Strategies

Back to Fluency

STRATEGIES THAT PROMOTE FLUENCY

Teacher Models Initial Pages

This strategy is simple to implement; yet, has been found to increase fluency and accuracy in reading.

· Teacher reads the first few pages.

· Students read the rest of the story on their own. (Allington, 2001, p. 78)

Fluency Oriented Reading Instruction

Fluency oriented reading instruction is an instructional framework designed to develop oral reading fluency.

· Teacher reads story out loud.

· Teacher discusses story using story map.

· Echo-read story; teacher reads a segment, then the students read it chorally, (see choral reading below).

· Partners read the story; students read story to each other.

· Reread using a performance/play model.

· Students read story to a parent/sibling for homework for 2 days.

· Students choose a book to read independently for 15-30 minutes a day. (Allington, 2001, p.79)

Shared Book Experience

The shared book experience allows all children in a classroom or small group to participate in the reading of a story, usually through the use of a big book with large print and illustrations.

· Teacher selects a big book and displays big book for class to see.

· Teacher leads a discussion on the title, cover, and illustrations.

· Teacher asks students to predict the story line.

· Teacher reads the text aloud dramatically.

· Teacher leads the response to the story, with discussion and perhaps a retelling.

· The text is read and re-read several times by teacher, student to student, and/or to the teacher.

· During the re-reading the teacher highlights word structure, letter –sounds, onset –rhyme patterns, inflections, syllables, and language patterns, repetition, rhyme, unique words, by covering words, or word parts with sticky notes, and asking students to predict and confirm. (Allington, 2001, p. 80)

Reader’s Theatre

Reader’s theatre is an oral presentation of drama, prose, or poetry by two or more students.

· You may use stories already made into plays, or you can develop scripts from stories students have read.

· Teacher and students develop a script together from stories read in class.

· Read story aloud and select one scene to develop into a script.

· Write script on chart paper.

· Assign each student a character.

· Give students a few minutes to practice script.

· Perform a choral reading.

· Model changing voices for different characters.

· Pair students up to perform the play in their small groups.

· Pick students to put on the play for the class.

· As students become more proficient allow them to develop plays in their small groups from books they have read. (Allington, 2001, p. 82)

Read Aloud

It is very important that students, of all ages, hear fluent readers read. Read alouds provide this opportunity.

· Select an interesting book (possible suggestions: Ronald Dahl’s The BFG, Louis Sachar’s Holes or Margie Patalini’s Piggie Pie).

· Teacher reads story aloud.

· Teacher models reading with phrasing, feeling and uses different voices for various characters. ( Strickland, 2002, p. 123)

Choral Reading

Choral reading is an oral reading, often of poetry that makes use of various voice combinations and contrasts to create meaning or highlight the tonal qualities of a passage.

· Select a poem or a book with a predictable text to read aloud.

· Pass out copies of poem or story for every student.

· Read piece aloud to students as they follow along.

· Re-read poem together in unison or have students echo lines (teacher first reads lines then students read the same line). ( Strickland, 2002, p. 124)

Visiting Readers

Great for building self-esteem and allowing students to read on a lower-level without embarrassment.

· Begin by teaching students, preferably older struggling readers, how to read with phrasing, and expression. Teach them how to use pictures to help promote understanding of the author’s intent, and how to hold book so it can be seen when it is being read aloud to an audience.

· Teach the “soon to be” visiting reader how to introduce the book to his/her audience by saying, “This book is mostly about…”; this teaches the struggling reader, (the visiting reader,) the important skill of finding the main idea.

· Allow student to read aloud alone, to other reading groups, to their teachers and/or parents. When the visiting reader is ready have them meet with a younger group of students to conduct the reading session which consist of three parts:

BEFORE READING- Show the cover, read the title, tell what the book is mainly about, including statement of the main idea. Invite predictions, show and read the dedication page.
DURING READING-Read the story aloud. Be sure the pictures are visible, and answer any listener questions.
AFTER READING- Ask listeners how they liked the story. Talk about favorite parts. Reread passages at listeners’ requests, and respond to any questions. ( Strickland, 2002, p. 128)

The following five games promote vocabulary development and reading fluency; students truly enjoy them.

