National Council for Special Education – Working to ...



Fluency is defined as?“the ability to read connected text rapidly, smoothly, effortlessly, and automatically with little conscious attention to the mechanics of reading, such as decoding”.The interventions that we use with our pupils with dyslexia and other literacy difficulties need to be systematic and intense.?Intensity will provide the pupil with more exposure to print and therefore, increased opportunities to practice reading words. While listening to books is critical for our students who have difficulties reading; to build vocabulary, comprehension, grammar and syntax,?it is important that our pupils can read every day. Even if they are 10 years old and reading at a first class level, they must read?what they can?every day. Practice and repetition?have been shown to increase?fluency, even for very short periods every day. Remember to practice at a level that the student is already able to decode easily. The student should feel confident and comfortable with the text selected.Sight Vocabulary: Sight word reading strategies are described elsewhere in the booklet. Fluency Instruction: Practice with phonetically controlled, decodable word lists, sentence and passage. Use Guided Practice with Decodable texts and at the initial stage of reading development, it is important that text is limited to word structure that has been taught.Provide text that is limited to the letter sound relationships, syllable patterns and words that have been mastered for accurate decoding or recognition on sightAs students’ progress they also need to have substantial guided practice transferring emerging skills to authentic textProvide significant opportunity to apply skills with interest-driven, non-controlled text as students acquire decoding skills (Fink, 1998) Teacher Modelling: If students are to become fluent readers, they must have an idea of what is meant by fluency. The best way to experience fluency is to hear it produced by another more fluent reader. This means that we need to read aloud to our students, using our voice to reflect and add to the meaning of the passage. Modelling can help students to understand that meaning is not just carried in the words in the passage but also in the way that the words are expressed. When students have an opportunity to hear you (or another skilled reader) model fluent reading, they get a sense of what they should sound like when reading. This is especially important for students whose reading is choppy and lacking in expression. (Doherty, p.8)Guided Oral Reading: Guided repeated oral reading is an instructional strategy that can help students improve a variety of reading skills, including fluency. There are a number of effective procedures that can be used in providing guided oral reading.In general, a teacher, parent, or peer reads a passage aloud, modelling fluent reading. Then students reread the text quietly to themselves, sometimes several times. The text should be at the student's?independent reading level. Next, the students read aloud and then reread the same passage. Usually, reading the same text four times is sufficient.Some examples of more specific techniques that involve rereading with feedback include these:An adult or peer reads with the student by modelling fluent reading and then asking the student to read the same passage aloud with encouragement and feedback by the adult or peer.A student listens to a tape of a fluent reader reading text at the student's independent level at a pace of about 80-100 words a minute. The student listens to the tape the first time and then practices reading along with the tape, until the student is able to read fluently.The student reads with a peer partner. Each partner takes a turn reading to the other. A more fluent reader can be paired with a less fluent reader to model fluent reading. The more fluent reader can provide feedback and encouragement to the less fluent reader. Students of similar reading skills can also be paired, particularly if the teacher has modelled fluent reading and the partner reading involves practice.Readers' theatre?can be a motivating way to improve fluency. Students read scripts and rehearse a play to prepare for a performance or just for enjoyment. The practice in reading and rereading the scripts provides an excellent opportunity to improve fluency skills.Audio Assisted ReadingAudio-assisted reading is an individual or group reading activity where students read along in their books as they hear a fluent reader read the book on an audio recording (audiotape, audio book, or iPod). As confidence and reading skills develop, students read the same passage or text without the assistance of the audio recording (from )Why use Audio Assisted Reading? It helps to build fluency skills including proper phrasing and expression.It helps students improve sight word recognition.It helps build comprehension.It allows students to hear the tone and pace of a skilful reader.It's a flexible strategy that can be used across content areas.How to use audio-assisted readingChoose a reading passage and audio recording of the reading that is slightly above students' independent reading levels.Ask students to listen to the audio while following along on the paper copy of the passage.Have students read out loud along out loud with the audio recording.Ask students to read the passage without the audio.Have students read and re-read along with the audio until they feel comfortable reading the text unassisted.Notes on Audio Assisted readingObserve students as they are listening and reading to ensure that they're able to follow along accurately. Most researchers recommend that teachers (or other models of fluent reading) create the audiotapes or recordings. The recording should not include distractions such as sound effects or music. Digital recording devices such as iPads and iPods are easy-to-use tools for audio recordings. If limited recording devices are available, rotate students through using a timer or as one of your stations during station teaching time. Source of free eBooks - PASSAGES: Using timed passages can be helpful for students to have a structure to build all their new skills into. While the speed is not the ultimate goal, it can be useful as a structure. The use of timed passages could be a helpful addition when the student has started to build some skill in the area, as a means to help them measure their own practice. While measuring the time (quantitatively) it may be useful to use video or audio recording here to also measure how the expression/phrasing is going (qualitatively). As improvement with fluency levels is the goal here, it could also be useful to allow the student to prepare the passage: pre read it, ensure they understand all new words, mark out some phrases etc. This may help the student feel more in control, and see the value of preparing pieces of text.Phrase Text Strategies: Practicing phrasing/Reading