FLUENCY

Assessing & Teaching this KEY Reading Skill

Jan Hasbrouck, Ph.D.

Seattle, WA

WHAT IS READING FLUENCY?

The ability to read

 

accurately quickly



with expression

WHO ARE THESE STUDENTS?

DESCRIPTORS:  Read haltingly  Slow, laborious readers  Read word —by—word  Uncertain of sight words  Ignore punctuation

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

National Reading Panel (2000)

Five Key Instructional Components



Phonemic Awareness



Phonics



Fluency



Vocabulary



Comprehension Strategies

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)

Bridge to Comprehension

Fluency forms the bridge between word recognition & comprehension

FLUENCY Identifying Words Constructing Meaning

MEASURING READING FLUENCY

the number of words in text read correctly per minute or… (wcpm) letters, sounds, words

ASSESSING FLUENCY:

3 ROLES

#1 FINDING

students who may need intervention assistance in reading

#2 DIAGNOSING

fluency problems

#3 MONITORING PROGRESS

to determine if reading skills are improving

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

Hasbrouck & Tindal Norms for Oral Reading Fluency for Grades 2-5 Grade Percentile 2 3 4 5 75 50 25 75 50 25 75 50 25 75 50 25

Fall

WCPM * 82 53 23 107 79 65 125 99 72 126 105 77

Winter

WCPM * 106 78 46 123 93 70 133 112 89 143 118 93

Upper grades: 150 wcpm/50th percentile

Spring

WCPM * 124 94 65 142 114 87 143 118 92 151 128 100

PROVIDING FLUENCY

INSTRUCTION or INTERVENTION

ON & BEYOND / APPROACHING LEVEL

In-class practice opportunities

INTERVENTION

Explicit, systematic instruction/practice

Key Research Findings

• Guided reading practice improves fluency for “typical” students • Independent practice (silent reading)

NOT

sufficient to improve fluency

PASSAGE READING PRACTICES TO IMPROVE FLUENCY

Traditional practice:

Round robin reading

from science, social studies, literature, chapter books

Students take turns reading parts of a text aloud

ALTERNATIVES TO ROUND ROBIN



Choral Reading



Cloze Reading



Partner Reading

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.”

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”

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.”

Establishing Partners

 Avoid pairing highest and lowest skilled readers  Consider taking lowest readers into a small group for practice with the teacher

Establishing Partners

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Ebonie Jazmine Bobby Celisse Marsha Krishon Sammy Jamie Orlando Miquel 11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

Michael Andrea Ezra Juan Amy Hyun Ha Mari Harry Sarah Ashante’ 21.

22.

Quan Kyesha 23. Francisco 24. Angelica

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.

INSTRUCTION for INTERVENTION

(a)

FOLLOWING A MODEL

Reading along with a model of accurate reading from an audio tape/CD OR a skillful reader

(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

PROVIDE FLUENCY INSTRUCTION AT A

CHALLENGING INSTRUCTIONAL LEVEL

 Model provides

SCAFFOLDING

;  Students must

WORK HARD

toward achieving goal to see real progress

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

Focus on Fluency

Osborn & Lehr

www.prel.org

FREE!

Assessing Fluency

Tim Rasinski

www.prel.org

FREE!

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.

 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.

 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)

 Rasinski, T. Assessing Reading Fluency

www.prel.org (free booklet)



READ NATURALLY “Reading Fluency Monitor”

www.readnaturally.com 1-800-788-4085 [email protected]

 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

Contact Information:

Jan Hasbrouck, Ph.D.

Educational Consultant Seattle, WA www.jhasbrouck.com