Literacy in Action Module 5
Reading Fluency and
Reflections on Module 4
Close and Critical Reading

Share with your table partners the result of your work with close and critical reading.
What did you notice about the students while employing close and critical reading?
engagement thinking sharing

Literacy in Action
Module 5

You will
• Understand the importance of focusing on reading fluency
• Experience fluency instructional strategies and fluency assessment
• Develop a plan for supporting fluency development in MS and HS content area courses
National Institute for Literacy, What Content Area Teachers Should Know about Literacy, p. 11

• the ability to read text accurately and smoothly with little conscious attention to the mechanics of
reading.
Fluent readers read text with appropriate
• automaticity
• rate/speed
• accuracy
• prosody
• proper intonation and expression
• variation in rhythmic and tonal aspects of speech
(pitch, loudness, speed, rhythm, and pause), which provide the spoken equivalent of written text
National Institute for Literacy, What Content Area Teachers Should Know about Literacy, p. 11

National Institute for Literacy, What Content Area Teachers Should Know about Literacy, p. 11

As fluent oral readers, we
- chunk words into meaningful groups
- vary the pitch and the intonation patterns of our voice
- place stress on some words but not on others
- punctuate our speech with pauses and rising inflections to indicate thought breaks or questions
Effective oral readers can also transfer these skills to silent reading.
Literacy Strategies for Grades 4 – 12, Karen Tankersley ASCD
2005



Read a challenging (dense, unfamiliar) text
Write a short summary

Discuss challenges and fluency issues


Identify position on Fluency Continuum
Transition Chart
Important Transitions Ch. 7 “Recognizing Change over Time in
Fluent Reading” in Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency,
Fountas and Pinnell (2006)

Important Transitions Ch. 7 “Recognizing Change over Time in Fluent Reading” in Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency,
Fountas and Pinnell (2006)


Discuss the idea that “fluency is not a stage.” When have you been a less-than-fluent reader yourself? What strategies did you use to get through the difficult material?

In what ways do you provide modeling and feedback to your students?

Consider at least two strategies that you could use with students to provide modeling or feedback.

To improve reading, students have to read more. How might you increase the amount of time that students actually spend reading in your classroom or school?

Where do most of your students fall on the fluency
rubric? What strategies are you using to ensure fluency development?

Struggling readers
- lack fluency, read slowly, and often stop to sound out words.
- may reread sections of texts to gain comprehension.
- may spend so much time and cognitive energy decoding individual words that their focus is drawn away from comprehension.
“Important Transitions” Handout

- the level of text difficulty
- the degree of familiarity the reader has with the words, content, and genre of the text
- the amount of practice with the text
- the reader’s metacognitive abilities
- the reader’s motivation and engagement

Why should middle school teachers focus on fluency?
- Bridge between word recognition and comprehension
- Fluent readers at MS
- Read 100-160 wpm
- Have automatic word recognition skills
- Group words into meaningful phrases or chunks
- Read with expression
- Make few word identification errors and usually selfcorrect when they do make errors
- Understand what they read
- Train students to read effortlessly – free to focus on comprehension
Notes from Reading Teachers Sourcebook (Chapter 8 Fluency) http://www.meadowscenter.org/vgc/downloads/middle_school_instruction/RTS_Ch8.pdf

Increased reading volume → CCR
“Being able to read complex text independently and proficiently is essential for high achievement in college and the workplace and important in numerous life tasks… if students cannot read challenging texts with understanding – if they have not developed the skill, concentration, and stamina to read such texts – they will read less in general.
…’To grow, our students must read lots, and more specifically they must read lots of ‘complex’ texts—texts that offer them new language, new knowledge, and
new modes of thought’ (Adams) ” CCSS Appendix A, p. 4

• Pausing the way reader’s voice is guided by punctuation
• Phrasing the way readers put words together in groups to represent the meaningful units of language
• Stress emphasis readers place on particular words (louder tone) to reflect the meaning as speakers would do in oral language
• Intonation way reader varies the voice in tone, pitch, and volume to reflect the meaning of the text (“expression”)
• Rate pace at which the reader moves through the text
• Integration the way reader consistently orchestrates pausing, phrasing, stress, intonation, and rate
(Fountas and Pinnell Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, p. 69)

• What conclusions can you make regarding the
focus of fluency instruction in your building, department/grade level, and classroom?
• What activities do you include in your instruction that assist students in becoming fluent readers?
Do I provide time for fluency instruction?
• In your building, department/grade level, and classroom, how do you monitor students’ fluency?
From “News you Can Use - Reading Fluency: What, Why, and How?” by Mike Dunn