phrasesAccurate and automatic word recognition play a central role in the development of fluency, as does speed. However, there is more to fluency than just reading words accurately and quickly. Developing prosody through explicit teaching with reading phrases can augment the development of fluency as a skill. Adding an emphasis on prosody and expression while shortening the reading ‘load’ can help students get a better sense of how to tie all these skills together.. It can be useful for students to then physically ‘mark out’ a phrase within a sentence to train their eye to know where there is a natural break between phrases. Using audio or video for students to review their own skill could be useful here too. Practice Using Appropriate Texts: High Interest/Variety of appropriate textsThe selection of texts is so important from a motivation perspective for the student. However, the tricky aspect is ensuring the text is at the correct level, motivating and providing choice is important also. The organisation of resources/having books to choose from is an important aspect for teachers to plan – alongside understanding the difference between the instructional and fluent level). Where fluent reading is concerned, accuracy is a cornerstone. This will necessitate the selection of texts at the right level:Frustration level: below 90% accuracyInstructional level: between 90% and 95% accuracyFluent/independent level: at or above 95% accuracy(Adapted from Developing Anticipatory SetResearch also indicates that fluency also involves anticipation of what will come next in the text and that speeded practice alone is not sufficient. Anticipation facilities reaction time and is particularly important for comprehension. The ability to read fluently develops fully when the child is at the at the final stage reading acquisition where the shift is made from ‘learning to read’ ‘to reading to learn’. Helping children anticipate what will happen next also builds fluency. Setting the stage through activation of prior knowledge and reviewing what will be happening in the story can be instrumental in helping predict text content. Summarising the content/story and discussing the characters or previewing the pictures/visuals to get ideas as to what the content may be about may serve the purpose of improving anticipatory set and thus enhance fluency. Other commonly used strategies such as reviewing the vocabulary/key words and comprehension questions before reading may also be helpful in this regard. Paired Reading Strategies: Paired Reading (Dyslexia Association of Ireland, 2017)Paired (Shared) Reading is a very good way for teachers and parents to help with their children’s reading. ?It works really well with most children, and their reading gets a lot better. ?Also, paired reading fits in very well with the teaching at school, so children do not get mixed up. Most children really like it as it helps them enjoy reading and want to read more. It can be a good homework activity.Books: Have a wide range of books to choose from; use books from home, school or the library. Your child should choose the books. ?Children learn to read better from books they like. Books should be at the instructional level.Time: Paired reading is really effective if there is daily practice for about 10 mins.New Ways of HelpingIt’s often harder for parents to learn new things than it is for children! With paired reading, the hardest things for parents to get used to are:When your child gets a word wrong, you just tell them what the word says. Then your child says it after you. You don’t make the child struggle and struggle, or ‘break it up’ or ‘sound it out’.When your child gets words right, you smile, show that you are pleased and say “good”. You don’t nag and fuss about the words your child gets wrong. Give praise for: good reading of hard words, getting all the words in a sentence right, putting words right before you do and even making a good guess at a new word.Talking Is Good: Show interest in the book your child has chosen. Talk about the pictures. Talk about what’s in the story as your child reads through it. It is best if you talk at the end of a page or section, or your child might lose track of the story. Ask your child what they think will happen next. Listen to your child – don’t do all the talking yourself!Keeping Notes: It is a good idea to keep a note of what you have read and how long you have read for. You can also make a note of when your child has read well. The diary could be taken into school, if your child wants to show to their teacher. This will get them more praise and keep them keen.Paired reading has two steps:1. Reading TogetherYou and your child read the words our loud together. You must not go too fast. Make your speed as fast or as slow as your child’s. Your child must read every word. If your child struggles with a word and then gets it right, show that you are pleased. Never let your child struggle for more than 5 seconds.If your child struggles for too long or gets a word wrong, then:Just say the right word yourself, andMake sure that your child repeats it properly.Make sure that your child looks at the words. It can help if one of you points to the word you are reading with a finger. It’s best if the child does the pointing.2. Reading AloneWhen you are reading together and your child feels good enough, your child may want to read a bit alone. You should agree on a way for your child to tell you to be quiet. This could be a knock on the book, a wave of the hand or a nudge. You don’t want your child to have to say “Be quiet” or they could lose track of the reading. You stop reading our loud the moment your child signals, and praise them for making the sign.When your child struggles for more than 5 seconds, or struggles and gets it wrong, you say the right word for your child. Make sure that your child says it right as well.Then you both go on reading together, until your child feels good enough to read on alone again, and asks you to be quiet. You must always remember to go back to reading together when your child has had problems with a word.A Cross-Age, Peer Tutoring Approach: The Reading Partner Scheme (NEPS, 2012)The programme is set out in set out in detail on line at: . It is a cross-aged peer tutoring approach, in that the tutor would normally be at least two years older than the tutee. It is possible to run such a programme in mainstream primary or secondary schools, or indeed in a special school setting. Schools are encouraged to select children with literacy difficulties to participate in the scheme both as tutors and tutees. The emphasis is on the importance of the partnership being egalitarian. Participation in a Reading Partners Scheme should have a number of benefits; increased reading skill of learners and of helpers increasing confidence and self-esteem of helpers creating a positive attitude to reading for both parties ................
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