Mrs. Ranney-Poole

How Do I Become A Fluent Reader?

A webquest for anyone who struggles with reading out loud with speed and accuracy

Designed by

Mrs. Ranney-Poole

jvranney@interact.ccsd.net

Image Source: www.flickr.com

Process

You will participate in langugae arts centers every day in the morning.  You have PLENTY of time to complete all the activities for the week if you are working quickly and quietly.  You will be assigned a center group and a small reading group.  It is your job to make sure you are completing your activities for the week.  Don't worry!  We will practice these procedures over and over again until everyone feels comfortable with how center time works.

1. You will be trained on the appropriate way to use the centers in the classroom.  Training will also be provided on how to interact with one another, rules and regulations, procedures, and expectations.
2. In the morning, you will be called to the carpet.  The song for the week will be taught and practiced on the Smart board and the teacher will discuss online practice activities that will be completed for the day.  A game will be played that incorporates the phonics skill.  You will then be dismissed to your center areas to begin independent work.
3. While everyone is working independently you will be called for small-group instruction.  Small groups will follow the same format each week:

   Monday: go over the genre and type of story, go over vocabulary words, buddy read the story, take the comprehension test, complete an online reading activity,

   Tuesday: quiz students on vocabulary words, go over previous reading activity, choral read the story, complete an online reading activity.

   Wednesday: put vocabulary words in alphabetical order, go over reading activity, echo read the story, answer comprehension questions orally with teacher, complete an online reading activity.

   Thursday: play vocabulary game, go over previous reading activity, oral reading grade taken, independent reading books assigned, complete an online reading activity.

   Friday:  listen to story on tape; take comprehension and vocabulary test, timed one-minute reading assessment, Words Their Way activity

4. Upon completion of reading activity and online activities, you will self regulate additional practice centers for the week.  You must visit the online listening center, online focus skill center, Photo Story recording center, Smart board center, Breaking Words center, and graphing/computer center.
5. Every day, you will also have the opportunity to buddy read a 100-word passage for one minute.  You will graph words per minute each day.
6. At the conclusion of our Language Arts block, you will have twenty minutes of independent, silent reading time.  You will take an online AR test on books you read.  You are expected to earn 4 points each week for an independent reading grade.

Conclusion

Boys and girls, with practice you will become a more confident and successful reader.  Using the Internet as a tool to help you on your path to becoming an awesome reading student is a fun and exciting way to practice all these skills.  You will not only be learning how to read with more speed and accuracy, but you are also learning really valuable computer skills that will really impress your parents!  Have fun, and remember that having a love of reading is the best gift you could ever give yourself!

Teachers

A balanced approach to reading instruction that includes fluency intervention and comprehension strategies can increase student achievement and performance on standardized tests.  If one of these two aspects is absent or lacking in a language arts program, student test scores decline.  Numerous articles and research reports address the five essentials to reading success.  The most recent focus of current research is dedicated to the affect reading fluency has on reading comprehension skills.

Reading instruction must include fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, phonics, and phonemic awareness.  Marie Carbo identifies fluency as the not only the most important reading skill, but also the most derelict of the five essentials to reading programs (Carbo, 2005).  The neglect of fluency instruction results in low-performing readers.  In order to improve comprehension skills, boosting fluency is necessary and research-based interventions prove to have a meaningful positive affect on comprehension skills. 

A fluent reader reads with quickly and with ease (Lagrou, Burns, Mizerek, Mosack, 2006).  Mental effort that is spent on decoding words in context distract from students’ ability to focus on comprehending passages they are reading.  Readers who are slow and struggle with decoding are at risk for reading comprehension difficulties  (Beringer, Abbot, Vermeulen, Fulton, 2006).  Research clearly shows that fluency interventions have a dramatic affect on reading comprehension.  In a study that measured the affect of fluency interventions and reading ability, youngsters who did not receive small-group fluency interventions had a fluency rate 34.2 words per minute, whereas students who did receive interventions had a rate of 65.1 words per minute (O’Connor, Harty, Fulmer, 2005). 

The implications from the research clearly points out that fluency intervention strategies are essential to boosting reading comprehension skills.  Developing in to a fluent reader varies greatly with the individual and results from interventions may not become apparent for several months to several years.  Immediate increase in comprehension test scores may not be attainable for all students.  In my research I have found that students will benefit the most from modeling, encouragement, whole-group, small group, and individual practice, a variety of reading techniques, and high-interest passages are necessary to a balanced approach to fluency intervention techniques.  I will implement treatments that include these research-based procedures in addition to spiraling the curriculum to integrate reading and writing in a language arts block of time. 