Punctuation Tic-Tac-Toe: This strategy allows students to practice proper expression while reading.

· Use masking tape to make a large tic-tac-toe board on the floor.

· Cut several large squares out of poster board. (Squares should be large enough to hold three sentences and small enough to fit inside tic–tac-toe squares.

· On each poster board square, print the same sentence three times, each time ending the sentence with a different punctuation mark.

· EXAMPLE

That’s your car.

That’s your car?

That’s your car!

· Using ten additional poster board squares make five “X” cards and five “O” cards. Give one student the “X” cards and the other the “O” cards.

· Tape a poster board card with sentences on it to each square on the floor.

· Give students a beanbag to toss.

· Explain to students that they must toss a beanbag into a square and then read each of the three sentences with the proper inflection.

· Student puts “X” or “O” in the spot if sentences are read correctly.

· Winner is the first student to get tic-tac-toe (diagonally, horizontally or vertically)

(Pavalak, p. 144)

Phrase Flasher

· Make flash cards out of strips of oaktag and print phrases on them. The cards should be large enough so that all students in the group can see them.

· Flash the cards to the students in the group and have them volunteer to tell what was printed on the card. Be sure to hold the cards in a position where all students in the group can see them.

· Ask students to read cards aloud in unison.

(Pavlak, p. 146)

Baseball

· Make flashcards with basic sight words.

· Make the four corners of the room bases.

· Divide class into two teams.

· Designate one child as pitcher.

· Pitcher holds up the card.

· The child up to bat pronounces and defines word.

· If child is correct they go to 1^st base.

This continues until three outs are scored. After three mispronounced words teams change whom is up to bat.

( Ekwall, p.59)

“Oh No!”

This game is played with two to four students and requires at least thirty to forty sight-word cards. The cards or randomly placed facedown, along with one or two cards labels Oh No! A time limit is set for the game (five to ten minutes), and the game begins. Students take turns drawing a card and reading the word. If the word is read correctly it is placed in a pile next to the player; if not, the player returns it to the playing area and scrambles the card with the remaining cards. In either case, it is then the next player’s turn. If a player draws an Oh No! card s(he) must return any cards s(he) has accumulated, with the exception of the Oh No! card. Once drawn, this card is set aside. The cards are then re-scrambled, and the game resumes with the next player. Game continues until time is up. Players count their identified words. The player with the greatest number of cards is the winner. (Strickland, 2002, p.130)

Pop!

A great teacher introduced this game to me; it is played using a coffee can. Teacher places basic sight words and/or vocabulary word cards into a coffee can along with several cards labeled POP! Students take turns drawing a card and reading the word. If the word is read correctly it is placed in a pile next to the player; if not, the player returns the card into the coffee can. In either case, it is then the next player’s turn. If a player draws a Pop! card s(he) must return any cards s(he) has accumulated into the can. The player with the greatest number of cards is the winner. Students really enjoy this game. (This and the above game can also be played using math facts.)

Story Phrasing

Type a few short stories on a ditto master. The stories should be marked with a slash mark to indicate where students need to pause when reading.

EXAMPLE:

As Mike/ walked through the woods/ he spotted/ a fallen deer./ The young deer/ had an injured leg./ As Mike/ approached the animal,/ it began/ to thrash and squirm./ To stop the animal/ from thrashing and squirming/ and perhaps further injuring itself,/ Mike carefully marked the spot/ where the deer lay/ and he ran back/ to get his father,/ the veterinarian./ He and his father returned,/ tranquilized the deer,/ and transported it/ to their house./ Mike’s father/ treated the animal’s broken leg/ and nursed it/ back to health.

