Week 5 – Discussion 1 Reading Fluency
Chapter 9 of our text goes into depth about the importance of fluency instruction. In Section 9.2, the author lists five different methods for helping children to become more fluent readers (Coats, 2013). For this discussion, find your assigned method for improving fluency instruction below, according to the first letter of your last name:
A?-?G:?Modeling??fluent?reading
Jonathan Auxier
9
Young Readers: Audio and
Linguistic Literacies
Learning Objectives
This chapter focuses on the continuing development of audio and linguistic literacies as children
read independently. By the end of this chapter, readers will be able to
? Define and explain the importance of fluency in reading.
? Identify the strategies and methods most useful for developing fluency.
? Discuss the benefits and the appeal of series books.
? Integrate music instruction into the literacy curriculum using age-appropriate materials and
activities.
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Introduction
CHAPTER 9
O
nce students have developed a basic grasp of how marks on a page translate into
meaningful words that they can recognize and make sense of, the next step is for
them to develop fluency in their reading. Fluency is crucial to reading success
because of its relationship to automaticity, memory, and motivation. Fluent readers don?t
need to labor over individual words; they automatically recognize most of the words they
read and are able to use context and other strategies to figure out new words. Automaticity allows students to consider meaning as they read. Because they are not constantly
struggling to puzzle out individual words, their memories are free to engage in putting
together sequences of events into meaningful streams and to draw on their various multi?
literacies to create an inner movie of what they are reading. They are involved in the
content, rather than the process of reading it, and thus they are motivated by the desire to
find out what happens, how it compares with what they have predicted or experienced
in their own lives, how it feels to live the adventure alongside the character, and how the
language shapes the experience.
Developing fluency in reading is key to future success in school. According to a report
prepared by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, ?Reading proficiently by the end of third
grade .?.?. can be a make-or-break benchmark in a child?s educational development? (Fiester, 2010, p. 9) because third to fourth grade marks the time of transition from learning to
read to reading to learn. Helping children become proficient in the reading?that is, not
only word recognition and decoding but also meaning-making from text?of both fiction
and nonfiction is key to their future success in school as well as their pursuit of reading as
a lifelong pleasure.
Consider the last time you learned a new skill. At first, you were likely wholly dependent
on the instructional method you were using to learn, whether it be a book of instructions,
a video, or the guidance of a teacher. You needed to keep referring to that resource to make
sure you were completing the steps with the proper form and sequence. For instance,
perhaps you learned to knit using a book that included pictures and words to explain
the process. Every time you picked up your needles and yarn, you looked at the pictures
and compared them to what your hands looked like to see if they were positioned correctly. As you practiced, you eventually only had to refer to the pictures occasionally, and
soon not at all. As your confidence increased, you were able to knit without giving the
individual steps your full attention. You moved from simple to more complex patterns,
you learned how to fix mistakes, and your products became more and more professional
looking and satisfying. You became a competent, fluent knitter, and you experienced joy
in your accomplishment as well as a desire to continue its practice. But if, for some reason,
you had been unable to wean yourself from constantly consulting the instructions, you
probably would have eventually given up, figuring that knitting was something you just
weren?t going to be able to master. Unless you can develop fluency in a particular skill,
you are unlikely to ever see it as an enjoyable part of your daily life.
Recalling such an experience should help you be sensitive to what children are going
through as they learn to read. With any new skill, the path of progress from initial attempts
to mastery largely determines your eventual enjoyment of that skill. Some people get frustrated easily and give up, while others see failure as a motivational force that encourages
them to try even harder, so there is definitely a degree of personal temperament in the
mix of learning something new. Regardless of how difficult individual children find the
process of learning to read, or how their temperaments respond to difficulty, all children
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Section 9.1? Developmental Motivations for Fluency
CHAPTER 9
must proceed along the path of literacy if they are going to be successful in school and
in life. But perhaps even more important than school success is the personal and social
enrichment and understanding that is made available to them through reading. As adults
involved in early childhood education, then, it is of crucial importance that we assist children along the path to literacy with wisdom and insight into what will motivate them to
think of literature as a site for personal, social, and cultural learning as well as pleasure.
