reading fluency--help!

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Reading Teachers Chatboard

reading fluency--help!

by Garrett

Aug 26, 2010

Hey, I'm a student teacher and I was asked to test reading fluency...but apparently what I was taught in school is different from what this school does. I was taught to time it, count the number of errors, question, and move up and down on readers as appropriate until we reach the right level.

But I was told not to time it and not question...just listen to them read. So I've counted errors instead. Once a child starts reading, I listen to how they are doing. If they start making too many mistakes (usually six or more) then I move them down a level and see how they go. If they make less than six errors per reader, I move them up and see how they do. If they seem to be struggling with reading (not really making errors, just taking a long time to decode) then I move them down.

The point of "reading fluently" is to read smoothly and quickly, correct? Gah, it's been so long since I've had a reading class. I just don't want to question the teacher and sound like a dork. But...See More

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Julie Niles Petersen Garrett,

I wonder if the teacher told you not to time it because too many people are associating the word, "fluency" with speed only. Fluency is made up of many parts and one of them is reading speed, so I find it a bit odd that the teacher told you not to time their readings.

Personally, I would ask him/her about it. Maybe you c...See More

Aug 27, 2010

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Jo Could there be a disconnect in her terminology and what she is having you do? It seems you are leveling at this point. Are you ever going to assess the rate at which the student can read decodable text or did she say they never time it and just go by impression. I've seen several teachers do this. They don't care about the actual speed, just if it ...See More

Aug 27, 2010

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Garrett Hey, thanks for your advice. Actually, I already found your website through a different thread. It's very useful.

Also, I talked more with the teacher and with other teachers. I guess she is actually trying to get their level according to the series of readers that she is using. She just wants a "ball park" estimate. When compared to other...See More

Aug 28, 2010

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Jo Sounds like you were doing a great job on leveling.

Regarding the loss of comprehension for the one student, the cause was that he was an excellent decoder. Some are, but still struggled with the comprehension. It is just one of the flavors of students who still have lacking reading skills. Since there are so many parts to effective readi...See MoreSounds like you were doing a great job on leveling.

Regarding the loss of comprehension for the one student, the cause was that he was an excellent decoder. Some are, but still struggled with the comprehension. It is just one of the flavors of students who still have lacking reading skills. Since there are so many parts to effective reading, any lacking part can cause an issue.

If you are going to work on fluency, I expect that the next step would be in line with what you were taught. However, some schools of though still see fluency as just something that builds with increased reading. This is not always the case. Keep us updated and let us know what your mentor does to increase the fluency rate for those that need it.

On 8/28/10, Garrett wrote: > Hey, thanks for your advice. Actually, I already found your > website through a different thread. It's very useful. > > Also, I talked more with the teacher and with other teachers. I > guess she is actually trying to get their level according to the > series of readers that she is using. She just wants a "ball > park" estimate. When compared to other testing the students have > been doing, she (and other teachers I've been working with) say > they are fairly accurate and are at the levels they thought the > students would be on. So it seems I must be doing something > right. > > What I do is have them read a passage (usually about 150 words), > then test for comprehension. If they don't read fluidly, decode > easily, or read with prosody, among other things, then I bump > them down until they are able to read well and comprehend what > they read. > > See, I had one student that could read anything put in front of > him with ease, but he didn't comprehend what he read after a > certain level. So that really confused me because I haven't > encountered a student like that. > > So, while what I have been doing might not be the most accurate, > it seems to give us a general estimate of what level the student > is reading. It's just one of the many battery of reading tests > these kids are taking. This is just not the way I was taught how > to test for reading fluency... > > On 8/27/10, Julie Niles Petersen wrote: >

Aug 28, 2010

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Mark Pennington Garrett,

I agree with Jo that you are doing a great job; however I thought you should have resources that are more in line with diagnostic fluency assessments and, secondly, a strategy to improve fluency instruction according to the data. [link removed]

Aug 31, 2010

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