( Pavlak, p. 146)

Dictated Experience Stories

Sometimes called Language-experience approach (LEA), uses the natural language of children and their background experiences to share and discuss events, listen to and tell stories, dictate words, sentences, and stories, and write independently.

· Encourage students to suggest a topic or provide one.

· Discuss the topic. Create a web of ideas and note any special vocabulary.

· Record students’ dictated sentences on chalkboard, chart paper, or a transparency, making changes only as needed for clarity.

· Read the text aloud, and point to individual words if students are still learning to make connections between speech and print.

· Re-read the complete account, using choral reading.

· Provide students with their own copy of the story for practice re-reading with a partner or independently.

· Teacher monitors students re-reading activity and provides assistance when needed. (Strickland, 2002, p. 129)

Paired Reading Paired Tutors

In Paired Reading, Paired Tutors children are provided a Preview-Pause-Prompt-Praise (PPPP) strategy. The basic procedure is as followed:

· Preview, the tutor simply engages the student in a very brief discussion and cover art focusing on the question, “What do you think this story is about?”

· The tutor and tutee begin reading aloud together. When the tutee wishes to read alone, s(he) simply taps the table or desk and tutor allows him or her to continue on alone. If the student stumbles or misreads the text, the tutor will Pause, and literally, count to three silently or wait until the tutee reaches the end of the sentence; this allows time for self-correction. If the student does not self-correct, Prompt helpfully and strategically.

· A prompt, such as “Let’s read that again,” is recommended. If the misreading is not corrected or if the student still fails to pronounce the word, the tutor then provides the pronunciation and again reading along with the tutor. If the student self-corrects Praise is offered for the reading strategy used and then begins to read with the student until the student again taps on the table. After reading the tutor ask the student, “Tell me your favorite part of the story. (Allington, 2001, p. 76)

Repeated Reading

Repeated reading simply means having students read a passage more than one time. Samuels (1979) proposes the method of repeated reading as a strategy to develop rapid, fluent oral reading. Here are several steps when using the method of repeated reading:

· Students choose short selections (50 to 200 words) from stories that are difficult enough that they are not able to read them fluently.

· Students read the passage over several times silently until they are able to read it fluently.

· The teacher can involve students in a discussion of how athletes develop athletic skills by spending considerable time practicing basic movements until they develop speed and smoothness. Repeated reading uses the same type of practice.

· Have students tape record their first oral rendition of the passage as well as their oral rendition after practice so they can hear the difference in fluency. (Vacca, 2000, p. 202)

Timed Repeated Readings

Timed repeated reading is a strategy that consists of having students re-read short, meaningful passages of a text in a timed situation. The teacher or student may set the timed reading goal.

· Students or teachers select an interesting passage consisting of 50-200 words that they can read with at least 90% accuracy.

· Students or teachers set a reading goal of number of words read accurately per minute.

· Student reads text to another student that keeps time using a stopwatch.

· Students track their reading rate using a bar graph.

· Students switch roles.

· Formula (total words in passage) x 60

Time in seconds

Paired Reading

Paired reading is structured collaborative work involving pairs of children of the same or different reading ability to foster reading fluency.

· Students chooses an interesting short passage from an easy text (about 50 words long), making sure to end at a complete sentence, and reads the selection silently.

· While one partner reads his/her chosen passage aloud, the other listens attentively, helping with words if asked to do so.

· The reader self-evaluates the first reading by using a rubric which considers such factors as speed, smoothness, expression, and attention to punctuation, and provides a rating for reading #1; Rating the reading as great, good, so-so, not very good.

· While the partner listens attentively, the reader re-reads the passage, striving for improvement, and self-evaluates this reading.

· The listener provides feedback about the second reading by telling the reader one way this reading showed improvement over the first.

· The reader, striving for further improvement, reads the passage a third time and makes a final self-evaluation.

· The listener again provides feedback by sharing a comment with the reader.

· The students change roles and follow the same procedure.

· The teacher collects and reviews the evaluation sheets.

