Fluency Awareness: Timed or not timed? A topic of discussion and debate!

Fluency Awareness Discussion.... join in!  I need your thoughts!!  I am not only a special education reading teacher and see struggling readers on a daily basis, but I have a 6-year-old son who is currently struggling to read.  It's personal.

https://www.readingrockets.org/teaching/reading101-course/modules/fluency/in-depth

Fluency develops gradually over time and with practice. Early in reading development, oral reading is slow and labored because students are just learning to "break the code" — to attach sounds to letters and to blend letter sounds into recognizable words.

Fluency will vary based on what kind of text is being read, how familiar the student is with the vocabulary, and how much practice they've had in reading aloud.

Automaticity refers only to accurate, speedy word recognition, not to reading passages or connected text with ease and good expression.

Fluency rate (speed) is less important than accuracy and ease of reading. When students are being timed, they may believe that speed is the goal. The fluency rate that we should measure is the speed at which the student is reading accurately and with reasonable expression. Sometimes that means slowing kids down in order to read the big and little words accurately!

YES to the above!!!!  I whole-heartedly believe this!  We are told to "find their fluency" or "make an IEP goal for fluency" - but they want it timed.   How many words correct per minute!?  Who cares!?  Who cares how fast they read?  I want them to read with accuracy with appropriate pauses, yes.  But I personally don't want to focus on how fast they can do it.  I want to know... they read it accurately, smoothly, and most of all... they can retell.  What did they read?  Did they comprehend it?  What's the point in timing a reading if when they are finished they are so focused on speed they have NO IDEA what they read?  What are your thoughts?  Agree?  Disagree?

Researchers have found several effective techniques related to repeated oral reading:

• Students read and reread a text a certain number of times or until a certain level of fluency is reached. Four re-readings are sufficient for most students.
• Oral reading practice is increased through the use of audio recordings, tutors, peer guidance, or other means.

How do I find my students’ fluency score?

One-minute reading: Total words read (minus) errors made = words correct per minute.

1. Select a 100-word passage from a grade-level text.
2. Have individual students read each passage aloud for exactly one minute.
3. Count the total number of words the student read for each passage.
4. Count the number of errors the student made on each passage.
5. Subtract the number of errors read per minute from the total number of words read per minute. The result is the average number of words correct per minute (WCPM).
6. Repeat the procedure several times during the year. Graphing students' WCPM throughout the year easily captures their reading growth.

How many words per minute should my students be reading? 

1. First grade: 60 words (read correctly by the end of the year)*  To give you an idea.... my son is in the first grade and granted it's the beginning of the year... but his average is 8 CWPM when timed.  He STRESSES when I hit the start arrow on my phone.  His body tenses up, he scoots to the edge of his seat.... it's heartbreaking. I don't want him to hate reading.  Oh... I am a READER.   I LOVE to read.  Fall weather.  Coffee.  Good book.  YES!  I want him to love it too!  He loves to be read to.... I don't want the timed fluency goals to be detrimental to his love of reading!
2. Second grade: 100 words (read correctly by the end of the year)*
3. Third grade: 112 words (read correctly by the end of the year)*

* 50th percentile

See the 2017 Fluency Norms Chart by Hasbrouck and Tindal for the complete set of scores. Learn more in the article, Understanding and Assessing Fluency.

Good fluency instruction:

• Provides children with opportunities to read and reread a range of stories and informational texts by reading on their own, partner reading, or choral reading.
• Introduces new or difficult words to children, and provides practice reading these words before they read on their own.
• Includes opportunities for children to hear a range of texts read fluently and with expression.
• Encourages periodically timing a child's oral reading and then recording information about the student's reading rate and accuracy, to help monitor the student's progress.

Activities to increase fluency

Student–adult reading

In student–adult reading, the student reads one-on-one with an adult. The adult can be you, a parent, a classroom aide, or a tutor. The adult reads the text first, providing the students with a model of fluent reading. Then the student reads the same passage to the adult with the adult providing assistance and encouragement. The student rereads the passage until the reading is quite fluent. This should take approximately three to four re-readings. Re-readings may occur across multiple instructional sessions or days.  I do this on a nightly basis with my son.

Choral reading

In choral, or unison, reading, students read along as a group with you (or another fluent adult reader). Of course, to do so, students must be able to see the same text that you are reading. They might follow along as you read from a big book, or they might read from their own copy of the book you are reading. For choral reading, choose a book that is not too long and that you think is at the independent reading level of most students. Patterned or predictable books are particularly useful for choral reading, because their repetitious style invites students to join in. Begin by reading the book aloud as you model fluent reading.  I do this in my special education sixth-grade resource (small group) reading class weekly.

Then reread the book and invite students to join in as they recognize the words you are reading. Continue rereading the book, encouraging students to read along as they are able. Students should read the book with you three to five times total (though not necessarily on the same day). At this time, students should be able to read the text independently.

You might also try a variation called Echo Reading, where you read a section of the text aloud and then invite the students to repeat the passage.  I do this with my son, Maverick, as well.

Audio-assisted reading

In audio-assisted reading, students read along in their books as they hear a fluent reader read the book on an audio recording. You'll need a book at a student's independent reading level and a tape recording of the book read by a fluent reader at about 80-100 words per minute. The recording should not have sound effects or music. For the first reading, the student should follow along with the recording, pointing to each word in her or his book as the reader reads it. Next, the student should try to read aloud along with the audio. Reading along with the audio should continue until the student is able to read the book independently, without the support of the recording.  Love this too!!  I do this with both my students and my kiddo :)

Partner reading

In partner reading, paired students take turns reading aloud to each other. For partner reading, more fluent readers can be paired with less fluent readers. The stronger reader reads a paragraph or page first, providing a model of fluent reading. Then the less fluent reader reads the same text aloud. The stronger student gives help with word recognition and provides feedback and encouragement to the less fluent partner. The less fluent partner rereads the passage until he or she can read it independently. Partner reading need not be done with a more and less fluent reader. In another form of partner reading, children who read at the same level are paired to reread a story that they have received instruction on during a teacher-guided part of the lesson. Two readers of equal ability can practice rereading after hearing the teacher read the passage.

Readers' theatre

In readers' theatre, students rehearse and perform a play for peers or others. They read from scripts that have been derived from books that are rich in dialogue. Students play characters who speak lines or a narrator who shares necessary background information. Costumes, props, and other aspects of performing a play do not necessarily have to be used. The point of readers' theatre is to provide children with a legitimate reason to reread text and to practice fluency. Readers' theatre also promotes cooperative interaction with peers and makes the reading task appealing.  When I taught high school, we did this and it was very helpful and the students liked the differentiated learning!

Several variants of reader’s theatre can also be useful. For example, in radio reading, children record their reading with sound effects, like an old-time radio show. In another variant, children perform a text for younger children. This variant can be especially useful for struggling readers. For example, a fourth-grade poor reader may still read much better than a typical first-grader and may be able to read books at that level quite fluently to a younger child. The ability to read well to a younger student provides an opportunity for the older child to “shine” and may be very motivating.