Developmental View – focuses on acquisition of basic constituents of reading fluency
- accuracy, pace, reading with expression
- students develop fluency along with comprehension
Linguistic View
– focuses on how language works, including phrasing and intonation
- How phrases and sentences influence meaning
- Increased reading prosody
Automaticity View
– role of automaticity of basic component skills, and how students can instinctively associate what words look like with what they mean
Reading Fluency Revisited (Fluency Instruction: Research-Based Best Practices, Pt. I Fluency Theory,
Fluency Research, Ch. 5, B. Walker, K. Mokhtari, S. Sargent) p. 76-86

Perspectives on Fluency Instruction
Note: Bolded strategies included in Module 5
Developmental View
Shared Reading – Model Fluent Reading
- Fluency Development Lesson (FDL) focuses on improving comprehension
- Focuses on performance and word study
- Reread short passage several times
- Guided Reading -- Wide and Deep Reading – Responsive Reading
Linguistic View
- Deep Reading
- Marking and Modeling
- Sentence Combining
Phrase Boundaries
- Performance Reading (Readers’ Theatre, Choral, Recitation)
Automaticity View
Repeated Readings
- Paired Reading
- Assisted Reading (Teacher, Tape, Peer)
Reading Fluency Revisited (Fluency Instruction: Research-Based Best Practices, Pt. I Fluency Theory,
Fluency Research, Ch. 5, B. Walker, K. Mokhtari, S. Sargent) p. 76-86

Assessing Reading Fluency –
Monitoring Fluency Development
Three components of fluency
• Accuracy - accurate decoding of words in text
• Automaticity - decoding words with minimal use of attentional resources
• Prosody - the appropriate use of phrasing and expression to convey meaning.

- Multidimensional Fluency Scale (NAEP)
- Cloze Procedure
- NAEP Fluency Scale
- Rate and Accuracy Assessment (CBM/ORF)
Reading Fluency Revisited (Ch. 5, Fluency Theory, Fluency Research) p. 76-86

Model Fluent Oral Reading
Shared Reading (Handout)
Pale Blue Dot
(Excerpt) by Carl Sagan
Read by Carl Sagan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl5dlbCh8lY
- Just listen to first reading
- Note inflections, pauses, phrasing, emphasis
- For second reading, follow along with transcript
(slightly different than GHR text)

http://www.readingtothecore.com/ghr.html
Guided highlighted reading for
- Summary
- Author’s craft – text features
- Vocabulary
- Critical Analysis
Addressed in Modules 2, 3, and 4
GHR prompts and activities included for some texts used for fluency development in Module 5
Texts will be used again in Module 6 – Beyond CCR and
Assessment

Modeling and Repeated Reading
Students need to hear explicit models of fluent reading.
Kelly Gallagher’s Reading Minute
• Teacher (later in year, student) shares an interesting short text (poetry, newspaper, magazine, excerpt from current novel)
• Models fluent reading
• Students listen, then write a one-sentence summary or thesis statement for the “Reading Minute” selection http://www.stenhouse.com/assets/PDFs/0356ho.pdf
as described in Reading Reasons: Motivational Mini-Lessons
for Middle and High School by Kelly Gallagher

Modeling and Repeated Reading
Students need to hear explicit models of fluent reading.
Adapted Reading Minute Activity for Module 5
• Collect readings appropriate to your content area
• Read orally to students one to five minutes every day
• Provide copies for students to follow along
• In pairs, students re-read the selection aloud (paired repeated reading)
• Students time paired reading; (note mistakes)
• Note number of words read in one minute on first and second reads (see example)
• Record WCPM on Fluency chart
• (Each student writes a one-sentence summary)

Partner Reading
(as described in Reading Teachers Sourcebook)
• Students read and reread text with partners.
• Assign partners.
• Assign text on the instructional level of the lower-level reader.
• Teach partner reading routine.
• Partner 1 reads first paragraph. Partner follows along.
• Partner 2 reads the same paragraph.
• Students briefly discuss what they just read by retelling what happened or by identifying the main idea of the paragraph.
• Repeat steps 1-3 until passage is complete.
• Model
• Provide guided practice
• Provide independent practice
Notes from Reading Teachers Sourcebook (Chapter 8 Fluency)

Adapted Reading Minute Activity for Module 5
Questions for student reflection of repeated or partner reading (in reading journal)
• Why do you think you made this mistake?
• Did it affect your understanding?
• Do you know what the word means?
• Does the word you said look like the one in the text?
• Did you correct the rough area?
• What could you do next time?
From “Retrospective Miscue Analysis,” Gretchen Owocki Common Core
Lesson Book, p. 363-64