(Strickland, 2002, p.130)

Tape, Check, Chart

In Tape, Check, Chart, students audio-tape their own reading. After the first reading, they replay the tape while following along with the text. As they listen, students attempt to mark all the mispronunciations they produced in black ink; this is done by placing a check mark above all mispronounced words. They then read it again and again tape-record the reading. Again they listen to the tape, this time marking text with a different color pen. Finally, they read a third time, again listening and marking the misread words in different ink. Students can tally and chart the number of mispronunciations made in each reading.

(Allington, 2001, p. 76)

Tape, Time, Chart

In Tape, Time, Chart students read the text aloud several times, each time recording how long it takes to complete to passage (in seconds). The times can be recorded and charted. A stopwatch works best for this procedure. Typically each re-reading takes less time and students can observe their own progress. (Allington, 2001, p. 77)

Be the Character

In be the character the student assumes the role of the character they have selected from the story or book. They prepare a short performance, often a solo dialogue from the story or book. Costumes can be included to make this activity very fun.

(Allington, 2001, p. 83)

Being on Oprah

In this activity students take on the role of a book character that is appearing on a talk show. The teacher often plays the role of the talk show host in announcing the guest and beginning the dialogue with general prompts such as, “So tell us a little about yourself.” (Allington, 2001, p. 84)

Strategies for Leveling Books

A common criterion for determining fairly easy text is that students make no more than one error in about twenty words of running text, or 95 percent accuracy. (Adams 1990) When text is too difficult, with less than 90 percent accuracy, fluency and understanding are hindered and reading becomes a drudgery that is dreaded and often dropped. (Strickland, 2002, p. 125) Below or various ways teachers can level books.

The Three and Five Finger Rule

There are several quick methods whereby students can find their reading rate. The Five Finger Test noted in Supporting Struggling Readers and Writers suggests we instruct students to quickly read any passage in the text of interest to them that has at least 100 words, holding up one finger each time they come to a word they cannot read. If by the end of the reading, students have all five fingers raised, the book is probably too difficult for them to read independently. (Strickland, 2002, p. 22)

Allington notes in his book, What Really Matters for Struggling Readers, students can also be directed to read the first page or two of a book and hold up a finger for every word they cannot read. If they get to three fingers up the book is probably too hard and they should look for another book. (p. 52)

The Flesch-Kincaid Formula

The Flesch-Kincaid Formula is available on Microsoft Word word processing software. Go to the Grammar feature under Preferences and click on Document Statistics. By typing in text samples, or scanning them in, you can estimate, in grade level terms of the difficulty. ( Allington, 2001, p. 48)

The Dale-Chall Readability Formula

The Dale-Chall Readability Formula works best for upper-elementary materials and above. It provides a two-year difficulty band estimate (5-6 difficulty), which nicely emphasizes the notion of an “estimated” level of difficulty. The procedures is available on the Readability Master 2000 software (1-800-666-BOOK), and when this process is used, one only has to type in samples of text and the calculations are completed automatically. (Allington, 2001, p. 48)

Using Benchmark Texts

Allington found, after working with teachers and school districts, that the problem of leveling books is less a problem than is seems. He used an adaptation of the procedure recommend in Chall and her colleagues (1996). Her book offers a “qualitative assessment “ of book difficulty. The leveling process involves the use of “benchmark texts”- texts that represent different grade levels or segments of a grade level (beginning-second-, middle-second, and late-second-grade texts). Once you have the benchmark book at hand, the procedure is as followed:

· Take the book to be leveled and skim through it, looking at the page format, type size, sentence length, topic familiarity, vocabulary familiarity, and story predictability.

· Now look at the benchmark books. Find the benchmark book that most closely approximates the difficulty of the book to be leveled. Once located, label the new book the same level as the benchmark book. As the year progresses, ask yourself, “Do kids who can read this benchmark book successfully also seem successful in the newly label book?” If so, then let the level stay as it is. If not, re-label the book as a level or so harder or easier. (p. 51)