“Miss Emilee,I…can’t…read…this!”

Increasing Reading Fluency in Elementary Students

Read the Following passage… In mathematics, hyperbolic geometry is a non-Euclidean

geometry, meaning that the parallel postulate of Euclidean geometry is replaced. The parallel postulate in Euclidean geometry is equivalent to the statement that, in two-dimensional space, for any given line l and point P not on l, there is exactly one line through P that does not intersect l; i.e., that is parallel to l. In hyperbolic geometry there are at least two distinct lines through P, which do not intersect l, so the parallel postulate is false. Models have been constructed within Euclidean geometry that obey the axioms of hyperbolic geometry, thus proving that the parallel postulate is independent of the other postulates of Euclid. Because there is no precise hyperbolic analogue to Euclidean parallel lines, the hyperbolic use of parallel and related terms varies among writers. In this article, the two limiting lines are called asymptotic and lines sharing a common perpendicular are called ultra parallel; the simple word parallel may apply to both. A characteristic property of hyperbolic geometry is that the angles of a triangle add to less than a straight angle (half circle). In the limit as the vertices go to infinity, there are even ideal hyperbolic triangles in which all three angles are 0°.

Were you able to finish the passage in the 30 seconds you were given?

Did the passage make sense to you?

What was the main message the author was trying to get across?

What is Reading Fluency?“Accuracy in reading grade-level passages

aloud, as measured by words read correctly per minute”

“Reading that expresses the reader’s understanding of the author’s message and tone”

“The ability to read phrases and sentences smoothly and quickly, while understanding them as expressions of complete ideas”

“Fluent readers read aloud, text flows as if strung together like pearls on a necklace, rather than sounding halting and choppy”

My Definition of Reading FluencyCombination of definitionsImportant for students to learn and practice

reading smoothly, quickly, and accurately, however being able to understand the authors message is just as important. I believe that they work hand in hand.

A reader can not be considered a fluent reader without mastering all these aspects of reading.

Where did I Start?How I can most effectively work with

students on fluency in conjunction with their daily reading groups?

Fluently reading is more enjoyable because it is not as much work

Multiple sources to gather teaching tools that focus on my definition of fluency

Wanted to accomplish more than just improving their score on the test that assesses fluency

Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills

DIBELSMeasures seven indicators – Initial Sound

Fluency, Letter Naming Fluency, Phoneme Segmentation Fluency, Nonsense Word Fluency, Oral Reading Fluency, Retell Fluency, Word Use Fluency

Three primary uses – screening instrument, progress monitoring assessments, and outcome assessments

Students that test into “at-risk” become part of a RTI (Response to Intervention) group and are required to receive at least tier 2 instruction

The Three Tier Model

DIBELS in My ClassroomThis year was Hughes first year using

DIBELSThey were only doing RTI groups for K-2After sitting in on several of the testing

sessions and finding out that my students weren’t going to be doing RTI groups I became interested in how I could incorporate interventions into my guided reading groups.

3rd grade Benchmark is 110 words per minute in the ORF and they are also tested on RTF

My RTI GroupWorked with the eight students that scored in

“at-risk” on the ORF part of the testFormed Guided Reading Groups with those

eight students / Guided Reading group is a half hour of reading instruction each day

Four of these students qualified for additional reading support in the Resource Room

Three qualified for reading support through Title 1

One student didn’t receive any reading support prior to the DIBELS test

My RTI GroupWeek 1 & 2 – Incorporated fluency work into

our half hour of guided reading timeWeek 3 & 4 – Continued to do our half hour of

guided reading time and added 15 minutes of fluency activities three times a week.

I also tried to read with these students and discuss text as much as possible, whether I just listened to them read during silent reading or asked them questions about the AR book they were reading this month, I just wanted them thinking about reading as much as possible

Reading Fluency in ActionTimed ReadingsPoetry

Readers Theater

Word Lists

Choral Reading

Guided Reading

Repeated Reading

Timed ReadingsPreview the passage – Look at title, any bolded words,

pictures, any unfamiliar punctuation Make predictions about what we think the passage will be

aboutI read the passage once to the studentsChoral read the passage together, assigning the students

different parts of the passageTalk about what the passage was about and what we

learned from itTake turns reading passage to a partner, marking how far

each reader got after one minuteDo several timed readings of the same passage with a

partner

Passage Example

for timed reading

Poetry“With rehearsal, reading poems aloud enables

children to feel the joy of successful fluent reading, encouraging attention to expression and intonation”

Worked with short poemsColor a picture that goes with poemRead it lots of different ways

TogetherAssign partsIndividuallyWith a partner

Fluency DataProgress Monitoring – Collected DIBELS data (Oral

Reading Fluency and Retell Fluency) from the students 3 times1st – Set the baseline for my intervention before I even

began doing fluency activities with the students 2nd – After first two weeks of activities3rd – After four weeks of activities

Observed students during our guided reading time to look for improvements in fluency and comprehension This data is just as importantLots of factors can influence performance in DIBELSThe test is just a quick look at what students can do

Progress Monitoring of ORF

1 2 340

50

60

70

80

90

Progress Monitoring of ORF

Series1Series2Series3Series4Series5

Word

s per

min

ute

Progress Monitoring of RTF

1 2 310

25

40

55

70

85

Progress Monitoring of RTF

Series1Series2Series3Series4Series5

# o

f W

ord

s in

Rete

ll

Next Steps for Reading FluencyIf I was going to continue being in the classroom and

working with my RTI group…Continue with the schedule of weeks 3 & 4Try in add more fluency practice for the students that

isn’t led by meTimed readingsPoetryReader’s TheaterUse the guided reading time to really focus on

comprehensionKeep looking at the new research about reading fluencyUse other forms of fluency and comprehension testing

besides DIBELS to see where the students are

Bibliography Adams, Gail N., and Sheron M. Brown. The Six-minute Solution:

A Reading Fluency Program. Longmont, Colo.: Sopris West Educational Services, 2004. Print.

Hall, Susan L. I've DIBEL'd, Now What?: Designing Interventions With DIBELS Data. Longmont, Colo.: Sopris West Educational Services, 2006. Print.

McCardle, Peggy D., Vinita Chhabra, and Barbara A. Kapinus. Reading Research in Action: a Teacher's Guide for Student Success. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Pub.2008. Print.

Prescott-Griffin, Mary Lee., and Nancy L. Witherell. Fluency in Focus: Comprehension Strategies for All Young Readers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2004. Print.

Samuels, S. Jay., and Alan E. Farstrup. What Research Has to Say about Fluency Instruction. Newark, DE: International Reading Association, 2006. Print.