9.1? Developmental Motivations for Fluency
A
s we have stressed throughout this text, the key to success in reading is engagement and motivation. Children are not very future-oriented; they need to feel as
though reading is something that is both fun and useful for them now rather than
seeing it as a means to an end they can?t readily envision. Hence the engagement with
interesting, meaningful literature that entertains them while it helps them solve problems
and answer questions they have about the world is crucial for developing fluency.
Determining the contexts for ?meaningful? and ?interesting? at this age requires an
understanding of development characteristics. Erikson claimed that the school-age years,
from ages 6?11, are characterized by a conflict between industry and inferiority. Children
at this age are immersed in social and academic environments that put new demands on
their ability to perform tasks like everyone else.
Middle childhood is the time when children start developing distinct personality traits
because their frontal lobes have developed to the point where this is possible. As they
develop these traits, however, they are concerned for the first time about whether their
personalities have social ?uptake?; that is, their theory of mind, which we have discussed
in Chapters 5 and 7, has developed to the point where what other children think of them
actually matters. They are not yet as self-conscious about this as they will be as teenagers, but they are still interested
in having friends and understanding social relationships.
They work hard at keeping up
with their friends, and even
harder at keeping up with those
they perceive as competitors.
Classrooms and playgrounds
alike can be sites where they
succeed or fail to measure up to
those around them. Because of
their deep concern for how they
compare with their peers at this
age, books that are focused on
characters in similar situations
are very appealing and can help Middle childhood is the time when children begin developing
them learn strategies for solv- distinct personality traits.
ing everyday problems, especially the problems that arise
George Doyle/Stockbyte/Thinkstock
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Section 9.2? Achieving Fluency
CHAPTER 9
when trying to manage relationships. Often, these books appear in series so that authors
can explore a range of typical problems elementary children face, and readers can feel as
though the characters are people that they know.
Motivation continues to be crucial as children work to become fluent readers. When children understand that reading is both pleasurable and useful, they will be motivated to
do what it takes to get better at it, even if it?s hard. For this reason, it is imperative that
children have access to books they like and that they know how to find books on topics
that interest them. Internationally known reading specialist Kathy G. Short (2011) argues
that too often children are asked to use their reading to find answers to questions predetermined by a teacher or a specific curriculum. A better approach, she argues, is to encourage students to pose the questions that interest them and then assist them in finding the
resources they need to help them find their own answers. Literature should be viewed as
a site of inquiry into the nature of life and social relationships. In order to get students to
conceive of literature in this way, however, they have to have choices as to what they read,
and multiple ways to access reading material.
9.2? Achieving Fluency
F
luency grows best out of a solid background in multiliteracies, with audio and linguistic literacies playing the most prominent roles as children work with print text.
If students have rich experiences with oral literature, a beginner?s knowledge of the
connection between written symbols and the sounds they stand for, an understanding
of how pictures and gestures convey meaning, and a sure-footed grasp of how space is
organized, they are more likely to be able to approach a reading situation with confidence.
Why? Because most books for children use language in fairly predictable, conventional
patterns. For instance, if young readers hear the words ?the big, bad .?.?.? they will usually
be able to fill in the missing word correctly with the noun ?wolf.? This guess flows from
their experiences with oral literature. When they encounter such a phrase in print, then,
their previous oral experience will lead them to try wolf as the word following big and
bad, even if they have not consciously attended to that particular written word before.
If young readers encounter the unfamiliar word grimace, they can, with elaborative assistance from a teacher as well as a picture, learn that word along with its meaning from
the facial expression the picture shows. If they are reading a picture book that includes
the phrase, ?a lion in his lair? accompanied by a picture of a lion lounging in the shade
of a rock formation, they know that the unfamiliar word refers to a place that the lion is
?in.? Their spatial literacy can eliminate a word like house because they know that a lion
doesn?t live in a house, but they can use their linguistic literacy to also eliminate cave,
because even if the lair looks something like a cave in the picture, cave does not start with
the letter ?l.? In other words, reading for meaning, in a context of a strong multiliteracies
background, will enable them to reduce the number of unlikely alternatives.
