Principal 8
Fluency Instruction
Accomplishing this Principal in the Classroom
Fluency is a skill that takes practice and patience, like anything else gaining automaticity while doing something happens gradually. First you crawl, then you take your first stumbling steps, and then you begin to walk. It doesn’t happen overnight, just as fluency can not be taught completely over one lesson. There are many of my students that are fluent readers at grade level, however there are also many that are not. The children that are not fluent stumble over words, read out loud without emotion, take long pauses before finishing a sentence, and need constant reassurance to continue reading.
I want provide my students with all of the necessary opportunities to be able to read accurately and effortlessly. Fluency is one of the most important principles because it allows students to decode in the back of their mind while all of their efforts are spent comprehending the material they are reading. This is a good reader, one who can actively think about what they’re reading. In order to support fluency in my classroom I am, and will continue to, provide modeling through teacher centered instruction during read alouds in ELA class. I also provide students with time to read aloud to their classmates in ELA. Through this guided practice they learn how to think about the text while reading smoothly and effectively.
I want provide my students with all of the necessary opportunities to be able to read accurately and effortlessly. Fluency is one of the most important principles because it allows students to decode in the back of their mind while all of their efforts are spent comprehending the material they are reading. This is a good reader, one who can actively think about what they’re reading. In order to support fluency in my classroom I am, and will continue to, provide modeling through teacher centered instruction during read alouds in ELA class. I also provide students with time to read aloud to their classmates in ELA. Through this guided practice they learn how to think about the text while reading smoothly and effectively.
Specific Anchor & Grade Level Standards from CCSS
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.3, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.5, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.6: These three sixth grade language standards are tied to this principle of fluency because in order to read fluently one must use their knowledge of language and its conventions to automatically decode words. Secondly, understand figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meaning seamlessly and without pausing too long to comprehend the meaning the author is giving the text. And thirdly, they must have a grade level vocabulary to read grade level books and understand certain sight words and Latin and Greek originated words without pausing to decode them. As readers become more educated and have the opportunities to apply phonemic awareness, decoding, and other reading skills, they are able to read texts with a smaller error rate and become fluent readers. If readers struggle with fluency they will focus their attention on trying to sound out and decode words. In becoming fluent readers, readers can put more energy into understanding the content presented in the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.10: In order to read and comprehend at the same time a student must be fluent. They must also be able to understand the differences in literature such as the difference between a poem and nonfiction, or a drama and a short story to gain comprehension. For instance, a poem may be written in a certain style to purposely give meaning to the text. A reader should be able to fluently read such a poem and combine this meaning to the textual meaning in order to gain full comprehension.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.4: Proper expression is an important component included in fluency. According to “Scholastic,” expression is the ability of a reader to change his/her voice to show feeling. As fluency increases, students are more confident in reading and can focus on the emotions and expressions of the characters in a story. By becoming more aware of tone in a piece of literacy students can better understand individual characters and the story as a whole. They are also able to understand figurative meaning and how this effects the meaning of the story.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.10: In order to read and comprehend at the same time a student must be fluent. They must also be able to understand the differences in literature such as the difference between a poem and nonfiction, or a drama and a short story to gain comprehension. For instance, a poem may be written in a certain style to purposely give meaning to the text. A reader should be able to fluently read such a poem and combine this meaning to the textual meaning in order to gain full comprehension.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.4: Proper expression is an important component included in fluency. According to “Scholastic,” expression is the ability of a reader to change his/her voice to show feeling. As fluency increases, students are more confident in reading and can focus on the emotions and expressions of the characters in a story. By becoming more aware of tone in a piece of literacy students can better understand individual characters and the story as a whole. They are also able to understand figurative meaning and how this effects the meaning of the story.
Instructional Practices
CHORAL READING
Choral reading is way to maintain as well as practice reading fluency. This practice is when the teacher and the student reads a text at the same time aloud, the teacher served as a model and crutch to the student while they read fluently. They are able to catch their mistakes as they read. I will do this in reading class in a small group or one-to-one setting. I will choose a book that is instructional and slightly challenging for the student so that they are pushed somewhat out of their comfort zone and met with new vocabulary and writing styles they have not experienced yet. We will read the book twice a week together for a month in order to facilitate repetition and allow students another chance to go back and read without making the same mistakes. These pieces of literature will vary from exceptional award winning short plays, poems, and stories. They will receive a print copy that they read from in class and may bring home to practice if they wish. I can also do this ELA while I read aloud the assigned curricular novel. In order to assess their improvement, I will have my own personal copy of the literature which I will date and time every time we do a choral reading. The students reading with me will be recorded on my copy and I will mark areas they are having difficulty in to record their progress. At the end of the month I should be able to see a progression of improvement in rate, accuracy and fluency from the first marked copy to the last. I will meet with the student, or each student individually if we are working as a group, and conduct a final running record to summatively assess their fluency. All of this will be included in their individual reading portfolios. At the end of the month, each group or individual will present their piece of literature to the rest of the class by reading it aloud. This will improve their confidence and public speaking skills.
