Fluency
Fluency is very important for helping students develop reading and writing comprehension. In order for students to read with speed, accuracy, and proper expression, students need to be taught strategies to build fluency. They need to understand how to decode a text and read aloud in phases with appropriate intonation and smoothness. Becoming a fluent reader will also help student to become a fluent writer. Students need to understand the use for punctuation and phasing in their writing to make it easier for other people to comprehend their thoughts. Some reading strategies that will help to build fluency and contribute to increased writing skills include phrased reading, reader’s theater, echo reading, guided reading, and paired reading.
Phrased Reading & Writing
Phrased reading involves breaking a text up into meaningful phases using slashes to determine the beginning or ending of a phrase. Teachers should model how to read a text with slashes and then give students time to practice placing slashes in a passage. Teachers may help students break up a text until they are capable of doing it on their own. This technique helps students that may read too fast or tent to pass over punctuation. Which is very helpful for writing because students that start writing do not add punctuation or know how to properly has punctuation to their writing (Kiehl, K., 2013).
Reader's Theater
Reader’s theater helps students to develop fluency to increase comprehension by engaging students to perform a dramatic script out loud using only their voices. This helps students to become motivated and engaged in building fluency because students find it fun to perform. Teachers should start instruction my modeling the process of how to read with expression, proper emphasis, and clear enunciation. It is important to provide scripts that interest students and allow students time to practice their script before sharing with others (K12 Reader, 2012). Reader’s theater also includes writing because students could practice writing their own scripts to read for others. Students will be motivated to write a script that conveys meaning for their classmates. Overall, this strategy allows students to build their writing and reading skills at the same time.
Echo Reading
Echo reading occurs by the teacher reading sentences out load while having the student follow and listen for how to phrase and emphasize words, then take turns echoing. This reading strategy is designed to helps students develop expressive, fluent reading with confidence. Teachers should choose a text with approximately 200 words for the student to read that is near their frustration reading level (Bright Hub Education, 2012).
Writing can be incorporated by having students write their own stories to use for echo reading. Students could be paired with another student and share reading their stories. Then, the students could ask each other comprehension questions about their stories.
Writing can be incorporated by having students write their own stories to use for echo reading. Students could be paired with another student and share reading their stories. Then, the students could ask each other comprehension questions about their stories.
Guided Reading & Writing
During guided reading a teacher will help students in a small group or one-on-one to develop accuracy and word recognition with reading to build comprehension. Students should be reading a text that is at or slightly above their independent reading level. Before a teacher starts a guided reading session, students should be assessed on their reading skills to be placed in appropriate grounds. Students should also be assessed on a regular basis for the teacher to regroup students as they grow with reading skills. Teachers can incorporate a guided reading station into instruction by having a table designated in the classroom to meet at. The best table for a small group would be kidney table where the teacher sits in the middle on one side and the students form around the teacher on the other side. When starting a guided reading group, students should be aware of what is expected (Hayden, K. & Grove, A., 2012).
Along with guided reading, teachers could make a guided writing area in the classroom for students. Students could be required to write a paper or story and receive guidance on their writing skills from the teacher. Reading with fluency and comprehension will help students to transfer those skills to writing. Without guidance, students will struggle with writing and it will be difficult to increase skills.
Along with guided reading, teachers could make a guided writing area in the classroom for students. Students could be required to write a paper or story and receive guidance on their writing skills from the teacher. Reading with fluency and comprehension will help students to transfer those skills to writing. Without guidance, students will struggle with writing and it will be difficult to increase skills.
Paired Reading & Writing
Paired reading is when partners read out loud to each other at the same time or by taking turns and providing feedback. Partners could be a teacher and a student or a student with another student. If students are paired, they should be on the same reading level or high-level reading with a low level reading. Teachers should introduce paired reading by modeling and establishing a routine for students to follow. Paired reading can be used with a variety of reading materials. If a teacher and students were to do paired reading, the teacher and student could read together or the teacher could read a sentence and then the students would read the next sentence. This routine engages students to work on comprehension because it is interactive (Reading Rockets, 2014).
Paired writing can also be added to a classroom to build comprehension. A teacher and student could take turns writing a story or a student and other student. For example, the teacher could write a sentence and then the student could add to the story. This would allow the teacher to see if the student comprehends the story based on the sentences added. Another example of paired writing could be for the student to tell another student what to write and then switch roles.
Paired writing can also be added to a classroom to build comprehension. A teacher and student could take turns writing a story or a student and other student. For example, the teacher could write a sentence and then the student could add to the story. This would allow the teacher to see if the student comprehends the story based on the sentences added. Another example of paired writing could be for the student to tell another student what to write and then switch roles.
Videos
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HcmirPhpKk
The teacher in this video presents a mini-lesson in action for phrased reading. The teacher starts her instruction by explaining what phrased reading is and then moves into modeling how phased reading should look. The modeling engages the students to try phrased reading themselves, so she allows the students to try reading in phrases. Allowing the students to read in phrases is a good time to assess for student understanding and decide if re-teaching of the concept is necessary before moving on. This strategy will help students to build fluency and increase their comprehension while reading. Students will focus less time concentrating on trying to read with accuracy and more time on comprehending what the text is trying to say. (FortschoolsPLC’s Channel, 2012) |
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBr7bPj-a7w
This video presents instruction using echo reading to help a small group of student to build fluency. The teacher starts by reading a sentence and has the student follow alone in their books. Then, the teacher has the students repeat the same line she just read. The “I do” , “we do” really helps to keep the student engaged in reading and it is easy for the teacher assess if the students is struggling with the reading passage. This strategy is used to build fluency, but will also help students to build comprehension because they are following along in the book as the teacher reads and also reading the same sentence themselves. |