Reducing unlikely alternatives is one strategy that readers use when they approach an
unfamiliar word. As we noted in Chapter 7, there is a long-standing controversy over
which strategies are absolutely necessary for learning to read, which have resulted in
the reading wars between phonics and whole language (McQuillan, 1998). The process
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CHAPTER 9
Section 9.2? Achieving Fluency
described in the preceding paragraph reflects the whole language theory of literacy acquisition proposed by literacy researchers Ken and Yetta Goodman (1979) and Frank Smith
(1973, 1994). Surely, another strategy for learning the word lair would simply be to isolate
its phonemes and ?sound it out.? However, is this level of decoding the same thing as
being able to read? Does knowing how to pronounce the phonemes /l/ /ee/ /r/ mean
that you understand the word? Smith and the Goodmans do not believe that learning
words in isolation and being able to decode unfamiliar words using only sound/letter
combinations is equivalent to reading. Nor do they believe that testing reading by timing
students as they read word lists is an accurate reflection of reading ability. From their perspective, reading is always about meaning-making: If children are not making meaning as
they read, they are not reading.
e
That said, it is hard to make meaning if reading is not fluent. As mentioned in the opening to this chapter, the ability to read with automaticity makes it possible to direct attention from word recognition and decoding tasks and onto tracking the mental pictures the
words are creating. This then feeds into fluency, because children can read with appropriate feeling and expression only if they genuinely understand what they read. The Common Core Standards (http:/
/www.corestandards.org/assets/CCSSI_ELA%20Standards
.pdf) indicate the same three standards for first through third grade with regard to fluency
in its Reading: Foundational Skills strand:
? Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
o Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.
o Read grade-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and
expression.
o Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding,
rereading as necessary.
So how do we use engaging literature to get children there? There are multiple proven strategies for improving fluency, and while not all children need explicit fluency training, the
strategies that will improve fluency for those who do need such training are enjoyable and
profitable for all students in middle childhood. Here are the strategies most often cited by
reports such as that prepared by the National Reading Panel as useful to improving fluency:
?
?
?
?
?
modeled fluent reading
read, reread, repeat
echo, choral, and paired reading
phrased reading
reader?s theater (National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, 2000)
Modeled Fluent Reading
As noted in previous chapters, teachers should read aloud with panache. This necessitates
practicing what you read before you present it to children. Read picturebooks of high
interest to you and your students, and then make sure the books you have read in class
are available for students to choose during independent reading time. If you have practiced good dialogic reading skills, students will have been introduced to any unfamiliar
vocabulary words in the books, so they will be reinforcing that learning as well as trying
to imitate your expressive presentation as they read the book for themselves. It is also
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Section 9.2? Achieving Fluency
CHAPTER 9
useful to create a vocabulary pack to accompany the book (a set of index cards with the
new words and their definitions). When children are confident with their reading of the
book, encourage them to perform it for the class or a small group, and take it home to read
to family members.
Eric Carle?s books are perfect choices for this sort of activity. For instance, ?Slowly, Slowly,
Slowly,? Said the Sloth (2007) begins with simple, repetitive sentences that emphasize the
quiet days of a giant sloth in the Amazon rain forest. Vocabulary becomes more challenging with the introduction of other rain forest animals (a howler monkey, a caiman, an anteater, and a jaguar), each of whom asks the sloth about his habits, using a set of words that
seem to go together: slow, quiet, boring, and lazy. After much thought, the sloth replies:
It is true that I am slow, quiet and boring. I am lackadaisical, I dawdle
and I dillydally. I am also unflappable, languid, stoic, impassive, sluggish,
lethargic, placid, calm, mellow, laid-back and, well, slothful! I am relaxed
and tranquil, and I like to live in peace. But I am not lazy.