One issue with choral reading is that in a group of heterogeneous readers, non-fluent readers can feel overwhelmed and frustrated in trying to keep up. Therefore, I will create my groups based upon reading levels so that one student does not feel singled out. This will also allow me to ensure that each group is reading a piece of literature that is appropriately challenging for them, for a more fluent reader may be bored with a piece that is within their comfort zone. I will pause periodically to ask comprehension questions about the text.
STUDENT CENTERED CLASSROOM
I will facilitate a student centered practice when considering my classroom, I will do this by having my students read everything out loud. When I say everything, I mean everything that a teacher may have the urge to read to the class. This includes the date, learning objectives, directions, vocabulary, anchor charts, etc. This may seem inherent to some, but it is important to remember that students throve off of engagement and feeling like they are contributing to something. No child wants to sit in a classroom and listen to a teacher lecture them all day long. This is sadly a theme that grows in abundance throughout classrooms as students age. I want to break this cycle and give my students a role in their literacy learning. I will call on my students to read ensuring they all get a chance to participate, this contributes to strong public speaking skills as well as confidence in reading out loud in general. It also ensures that they are paying attention to the material we are reading because at any moment I could choose them to read. Of course, I know my students and those with any anxiety towards reading aloud I will give a silent cue towards them that they will be expected to read so that they can prepare themselves. If this becomes a real anxiety for them I will find other ways for them to read aloud until I work with them to help solve this fear of public speaking.
One criticism of this practice is that students will not be able to hear the teacher’s fluent reading as a model. This is an acceptable stance, however in my implementation of this I will read larger pieces of text such as directions first, and then ask a student to read it a second time. This does multiple things. Firstly, I am modeling to the selected student how to read the text fluently so that they feel more confident to take the reigns and read to the class themselves. I am also modeling to the entire class how that passage is correctly read fluently, just in case the selected reader may struggle in fluency. This also serves as repetition and will make comprehending the message of the text easier for students. This aligns with a student centered belief of how students learn reading best.
BUILDING AWARENESS TO SELF CORRECT
One of the biggest challenges every reader faces is actively staying aware of what they are saying while they read aloud. I catch myself as I read to the class making simple mistakes such as replacing a word with a similar one or skipping over simple words. I always practice being self aware while I am reading aloud to my students and for the most part catch myself making these mistakes and self correct. This is a strategy that students need to learn. I believe from my experience creating a student teaching video lesson for my mathematic methods class the best way to gain awareness of one’s actions is to watch or listen to yourself from the perspective of another person. For example, I did this when watching the video of my teaching and gained awareness of aspects of my teaching that I need to improve upon and am now self aware of them. This can be done for fluency instruction by simply using a voice recorder. By reading a text aloud and recording it you are able to listen to yourself as you re-read the text in your head a second time.
This serves two purposes. The first is repetition, the more you read the better you become and the more familiar you are with the text. The second, is the formative assessment the student is going to be making while listening to their recording. When they listen to their recording they are going to become aware of the areas that they not only need improvement in but also the areas they achieve. This is a good confidence booster and a way to increase self corrections while reading. I will do this once a month with my students, I have 15-20 in each reading class therefore I will take one student aside every day to record their read aloud. I will do this using a class iPad. I will save their recording for them to listen to that day and on their own if they wish to revisit it. While listening to their recording they will mark the areas on their copy of the text that they catch themselves making mistakes that they can self correct. We will go over strategies they can use, such as the cuing system, to catch errors and self correct while reading. They will then read the piece aloud to me once more and attempt to make these self corrections while reading fluently. This time that they read I will be completing a running record to track their improvement after their increased self awareness. The student’s marked paper and my own running record will be saved in their portfolios to track improvement over the course of the year. I do not see any issues arising with this.
