Word Study and Fluency
The role of fluency that are within the five elements of reading
Slide 1:
Fluency is the ability of reading a text accurately and quickly. Fluent readers are able to recognize words easily and categories words while reading, creating a virtuous flow of words instead of pauses between words. Fluency develops by practicing-children develop to be fluent readers as they read more. By taking your child to the local library and helping, they borrow books. It is necessary to have an excellent reading fluency because it gives a sense of reading comprehension and word recognition. Slide 2: Fluent readers are known to excel at oral reading. This is shown by the natural and smooth expression. Fluent readers focus their whole attention on what the text means because they do not have to concentrate on understanding the actual words. The fluency also helps them to compare the text and their personal background through mental connections (Anderman & Anderman, 2009, p.282).
Slide 3:
A less fluent reader, have to focus on individual word decoding and have a lot of difficulty in reading orally, often slow and without natural expression. Reading fluency is extremely crucial to students as it helps them develop the comprehension skills. This comprehension skills help during examination time as the students are able to read and understand the questions easily and are able to complete their paper within the given duration (Cummins, 1979, p.198).
Slide 4: Research- based strategies for fluency teaching
Several strategies can be used to improve one’s fluency. Some of them include:
1) Model fluent reading
In order to read fluently, a person must first listen and understand what and how fluent reading sounds like. This may help them to transfer the experience during their own reading. This experience is mostly powerfully got during loud reading with many expressions. The loud reading experience must be in such a manner that it makes the listener to become interested in reading (Berninger et al 2006, p.336).
Slide 5:
2) Repeating readings
Repeated readings in a class are advisable as they help the students to recognize words with high frequency more easily. This strengthens their willingness to read, and this in turn improves their fluency in reading. By practicing the reading of short passages as many times as possible promotes fluency.
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3) Class promotion of phrased reading
Because fluency involves reading of phrases seamlessly, contrary to word-by-word it is better to begin with poems, which are terrific poems.
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4) Enlisting tutors to help out
This strategy is used in providing support to the non-fluent readers. This is achieved through asking tutors, parent tutors and older students to help the non-fluent readers. T he helper can read a text loud simultaneously while the student listens attentively. By the offering of a positive feedback when a reader reads well and helping the reader struggles, it provides a direct meaningful support. This gives moral to the readers and they become interested in reading which improves their fluency (Schwartz, 2005, p. 260).
Slide 8:
5) Trying A Reader’s Theater in class
Since reader’s theater is a script performed orally, it is therefore, the best way to promote fluency. In the real exercise, the meaning is conveyed through intonation and expression. This gives a focus of interpreting a script instead of memorizing it (Slavin, 2004, p.63).
Slide 9: Getting started in this is an easy thing. It simply starts with giving each student of a chosen script and then reading it loud as any other literature piece. After reading it loudly, it is also convenient to do an echo read to involve the entire group of students. Then choose some students to read the same script and also invite all the other students to participate in the performance. This will help them to get experience in reading fluency (Berninger et al 2006, p.335).
Slide 10: The influence of fluency on comprehension reading
Fluency is a significant factor in comprehension reading and contributes a lot to how one handles the comprehension. First, it helps in the understanding the comprehension and also fast reading of the comprehension. With the fluency, one is able to get the inner meaning of a comprehension. This is because most of the comprehensions always have an inside meaning apart from the outside meaning. Slide 11: Fluency is also noteworthy as it is time conserving. This helps students and other people who are entitled to tackling of comprehensions to be able to do it in the expected time limitation. This helps them to pass easily their examinations and to do a lot of literature, which is helpful to their careers (Anderman & Anderman, 2009, p.646).
Slide 12: Assessments for fluency
Fluency is effectively assessed in many ways. Mostly fluency is assessed in the way one expresses oneself while reading a certain text or comprehension. Fluency is also assessed in the way one presents his or her piece of literature or anything that is comprehension-like. Another measure for assessment for fluency is the movement of the lips during reading. One will assess fluency of a person by the way they move their lips while reading a text or a comprehension. The speed is also another factor that can be used to determine if the reader is fluent or not (Decker, 2003, p.23).
Slide 13: References
Anderman, E, M. & Anderman, L.H. (2009). Criterion-Referenced Tests. Psychology of
Classroom Learning: An Encyclopedia, Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, vol. 1.
p281-284.
Anderman, E, M. & Anderman, L.H. (2009). Norm-Referenced Testing. Psychology of
Classroom Learning: An Encyclopedia, Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, vol. 2.
p645-648
Berninger VW, Abbott RD, Vermeulen K& Fulton CM. (2006). Paths to Reading
Comprehension in At-Risk Second Grade Readers. Journal of Learning Disabilities
vol. 39 (4): 334-351
Cummins, J. (1979). Cognitive-Academic Language Proficiency, Linguistic, Interdependence
Optimal Age and Some Other Matters. Working Papers on Bilingualism, 19, 197-
205.
Decker, G. C. (2003). Creating a Framework to Make Data-Driven Instruction a Reality.
Multimedia Schools, vol. 10(2), p22-28
Schwartz, R. M. (2005). Literacy Learning of At-Risk First Grade Students in the Reading
Recovery Early Intervention. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97(2), 257-267
Slavin, R. E. (2004). Built to last. Remedial and Special Education, 25(1), 61-66.