What a delightful vocabulary challenge! Students
will relish each synonym, delighting in their ability to read such big words. Because of their meaning, slowly is the properly fluent way to read them,
lingering over each luxurious syllable. This could
also be done as a group activity, with each word
printed on a sentence strip (available at school
supply stores and online) and assigned to a particular student to read. With each repeated reading,
the strips could be passed on to new students so
that everyone has a chance to ?own? several of the
words while they listen to others reading the rest.
Another site of modeling fluent reading is through
making a books-on-tape station in your classroom.
Encourage students to listen to books on tape as
they read along, and then to read out loud along
with the tape. Follow up by having students create their own recordings of favorite books. Have
them work in small groups, with students offer- Eric Carle?s Slowly, Slowly, Slowly, Said the
ing each other feedback and encouragement with Sloth combines repetition with rich new
regard to phrasing, expression, and voices for vocabulary words.
characters. When these ?director?s notes? have
Slowly, Slowly, Slowly, Said the Sloth by Eric Carle. Used
been considered, have the students practice the
with permission of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. All rights
book at least three more times before recording
reserved.
it. Have group members listen to and critique the
performance, and then have the reader decide
whether to make the recording available or rerecord it. Each student should choose a book
to read so that everyone gets practice in performing and critiquing the performances of
others. This activity is included in the Speaking and Listening (SL) strand of the Common
Core Standards for second and third grade. Third graders, according to SL 3.5, should
be able to ?Create engaging audio recordings of stories or poems that demonstrate fluid
reading at an understandable pace.?
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In addition to reading picturebooks
aloud, you will want to start reading Pick up a nearby book and read the first few
longer narratives or chapter books of pages aloud. Critique your own reading fluency:
high interest to this age group, such as How is your rate, pace, and expression?
books by Roald Dahl and some of Mildred D. Taylor?s novellas, such as Song
of the Trees (1975) and The Friendship
(1987). A novella is longer than a short story or picturebook but shorter than a novel.
Because these books have few or no pictures, other than the cover art, your dramatic
reading must help students envision the story as they hear it. Encourage children to draw
scenes from the stories so that they will develop their capacity to convert words into mental pictures, which increases understanding. It is also useful to have students listen to
audiobook versions of these longer books as they follow along with a print text to develop
a sense of proper pace and pronunciation of words they see in print. Generally speaking,
a read-aloud or a professional audiobook used in this way should be slightly above a student?s read-alone level to offer a challenge.
Recommended Books: Great Read-Aloud Chapter Books for Second and Third
Graders
Note: A good read-aloud chapter book should have plenty of action, an easy-to-follow
plot, and a lively narrative voice. There are thousands of titles that make for suitable and
exciting read alouds for this age group: Simply Google ?read alouds for second and third
graders? for suggestions, and you?ll find dozens of lists with many books in common. The
following list, however, consists of a few gems that most lists overlook!
Atinuke. No. 1 Car Spotter. (2010). Set in a small African village, this book offers opportunities to compare not only British and American words, such as ?bonnet? for hood of
a car, but also lifestyles, customs, and common problems faced by kids. For a spirited
short reading by the author, see http:/
/www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwvi9MqjaLQ.
Couloumbis, Audrey. Jake. (2010). A sweet, sometimes funny story in believable firstperson about a boy whose mother breaks her leg. His grandfather, an ex-Marine
whom he doesn?t know well, comes to stay with him, bringing an unlikable dog.
Several scenes would make good adaptations for reader?s theater.
Curtis, Christopher Paul. Mr. Chickee?s Funny Money. (2007). Dust off your best James
Brown imitation for this one. This zany, action-packed mystery features a young boy
detective, a quadrillion dollar bill, an inept treasury agent, and a dictionary that constantly writes insults to its readers.
Davies, Nicola. What?s Eating You? Parasites: The Inside Story. (2009). Gross but never
crude, this nonfiction look at parasites and their hosts (including us!) will interest
and entertain budding young scientists.