Choral reading is way to maintain as well as practice reading fluency. This practice is when the teacher and the student reads a text at the same time aloud, the teacher served as a model and crutch to the student while they read fluently. They are able to catch their mistakes as they read. I will do this in reading class in a small group or one-to-one setting. I will choose a book that is instructional and slightly challenging for the student so that they are pushed somewhat out of their comfort zone and met with new vocabulary and writing styles they have not experienced yet. We will read the book twice a week together for a month in order to facilitate repetition and allow students another chance to go back and read without making the same mistakes. These pieces of literature will vary from exceptional award winning short plays, poems, and stories. They will receive a print copy that they read from in class and may bring home to practice if they wish. I can also do this ELA while I read aloud the assigned curricular novel. In order to assess their improvement, I will have my own personal copy of the literature which I will date and time every time we do a choral reading. The students reading with me will be recorded on my copy and I will mark areas they are having difficulty in to record their progress. At the end of the month I should be able to see a progression of improvement in rate, accuracy and fluency from the first marked copy to the last. I will meet with the student, or each student individually if we are working as a group, and conduct a final running record to summatively assess their fluency. All of this will be included in their individual reading portfolios. At the end of the month, each group or individual will present their piece of literature to the rest of the class by reading it aloud. This will improve their confidence and public speaking skills.
One issue with choral reading is that in a group of heterogeneous readers, non-fluent readers can feel overwhelmed and frustrated in trying to keep up. Therefore, I will create my groups based upon reading levels so that one student does not feel singled out. This will also allow me to ensure that each group is reading a piece of literature that is appropriately challenging for them, for a more fluent reader may be bored with a piece that is within their comfort zone. I will pause periodically to ask comprehension questions about the text.
STUDENT CENTERED CLASSROOM
I will facilitate a student centered practice when considering my classroom, I will do this by having my students read everything out loud. When I say everything, I mean everything that a teacher may have the urge to read to the class. This includes the date, learning objectives, directions, vocabulary, anchor charts, etc. This may seem inherent to some, but it is important to remember that students throve off of engagement and feeling like they are contributing to something. No child wants to sit in a classroom and listen to a teacher lecture them all day long. This is sadly a theme that grows in abundance throughout classrooms as students age. I want to break this cycle and give my students a role in their literacy learning. I will call on my students to read ensuring they all get a chance to participate, this contributes to strong public speaking skills as well as confidence in reading out loud in general. It also ensures that they are paying attention to the material we are reading because at any moment I could choose them to read. Of course, I know my students and those with any anxiety towards reading aloud I will give a silent cue towards them that they will be expected to read so that they can prepare themselves. If this becomes a real anxiety for them I will find other ways for them to read aloud until I work with them to help solve this fear of public speaking.
One criticism of this practice is that students will not be able to hear the teacher’s fluent reading as a model. This is an acceptable stance, however in my implementation of this I will read larger pieces of text such as directions first, and then ask a student to read it a second time. This does multiple things. Firstly, I am modeling to the selected student how to read the text fluently so that they feel more confident to take the reigns and read to the class themselves. I am also modeling to the entire class how that passage is correctly read fluently, just in case the selected reader may struggle in fluency. This also serves as repetition and will make comprehending the message of the text easier for students. This aligns with a student centered belief of how students learn reading best.
BUILDING AWARENESS TO SELF CORRECT
One of the biggest challenges every reader faces is actively staying aware of what they are saying while they read aloud. I catch myself as I read to the class making simple mistakes such as replacing a word with a similar one or skipping over simple words. I always practice being self aware while I am reading aloud to my students and for the most part catch myself making these mistakes and self correct. This is a strategy that students need to learn. I believe from my experience creating a student teaching video lesson for my mathematic methods class the best way to gain awareness of one’s actions is to watch or listen to yourself from the perspective of another person. For example, I did this when watching the video of my teaching and gained awareness of aspects of my teaching that I need to improve upon and am now self aware of them. This can be done for fluency instruction by simply using a voice recorder. By reading a text aloud and recording it you are able to listen to yourself as you re-read the text in your head a second time.
This serves two purposes. The first is repetition, the more you read the better you become and the more familiar you are with the text. The second, is the formative assessment the student is going to be making while listening to their recording. When they listen to their recording they are going to become aware of the areas that they not only need improvement in but also the areas they achieve. This is a good confidence booster and a way to increase self corrections while reading. I will do this once a month with my students, I have 15-20 in each reading class therefore I will take one student aside every day to record their read aloud. I will do this using a class iPad. I will save their recording for them to listen to that day and on their own if they wish to revisit it. While listening to their recording they will mark the areas on their copy of the text that they catch themselves making mistakes that they can self correct. We will go over strategies they can use, such as the cuing system, to catch errors and self correct while reading. They will then read the piece aloud to me once more and attempt to make these self corrections while reading fluently. This time that they read I will be completing a running record to track their improvement after their increased self awareness. The student’s marked paper and my own running record will be saved in their portfolios to track improvement over the course of the year. I do not see any issues arising with this.