​​​​​​​Assessments
for Exceptional Children
Reading Fluency Intervention Techniques
"Reading fluency is the ability to read phrases and sentences smoothly and quickly, while understanding them as expressions of complete ideas. Students with Learning Disabilities (LDs) in Reading Comprehension and basic reading skills frequently have weaknesses in reading fluency. Typically, they do not process groups of words as meaningful phrases. They may also make decoding errors in reading which slow them down and prevent them from grasping the meaning of the sentence. As a result, they do not understand and remember meanings of passages. They may miss the larger meanings of chapters and books as well" (Logsdon, A., 2013).
"Reading fluency involves the ability to read text smoothly and at a reasonable rate. When fluent readers read aloud, they do so effortlessly with speed, accuracy, and proper expression as though they are speaking. Because of the "automatic" nature of their reading, fluent readers are able to focus their attention on the ideas in the text and comprehend the author's message.
On the other hand, less fluent readers struggle along through text in a very labored, word-by-word way. They must focus most of their attention on decoding the words, so comprehension suffers. Comprehension can be virtually ignored when readers must devote most of their mental energies on decoding. Thus, fluency is important because it provides a kind of bridge between word recognition and reading comprehension" (Reutzel, D.L., 2010).
[See Russ Armstrong Case Study]
Nine Steps to Building Reading Fluency (Pikulski, 2005)
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Develop orthographic/phonological foundations (phonemic awareness, letter knowledge, phonics).
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Increase vocabulary and oral language skills.
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Effectively teach high-frequency vocabulary and provide adequate practice.
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Teach common word-parts and spelling patterns.
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Effectively teach decoding skills and provide adequate practice.
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Provide students with appropriate texts to assist in building fluent reading.
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Use guided oral repeated reading strategies for struggling readers.
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Support, guide and encourage wide-reading.
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Implement appropriate screening and progress monitoring assessments.
Sources:
Logsdon, A. (2013). What is reading fluency? In About.com. Retrieved September 1, 2013
from http://learningdisabilities.about.com/od/glossar1/g/rdgfluency.htm
Reutzel, D.L.(2010). What is fluency? In Education.com. Retrieved September 1, 2013
from http://www.education.com/reference/article/what-reading-fluency/
Pikulski, J.J., & Chard, D.J. (2005). Fluency: Bridge between decoding and reading comprehension.
The Reading Teacher, 58 (6), 510-519.
Disclaimer: The following links lead to reading fluency strategies NOT owned and maintained by the admin
@Assessments for Exceptional Children. Suggested websites and materials are provided for educational purposes.
This conference pesentation by Dr. Roxanne Hudson of the University of Washington offers a sequential illustration of Timed Repeated Reading approach for early readers. The intervention progresses from letter to word and text levels using CvC, digraph and Dolch word teaching techniques. The presentation also provides a reading fluency progress monitoring plan to determine students' performance during and after intevention.
[Source: Hudson, R. (2008). Reading fluency intervention strategies to build automaticity at multiple levels. Paper presented at 5th National Reading First Conference, Nashville, TN.]
This article from Intervention Central describes some intervention strategies for struggling readers. The discussion focuses not only on reading fluency but also on reading comprehension and word decoding.
Sample Strategy:
"Repeated Reading (Herman, 1985; Rashotte & Torgesen, 1985; Rasinski, 1990). The student increases fluency in decoding by repeatedly reading the same passage while receiving help with reading errors. A more accomplished reader (tutor) sits with the student in a quiet location with a book positioned between them. The tutor selects a passage in the book of about 100 to 200 words in length. The tutor directs the student to read the passage aloud. If the student misreads a word or hesitates for longer than 5 seconds, the tutor reads the word aloud and has the student repeat the word correctly before continuing through the passage. If the student asks for help with any word, the tutor reads the word aloud. If the student requests a word definition, the tutor gives the definition. When the student has completed the passage, the tutor directs the student to read the passage again. The tutor directs the student to continue rereading the same passage until either the student has read the passage a total of 4 times or the student reads the passage at the rate of at least 85 to 100 words per minute. Then tutor and student select a new passage and repeat the process."
[Source: Wright, J. (2013).Reading Comprehension Fix-Up Skills: A Classroom Toolkit. In Intervention Central. Retrieved September 1, 2013 from http://www.interventioncentral.org/academic-interventions/reading-fluency/school-wide-strategies-managing-reading]
ReadingResource.net provides great ideas for parents, teachers and students about developing reading skills and dealing with difficulties in reading fluency and comprehension. The authors offer some valuable reading lessons and activities as well.
Sample Strategy:
"Echo reading allows children to practice proper phrasing and expression while building oral reading fluency. In echo reading, the teacher or parent reads one sentence or paragraph (length can vary) at a time while the student follows along in the text with their finger. Once the adult pauses, the student echoes back the same sentence or paragraph following along with their finger so that you can be sure the student is actually reading and not simply copying you. The guided practice and support of the echo reading structure instills confidence in students aiming to develop greater reading proficiencies."
[Source: Griffin, S.M. & Appel, K.L. (2009). Reading fluency strategies. In ReadingResource.net. Retrieved 9/9/13 fromhttp://www.readingresource.net/readingfluency.html]