Finney, Patricia. I, Jack. (2004). This very funny story chronicles how Jack, a rather
stupid yellow Labrador, sees the world, how he falls in love with the lovely Samoyed
next door, and how he saves his owner. Children will enjoy the challenge of seeing
themselves through the eyes of their pets. Features some British English.
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Gaiman, Neil. Odd and the Frost Giants. (2009). In this tale inspired by Norse mythology, a young boy named Odd has to save Asgard from the Frost Giants who have
invaded it. Exciting introduction to a study of Norse mythology.
Jurmain, Suzanne. The Forbidden Schoolhouse: The True and Dramatic Story of Prudence
Crandall and Her Students. (2005). In the early 1800s in Connecticut, Crandall turned
her school for White girls into a school for African American girls. The consequences
were vandalism, arson, and even a jail sentence.
Krull, Kathleen. Giants of Science: Isaac Newton. (2008). Newton invented calculus,
built the first reflecting telescope, and changed the way we understand physics and
optics. Krull explores who Newton was as a young boy and as a difficult adult, making him a fascinating character for students who will meet his work over and over
again as they advance through school.
Lin, Grace. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. (2011). Minli takes her father?s stories
about the Old Man on the Moon seriously and sets off to find him so that she can help
reverse her poor family?s fortunes. This Newbery Honor Book has been compared to
The Wizard of Oz, blending Chinese folklore and fantasy with everyday desires for a
better life.
Miller, Norma. Stomping at the Savoy: The Story of Norma Miller. (2006). Miller knew
she wanted to be a dancer from the age of 5, and by the time she was 15, she was
dancing the Lindy Hop in Europe. Great for units on dance styles, black history, or
following your dreams. See Miller dancing the Lindy Hop at http:/
/www.youtube
.com/watch?v=-pMDf4ciCRs.
Mills, Claudia. How Oliver Olson Changed the World. (2011). Oliver is excited when his
teacher announces a space-themed sleepover at school. But Oliver?s overprotective
parents are reluctant to let him spend the night at school. Students will find lots to
relate to in Oliver?s struggles.
Murphy, Jim. Truce: The Day the Soldiers Stopped Fighting (2009). In 1914, during World
War I, the soldiers on both sides of the Western Front defied orders and stopped firing on each other in order to celebrate Christmas together. Enough context on the
war is given so that young readers can appreciate the Christmas miracle, and the
narration makes for a lively read aloud.
Nelson, Kadir. We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball. (2008). Stunning
artwork illustrates the history of the Negro Leagues from 1920 to 1947, when Jackie
Robinson became the first player to break the color line in baseball. Available through
audible.com as an audiobook.
Rhodes, Jewell Parker. Ninth Ward. (2010). Twelve-year-old Lanesha and her grandmother find themselves stranded as the waters rise during Hurricane Katrina. Lanesha has to depend on her special gift for science and math, her ability to see ghosts,
and her own bravery in order to survive. Pair with Saint Louis Armstrong Beach (see
below) to compare and contrast books that portray the same tragic event.
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Taylor, Mildred D. The Friendship (1987); Song of the Trees (1975). Taylor is most famous
for her middle-grade historical fiction books featuring the Logan family, including
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. The Friendship and Song of the Trees also feature the
Logan family, especially young Cassie, who gives children a first-person account of
what it might have felt like to be black in the South in the 1930s.
Umansky, Kaye. Clover Twig and the Magical Cottage. (2009). Clover Twig is a very
capable 11-year-old, but she has her hands full when she takes a job as a housekeeper
for a very untidy witch. When Mrs. Eckles goes on a trip, Clover must save the cottage from falling into the hands of Mrs. Eckles?s evil sister. Lots of humor and clever
wordplay make this an engaging read aloud.
Woods, Brenda. Saint Louis Armstrong Beach. (2011). Saint is a budding musician who
plays his clarinet for tourists in New Orleans? French Quarter. During Hurricane
Katrina, he gets separated from his family when he goes looking for Shadow, a s…