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Tool 07

Fluency

Objectives

Teachers will:

  • Define reading fluency with consideration of the many skills it takes to read fluently

  • Understand at a deeper lever the complex nature of reading fluency

  • Identify the skills that contribute to fluent reading across the span of reading development

  • Know how to assess fluency

  • Know how to improve fluency


Part 1: What is Reading Fluency?


How do we become accomplished with a skill? Through practice! Practice of skills that are taught systematically and explicitly helps to build fluency with reading.


Topic 1: How do You Define Fluency?

  • Fluency is an indicator of reading proficiency. It does not mean that we read fast. And when students’ reading rate is slow, we do not respond immediately to the symptom.


Topic 2: The Researchers Define Fluency

  • Researchers define what they are researching. Several definitions are presented and analyzed for similarities.

  • Fluency includes accurate decoding, sight recognition, word meaning, comprehending sentences, relating text to prior knowledge and making inferences.

Topic 3: Should I be Teaching Fluency?

  • Teachers will learn what it means to teach fluency.

Part 2: The Research on Fluency


Topic 1: Unpacking Fluency and Investigating the Bottleneck Phenomenon

  • Unpacking fluency – revealing the many skills necessary for fluent reading with comprehension

  • When the skills are not applied automatically, a bottleneck occurs and reading is not fluid nor is comprehension adequate.


Topic 2: Fluency Assessment – How to Make Sense of It

  • Many skills are necessary for fluent reading. These skills are investigated and considered as teachers determine what skills are causing the bottleneck, keeping students from reading fluently.

Topic 3: Diagnostic Assessment – The Next Step

  • Teachers will receive several tools to help them plan their assessment and instruction. A Decision Tree is provided, and an Assessment Matrix that lists simple observation and other assessments of critical skills.

Part 3: Practice - Provide the Practice Students Need to Be Fluent Readers


Topic 1: Prepare to view the Lesson Videos

  • Download the Classroom Video Booklet which provides details about the video lesson along with additional ideas and tips.


Topic 2: Practice activities with individual words – Build a sight vocabulary


Topic 3: Extended practice activities with connected text

Part 4: Planning


Topic 1: Planning for Fluent Reading

  • Teachers review what they learned about assessment and planning appropriate practice opportunities for their students

  • Teachers plan instruction and practice activities to meet their students’ determined needs.

  • Teachers receive a planning guide that leads them to make the decisions necessary for targeting instruction.

Part 5: Wrap Up


Topic 1: Summary

  • A summary of the fluency research is provided, along with a review of the most beneficial teaching and practice elements to include in instruction


Topic 2: Conversation with an Expert

  • Dr. Jan Hasbrouck talks about her work with reading fluency and offers advice to teachers.

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