Effective Interventions for Struggling Readers Fluency

1. Effective Interventions for Struggling Readers Fluency

2. 2 Agenda

3. 3 Goal: To promote knowledge understanding of effective interventions in fluency for students who struggle with reading. Objectives: Participants will: Articulate research on fluency instruction. Outline the importance of assessing fluency progress. Identify components of fluency. Implement research-based fluency instructional strategies that can be used to teach struggling readers. Handout #1 Goals and Objectives

4. 4 The Connections Between Reading Interventions, NCLB, and YOU!

5. 5

6. 6 The Five Components Phonemic Awareness Phonics Fluency Vocabulary Comprehension FLUENCY

7. 7 Why Fluency? Fluency is a critical skill Good reading comprehension rests on a foundation of fluent reading of words. Good readers rapidly recognize words without having to think about what the words are, and automatically activate the meaning of the words they are reading.

8. 8 Research Base for Fluency InstructionKey Findings Fluency is: Improved through guided repeated oral reading procedures. Strengthened by feedback and guidance Effective for both good and struggling readers. Critical for students to process meaning and build comprehension skills. Neglected in many reading programs. National Reading Panel (2002)

9. 9 Common Terms Fluency�the ability to read text automatically, accurately, and effortlessly. Irregular words�words that cannot be decoded. Letter-sound fluency�the ability to produce sounds of letters quickly. Irregular word fluency�the ability to identify irregular words automatically. Oral reading fluency�the ability to identify words in a passage accurately. Prosody�the intonation and expression used in reading.

10. 10 Fluency Components

11. 11 Students Who Struggle Approximately 40 percent of American 4th grade students cannot read fluently. National Assessment of Educational Progress (2002) Handout #2

12. 12 Discussion Question What are some behaviors you may observe in the classroom that indicate some students are struggling with fluency?

13. 13 Possible Observations Student has difficulty and grows frustrated when reading aloud. Student does not read aloud with expression. Student does not �chunk� words into meaningful units. Student doesn�t pause at meaningful breaks within sentences or paragraphs. Reading Rockets. �Target the Problem� (2006)

14. 14 Assess the Problem Use multiple types of assessments; formal and informal. Measure speed, comprehension, types of errors, and expression. Select and administer assessment tools that are valid and reliable in the measurement of fluency. Monitor student progress regularly to ensure student achievement in fluency is progressing. Administer assessments one on one. Use screening and progress monitoring assessment to form flexible instructional groups. Good & Kaminski (2002)

15. 15 Discussion Question What type of assessment procedures do you currently use for fluency?

16. 16 Measuring Fluency Informal Informal reading inventories (IRI) Running records Miscue analysis Reading speed calculations Formal Gray Oral Reading Test (GORT-4) Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) Handout #3

17. 17 Average Fluency Rates Grade Level: 2.5 � 121 words per minute 3.5 � 135 words per minute 4.5 � 149 words per minute 5.5 � 163 words per minute 6.5 � 177 words per minute 7.5 � 191 words per minute Mather & Goldstein (2001)

18. 18 What Is Your Fluency Rate? Find a partner. Read your assigned passage to your partner. Record your fluency rate. Handouts #4 and #5

19. 19 Charting Progress What do you see as possible advantages for having students chart their own progress?

20. 20 Student Progress Monitoring National Center on Student Progress Monitoring, American Institutes for Research Mission: To disseminate practices proven effective in grades K�5. http://www.studentprogress.org/ Handout #6

21. 21 Effective Strategies for Teaching Fluency Guided Reading Books on Tape Explicit and Systematic Instruction Opportunities for Practice Appropriate Text Level

22. 22 Guided Reading Steps Teacher reads passage aloud. Students reread same passage silently. Students read the passage aloud. Students reread the same passage aloud. Handout #7

23. 23 Books on Tape Provides students with a model for reading with expression and punctuation. Fun and independent activity to support fluency development. Effective strategy but not a substitute for direct instruction.

24. 24 Explicit and Systematic Instruction Model: Provide explicit examples of new material. Practice: Provide ample opportunities for students to practice new material. Ample is defined by the individual needs of each student. Assess (ongoing): Check students� understanding of the new material throughout the lesson. Feedback: Immediately correct any incorrect student responses by repeating the teacher model.

25. 25 Tips for Providing Feedback Be positive. Be attentive. Be precise. Be mindful.

26. 26 Opportunities for Practice Daily Model fluent reading Phrasing Following along with a tape Readers� theater Choral reading Repeated reading chart Reading buddies Self-recordings Amplification

27. 27 Appropriate Text Level How to determine Have student read aloud from a book at the level you feel is appropriate for him/her. Calculate the number of words read correctly and divide by the total words read. Higher than 97% accuracy = independent reading level 90�97% accuracy = instructional level 89% or below = frustration level Five Finger Rule

28. 28 Summary Mastery of Phonemic Awareness and Phonics is necessary before working on fluency. Fluency is often left out of reading instruction, but it is an essential component. Assessment is critical to inform fluency instruction. Fluency must be taught explicitly and systematically. The essential components of early reading must be mastered before vocabulary and comprehension skills can be developed.

29. 29 CLOSING QUESTIONS COMMENTS

30. 30 THANK YOU!