Select from one of the texts in your handout.
Practice reading your text silently for one minute.
Find a reading buddy and take turns reading your selection. (one minute each)
Provide feedback to one another (using student reflection questions)

Developmental View
- Multidimensional Fluency Scale (NAEP)
Linguistic View
- Cloze Procedure (deletions)
- Maze Procedure (choices) http://www.interventioncentral.org/tools/maze-passage-generator
Maze Passage Generator, cut and paste content text)
- NAEP Fluency Scale
Automaticity View
- Rate and Accuracy Assessment (CBM/ORF )
Reading Fluency Revisited (Ch. 5, Fluency Theory, Fluency Research) p. 76-86

3
4
1
2
5
6
7-8
End of Grade Oral Reading Silent Reading
Rates (WPM) Rates (WPM)
50-80
80 -100
100-120
120-145
145-170
170-190
190-225
55-80
80-110
110-135
135-165
165-190
190-210
210-230
Figure 6-8, Oral Reading Rates, Ch. 6 “Understanding the Fluent Reader”
Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Fountas and Pinnell (2006)

Progress Monitoring
• Curriculum-Based Measurement Oral Reading Fluency
Assessment (CBM/ORF)
• Student reads passage for one minute while teacher or partner marks mistakes (or records reading for later teacher analysis)
• Determine WCPM
• Student Charts WCPM on Fluency Chart
• Accuracy = WCPM/WPM
Notes from Reading Teachers Sourcebook (Chapter 8 Fluency)

100
90
80
70
60
50
WCPM
Errors
Title
Date
60 70 80 90 100
4 4 5 4 5 xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
9/7 9/21 10/5 10/19 11/2

Measuring Accuracy and Rate in CBM/ORF
• Select passage(s) ~ 250 words at student’s grade placement.
Check using text readability formula.
• Student reads passage for one minute, aloud in normal way; tape-record the reading.
• Mark uncorrected errors (mispronunciations, substitutions, reversals, omissions, or words pronounced by the examiner after a wait of 2-3 seconds without an attempt or response from the student). Mark point in the text after one minute of reading.
• Repeat steps 1 and 2 with two different passages (optional); use the median or middle score for analysis.
• Determine accuracy by dividing WCPM by the total number of words read). Compare the student’s performance against the target norms in Table 1.
• Determine rate by calculating the total number of WCPM and comparing the student’s performance against the target norms in
Table 2.

http://www.fcrr.org/forf_mazes/forf10-11.shtml
http://www.fcrr.org/assessment/pdf/forf-maze/Risk_Levels_Maze_6-8_1011.pdf
http://www.fcrr.org/assessment/pdf/forf-maze/Risk_Levels_Maze_9-
12_1011.pdf
http://www.fcrr.org/assessment/pdf/forf-maze/Risk_Levels_FORF_6-8_1011.pdf
http://www.fcrr.org/assessment/pdf/forf-maze/Risk_Levels_FORF_9-
12_1011.pdf

David Paige, Timothy Rasinski, Theresa Magpuri-Pavell
Skim the article
Note recommendations
Homework – Carefully read this article

David Paige, Timothy Rasinski, Theresa Magpuri-Pavell, 2012
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Dispelling misconceptions about fluency
Multidimensional Fluency Scale
Prosody and Silent Reading Comprehension scores
Choosing materials for prosodic reading
Wide and Deep Reading
Assisted Reading
Take Action – Choral Reading
“Oral reading prosody is related to silent reading comprehension for secondary students”

“Is Fluent Expressive Reading Important for HS Readers?”






Choose a short text (100-150 words)
Provide a copy
Teacher reads with expression
Students join in choral reading
Listen for rough spots
(Audio record first and last reading)
Choral Reading of “Compassion and the World”
(Handout)

- Multidimensional Fluency Scale (NAEP)
- NAEP Fluency Scale
“Use of each rubric assumes that teachers rating students’ reading have a good sense of gradeappropriate expression, volume, phrasing, smoothness, and pace in reading.”
- Tim Rasinski
Assessing Reading Fluency, Educational Service Material, ES 0414

Multidimensional Fluency Scale ( Handout )
• Students read grade-level passage (~250 words)
• Record reading; teacher later scores reading
• Assign a score (1 to 4 points) on each of 4 dimensions of fluency
• Expression and Volume
• Phrasing
• Smoothness
• Pace
• A score of ≥ 10 ~ making good progress in fluency
• A score of ≤ 8 ~ may need additional instruction in fluency
“Oral reading prosody is related to silent reading comprehension for secondary students”
– Paige, Rasinski, Magpuri-Pavell, 2012