Introduction

If you are reading fluenty, you can read out loud from a book quickly, with ease, and you read with expression in your voice.  You do not sound like a robot in slow motion, when you read, you sound like you would if you were talking to a friend telling them a story about the best day ever.  If you sound like a robot, or if it is really difficult for you to read in general, don't worry, help is here!  This webquest will be a part of our weekly reading centers and will help you practice reading out loud, your comprehension skills, and, best of all, make you a more confident student. 

Graphing Website

http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/

Online Reading Response Websites

Create a character scrapbook!

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/scrapbook/

Write and share book reviews!

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/swyar/

Create a new book cover!

http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/bookcover/

Rewrite the story as a comic!

http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/comic/index.html

Rewrite the story as a play, and animate your own characters!

http://kids-space.org/HPT/1a/11a.html

Make your own graphic organizer, choose a character, conflict, resolution, or setting map!

http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/storymap/index.html

Harcourt Trophies

http://www.harcourtschool.com/menus/trophies/menu.html

Phonics Practice

http://www.adrianbruce.com/reading/games.htm

http://www.starfall.com/

Phonemic Awareness Practice

http://www.genkienglish.net/phonics.htm

http://earobics.ccsd.net/?module

Vocabulary Practice

Go to quia.com and search for vocabulary games in Harcourt Trophies.

http://www.quia.com/shared/search

Accelerated Reader

http://www.renlearn.com/ar/

Assessment

You will be able to choose several of your assignments that will be collected for a grade.  You will be made aware of weekly assessments that are collected and recorded for grading purposes.

1. Each week you will be responsible to complete center activities, i.e. listening center review, Breaking Words recording sheet, AR points, and graphs.  You will receive 5 points for each completed activity.  Deduct 5 points for each missing assignment.
2. At the beginning of each small-group session we will review topics learned in previous sessions and complete a vocabulary review activity.  You will receive 3 points for active participation, 2 points for minimal participation, and 0 points for no particiapation.
3. Weekly graphs will be collected and reviewed.  Remember, our goal for this grade is 110 words per minute, so we are working towards that goal.  At the end of each trimester, you will receive a fluency grade based on how many words you are reading per minute out of 110 words. 
4. Assignments for seatwork are completed and turned in on time.  You will receive a score of how many you scored correctly out of the total amount of points available.
5. Weekly update of AR points accumulated.  Remember, you need to earn at least 4 points per week.
6. Review buddy-reading procedures and ensure you are reading appropriately.  You will receive 5 points each week for appropriate behavior with your buddy.  Deduct 1 point for each infraction of the rules. 
7. Make sure you are assisting each other in your groups.  You will receive 5 points each week for participation.  Deduct 1 point for each behavior infraction.

Credits

and

References

Begeny, J.C., Martens, B.K. (2006).  Assisting Low-Performing readers with group-based reading fluency intervention.  The School Psychology Review: 35, 91-107.

Berninger, V.W., Abbot, R.D., Vermeulen, K., Fulton, C.M. (2006).  Paths to reading comprehension in at-risk second-grade readers.  Journal of Learning Disabilities:  39, 334-51.

Carbo, Marie. (2005).  What principals need to know about reading instruction.  Principal: 85, 46-9.

Lagrou, R.J., Burns, M.K., Mizerek, E.A., Mosack, J. (2006).  Effect of text presentation on reading fluency and comprehension: an exploratory analysis.  Journal of Instructional Psychology:  33, 100-9.

Oconnor, R.E., Harty, K.R., Fulmer, Deborah.  (2005).  Tiers of intervention in kindergarten through third grade.  Journal of Learning Disabilities:  38, 532-8.

Paige, David.  (2006).  Increasing fluency in disabled middle school readers: repeated reading utilizing grade level reading passages.  Reading Horizons:  46, 1067-81.

Pearman, C.J., Lefever-Davis, Shirley.  (2006).  Supporting the essential elements with CD-ROM storybooks.  Reading Horizons:  46, 301-13.

Therrien, W.J., Gormley, S., Kubina, R.M. (2006).  Boosting fluency and comprehension to improve reading achievement.  Teaching Exceptional Children:  38, 22-6.