Strategies for Increasing Oral Reading Fluency

1. How to Increase Oral Reading FluencyBy Kristen Lee-RussellCI 837

2. "The children of the 21st century will face many challenges that will require them to use reading and writing in different forms.  As we begin the new millennium, teachers are learning research-based approaches to teach reading and writing that will prepare their students for the future" (Tompkins, 2003, p.3). 

3. "In today's schools, too many children struggle with learning to read.  As many teachers and parents will attest, reading failure has exacted a tremendous long-term consequence for children's developing self-confidence and motivation to learn, as well as for their later school performance" (Armbruster, Lehr, & Osborn, 2002, ¶. 1).

4. There is not one universal solution that will maximize reading achievement in all students.  However, there has been extensive research done on different skills a child must possess in order to be a successful reader and one of the skills is fluency.

5. This action research project focuses specifically on oral reading fluency, which has been referred to as a missing ingredient in many reading programs (Allington, 1983).

6. Fluency is defined as having the ability "to read quickly, effortlessly, and efficiently with good, meaningful expression" (Rasinski, 2003, p. 26, ¶. 2).

7. Fluency Strategies • Reading with inflection, not adding words, pausing at commas and periods, self-monitoring for accuracy, reading at an appropriate pace, watching for word endings, and tracking with fingers •  Contingent rewards, modeling, and practice •  Partner reading and collaborative strategic reading

8. Fluency Strategies • Drill versus practice •  Combining an antecedent intervention with consequences •  Paired reading •  Reading with and without a model, sustained reading, and adjusting the text difficulty and number of repetitions •  reading words in and out of context

9. Fluency Strategies • Repeated readings • Readers' Theater • Pre-Teaching key words

10. Repeated readings and Readers' Theater were the chosen strategies for this action research project.

11. The goal of repeated readings is to increase oral reading fluency through multiple exposures to the same text.  According to Tompkins (2003), "the best approach to improve students' reading speed is repeated readings" (p.201).

12. According to Bafile (2005) Readers' Theater is a way to involve students in the process of reading aloud.  It gives them a chance to practice and perform reading.  The ultimate goal is to enhance reading skills and confidence by involving students in meaningful, engaging instruction.

13. Kelleher (1997) defines Readers' Theater as "the oral interpretation of literature presented by readers who bring forth the full expression of the literature through their oral reading" (p. 6, ¶. 7).

14. Rasinski (2003) describes Readers' Theater as "an authentic, entertaining, and educationally powerful way to read and communicate meaning.  When implemented properly, it offers many opportunities for students to practice reading in multiple and meaningful ways" (p. 105, ¶. 4).

15. In two research studies, repeated readings proved to be an effective strategy in increasing oral reading fluency. In five research studies, Readers' Theater also proved to be an effective strategy in increasing oral reading fluency, as well as in serving as a motivator for students in encouraging them to want to read.

16. Methodology • 3rd grade classroom • 8-9 year old students •  7 males, 12 females •  5 students with special needs

17. Strategy One • Repeated Readings • Students were assigned a passage on their reading level •  A cold read determined their baseline score •  Students read their passage repeatedly •  Hot timing determined their final score • Gain scores were calculated

18. Strategy Two • Readers' Theater •  Students were assigned a script and were grouped with students of varying reading levels •  Cold timing consisted of a passage on their reading level • Practiced and performed their Readers' Theater script • Hot timing consisted of the same passage as the cold timing • Gain scores were calculated

19. Results for Strategy One • All nineteen students made gains •  Range of scores on post-assessment was 125 words •  16 out of 19 met the benchmark level of 110 words per minute •  Thirteen students made gains of at least 30 words per minute

20. Results for Strategy Two • 17 out of 19 students made gains •  Range of scores on post-assessment was 70 words •  13 out of 19 met the benchmark level of 110 words per minute •  Seven students made gains of at least 20 words per minute, the remaining gains were relatively small

21. Result Comparisons • 15 out of 19 scored higher on the posttest #1 •  12 students read at least 140 words per minute with strategy #1 •  Range on #1 was 125 words and on #2 was 70 words •  All 19 made gains of at least 19 words on #1 •  On #2 - 2 students did not make gains, the remaining students' gains were between 4-26 words • 18 made higher gains with #1 • There were not any students who made higher gains with #2

22. Conclusions • Both strategies were effective for at least some of the students •  Significant gains were made after participating in repeated readings • The gains were much smaller after Readers' Theater

23. Conclusions • Both strategies have the potential to be very effective in increasing oral reading fluency • Readers' Theater was not as effective, possibly due to the short amount of time it was implemented • A combination of both strategies would provide effective fluency instruction if it was conducted on a consistent, long-term basis •  In the future, a combination of both will be used to provide effective, meaningful fluency instruction

24. Increasing oral reading fluency will, overall, create better readers, as "fluent readers are better able to comprehend what they read because they can identify words easily" (Tompkins, 2003, p.200).

25. References Allington, R. L. (1983, February). Fluency: The neglected         goal of the reading program. The Reading Teacher,        36, 556-561.  Armbruster, B. B., Lehr, F., & Osborn, J. (2001). Put     reading first: The research building blocks forteaching      children to read, kindergarten through grade 3.      Washington D.C., Washington: National Institute for     Literacy. Bafile, C. (2005). Readers' theater: Giving students a         reason to read aloud. In LD online. Retrieved from http://ldonline.org/article/39

26. References Kelleher, M. E. (1997). Readers' theater and     metacognition. The New England Reading Association      Journal, 33(2), 4-12. Rasinski, T. V. (2003). The fluent reader: Oral reading      strategies for building word recognition, fluency,      and comprehension. New York, NY: Scholastic      Professional Books. Tompkins, G. E. (2003). Literacy for the 21st century (3rd        ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.