NAEP Fluency Scale ( Handout )
• Holistic scoring
• Goal – score of 4
• Assesses more than one dimension
• Phrasing
• Syntax preservation
• Expression

NAEP Fluency Scale
 Level 4 Reads primarily in larger, meaningful phrase groups .
Although some regressions, repetitions, and deviations from text may be
story. Preservation of the author's syntax is consistent . Some or most of the story is read with expressive interpretation .
 Level 3 Reads primarily in three- or four-word phrase groups . Some smaller groupings may be present. However, the majority of phrasing seems appropriate and preserves the syntax of the author. Little or no expressive interpretation is present.
 Level 2 Reads primarily in two-word phrases with some three-or fourword groupings. Some word-by-word reading may be present. Word groupings may seem awkward and unrelated to larger context of sentence or passage.
 Level 1 Reads primarily word-by-word . Occasional two-word or threeword phrases may occur, but these are infrequent and/or they do not preserve meaningful syntax.

Features of Fluency
Prosodic Features
• Pitch (high or low tone)
• Loudness (soft of loud voice)
• Speed (fast of slow)
• Pause (short or long)
Paralinguistic Features
• Whisper, breathiness, huskies, nasality, over articulation
Examples of Prosodic and Paralinguistic Features
• Clipped, elongated, louder, softer pause, even pitch, high pitch, low pitch, whisper, nasality, breathiness, lip rounding
The Reading Teacher’s Book of Lists, Fry and Kress (2006), List122

Additional Oral Reading Activities
Sentence Tunes (List 125)
• Change the way we say something to change the meaning
• Multi-tuned sentences
• Supersegmental phonemes
• Shift emphasis
• Example sentences
• I did not say you stole my red hat. (Handout)
• Tom didn’t push George first.
• I didn’t tell Mom you spent the dollar.
Other Oral Reading Activities
(List 126)
The Reading Teacher’s Book of Lists , Fry and Kress (2006), List125

Change Punctuation and Emphasis for
Different Meaning
Save soap and waste paper.
Woman without her man is helpless.
Why did YOU drive to the store?
Why did you DRIVE to the store?
Why did you drive to the STORE?

as Addressed in
http://comprehensiveliteracy.weebly.com/reading-fluency.html
Assessments
- NAEP Oral Reading Fluency Scale
- Multi-Dimensional Fluency Rubric
- Oral/Silent Reading Fluency CBM
Strategies
- Guided Highlighted Reading
- Choral Reading
- Readers’ Theatre (Theater)
- Repeated Readings
- “Is Fluent, Expressive Reading Important for High School Readers?”
Paige, Rasinski, Magpuri-Lavell
Interventions
– role of automaticity of basic component skills, and how students can instinctively associate what words look like with what they mean
- Repeated Readings for Juncture and Phrasing

Caveats about oral reading fluency in MS students
- The most important outcome for students is that they
understand and learn from the texts they read. If students have below-average fluency but demonstrate average or above comprehension, it may not be appropriate to spend considerable time on improving their rate of reading.
- Students who read above 90-100 WCPM with 90 percent accuracy in grade-level text may benefit from time spent on enhancing their background knowledge, vocabulary,
and/or comprehension rather than on fluency instruction.
Notes from Reading Teachers Sourcebook (Chapter 8 Fluency)

Readers’ Theatre
• Readers speak clearly, use appropriate volume, read the text accurately and with expression.
• Members of the group cooperate; use rehearsal time wisely.
Procedure
• Select materials to read.
• Develop the script.
• Assign roles.
• Practice, practice, practice
• Perform
• Discuss
Readers’ Theater Resources http://www.literacyconnections.com/ReadersTheater.php
Notes from Reading Teachers Sourcebook (Chapter 8 Fluency)

•
Engage students in Readers’ Theatre or plays where the teacher is the coach and provides feedback on how the lines are delivered.
Resources
•
Chris Gustafson’s Acting Cool! Using Reader’s
Theater to Teach Language Arts and Social
Studies in Your Classroom Grades 5 -7 http://www.playsmag.com

Literacy Leader Fluency Resources http://www.literacyleader.com/?q=fluency
Add slides to describe passport requirements
Assignments
Read to students ______ (modeling)
Vary the student practice (reading minute with summary, repeated paired reading, choral reading, _____)
Chart with _____ entries representing Accuracy /Rate == and journal entries with metacognitive log entries