertain of sight words • Ignore punctuation

4. REAL TARGET: Comprehension & Motivation Multiple Causes of Comprehension Problems: Lack of sufficient background knowledge Lack of sufficient language foundation Fails to organize & use information to understand--Does not realize when s/he fails to understand Decoding/fluency skills poor

5. National Reading Panel (2000) Five Key Instructional Components • Phonemic Awareness • Phonics • Fluency • Vocabulary • Comprehension Strategies

6. WHY IS FLUENCY SO IMPORTANT? Comprehension limited by labored, inefficient reading (working memory) Lack of fluency = lack of motivation = fewer words read = smaller vocabulary = limited comprehension (self-perpetuating) “There is no comprehension strategy that compensates for difficulty reading words accurately & fluently.” (Torgeson, 2003)

7. Bridge to Comprehension Fluency forms the bridge between word recognition & comprehension FLUENCY Constructing Meaning Identifying Words

8. MEASURING READING FLUENCY the number of words in text read correctly per minute (wcpm) or… letters, sounds, words

9. ASSESSING FLUENCY: 3 ROLES #1FINDINGstudents who may need intervention assistance in reading #2DIAGNOSINGfluency problems #3MONITORING PROGRESSto determine if reading skills are improving

10. OSPI Reading Fluency GLEs • Grade 1: 50-65+words correct per minute • Grade 2: 90-100+wcpm • Grade 3: 110-120+wcpm • Grade 4: 115-125+wcpm • Grade 5: 125-135+wcpm • Grade 6 & up: 145-155+wcpm Unpracticed, cold reading by end of the year

11. Hasbrouck & Tindal Norms for Oral Reading Fluency for Grades 2-5 Upper grades: 150 wcpm/50th percentile

12. PROVIDING FLUENCY INSTRUCTION or INTERVENTION ON & BEYOND / APPROACHING LEVELIn-class practice opportunities INTERVENTIONExplicit, systematic instruction/practice

13. Key Research Findings • Guided reading practice improves fluency for “typical” students • Independent practice (silent reading) NOT sufficient to improve fluency

14. PASSAGE READING PRACTICES TO IMPROVE FLUENCY Traditional practice: Round robin readingfrom science, social studies, literature, chapter books Students take turns reading parts of a text aloud

15. ALTERNATIVES TO ROUND ROBIN • Choral Reading • Cloze Reading • Partner Reading

16. CHORAL READING • Whole class reads ALOUD & TOGETHER from same selection • NON-THREATENING practice • PROCEDURE: • Orally read with students • Read at a moderate rate • Use pre-correction procedures: “Keep your voice with mine.”

17. CLOZE READING • ASSISTS students in reading difficult material • Provides GROUP PRACTICE & MAINTAINS student ATTENTION • PROCEDURE: • Orally read the material to students • Read at a moderate rate • Pause & have students say the next word • Intentionally delete “meaningful words”

18. PARTNER READING • EASY & EFFECTIVE way to involve students • Increases instructional TIME ON TASK • PROCEDURE: • Assign students partners (#1 is higher performing student who readers first) • Designate amount to read to partner • When an error is heard, have students use the “Ask, then Tell” procedure: • Ask“Can you figure out this word?” • Tell“The word is _________.” • “Read the sentence again.”

19. Establishing Partners • Avoid pairing highest and lowest skilled readers • Consider taking lowest readers into a small group for practice with the teacher

20. Establishing Partners • Michael • Andrea • Ezra • Juan • Amy • Hyun Ha • Mari • Harry • Sarah • Ashante’ • Quan • Kyesha • Francisco • Angelica • Ebonie • Jazmine • Bobby • Celisse • Marsha • Krishon • Sammy • Jamie • Orlando • Miquel

21. PARTNER READING VARIATIONS Side by Side- Reading to a Partner Students sit next to each other with one book between them. One partner reads & points to the words; the other partner follows along. Shoulder to Shoulder- Reading to a Partner Students sit facing opposite directions with shoulders aligned. Each partner has a book. Reading WITH a Partner Students sit side to side with one book between them. Both partners read at the same time as partner one touches the words.

22. INSTRUCTION for INTERVENTION (a)FOLLOWING A MODEL Reading along with a model of accurate reading from an audio tape/CD OR a skillful reader

23. (b)REPEATED READING Students reread passage orally to themselves or a partner — until predetermined goal achieved (30-40 words above baseline) (c)MONITORING PROGRESS Students graph their performance: “Cold” reading first; then again after practice

24. PROVIDE FLUENCY INSTRUCTION AT ACHALLENGING INSTRUCTIONAL LEVEL • Model provides SCAFFOLDING; • Students must WORK HARD toward achieving goal to see real progress

25. COMMERCIAL FLUENCY PROGRAMS • Read Naturally Levels .8- 8.0 Audio tapes/CD or software editions • Six Minute Solution 160 passages Grades 1.0-8.0 Partner reading

26. Focus on Fluency Osborn & Lehr www.prel.org FREE!

27. Assessing Fluency Tim Rasinski www.prel.org FREE!

28. REFERENCES • Chard, D., Vaughn, S., & Tyler, B.J. (2002). A synthesis of research on effective interventions for building reading fluency with elementary students with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 36(5), 386-406. • DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills). http://idea.uoregon.edu/~dibels/ • Edformation http://www.edformation.com/ • Fuchs, L., Fuchs, D., Hamlett, C., Walz, L., & Germann, G. (1993). Formative evaluation of academic progress: How much growth? School Psychology Review, 22(1), 27-48.

29. Fuchs, L. S., Fuchs, D., Hosp, M. K., & Jenkins, J. R. (2001). Oral reading fluency as an indicator of reading competence: A theoretical, empirical, and historical analysis. Scientific Studies of Reading, 5(3), 239-256. • Hasbrouck, J.E., Ihnot, C., & Rogers, G. H. (1999). “Read Naturally”: A strategy to increase oral reading fluency. Reading Research & Instruction, 39(1), 27-38. • Hasbrouck, J.E., Woldbeck, T., Ihnot, C., & Parker, R. I. (1999). One teacher’s use of curriculum-based measurement: A changed opinion. Learning Disabilities: Research & Practice, 14(2), 118-126.

30. Hasbrouck, J. E. & Tindal, G. (Spring, 1992). Curriculum-based oral reading fluency norms for students in grades 2-5. Teaching Exceptional Children, 24(3), 41-44. • NATIONAL READING PANEL REPORT (2000) www.nationalreadingpanel.org • Osborn, J. & Lehr, F. A Focus on Fluency www.prel.org (free booklet)

31. Rasinski, T. Assessing Reading Fluency www.prel.org (free booklet) • READ NATURALLY “Reading Fluency Monitor” www.readnaturally.com 1-800-788-4085 info@readnaturally.com • Shinn, M. R. (Ed.) (1989). Curriculum-Based Measurement: Assessing Special Children. NY: Guilford. ISBN: 0-89862231X • SOPRIS WEST “6 Minute Solution” www.sopriswest.com 1-800-547-6747

32. Contact Information: Jan Hasbrouck, Ph.D. Educational Consultant Seattle, WA www.jhasbrouck.com