Marlena Gastineau

CIED3293-004
9/29/14
RR PTU CH6
Fluency

Children are able to read fluently when they can automatically recognize the word
accurately with appropriate expression. Most importantly, children are able to concentrate on the
meaning of the word rather than decoding what the word is. While knowing high frequency a
word automatically and accurately is the foundation of fluency, having accurate expression when
reading aloud is the main component of fluency.
A study reported that a childs reading level is measured by the ability accurately say 93-
95% of the words with in a reading and comprehend 75% the content (p.79) To build a better
foundation for proficient fluent reading we can provide easy reading, model fluent expressive
reading and do many rereading instructional activities that influence fluency.
Easy reading doesnt mean a baby book, rather reading that the student is able to read.
Easy reading should match the childs ability so the child is not struggling to make meaning of
the text because he or she is too busy decoding the words. Examples of easy reading include
small informational books which have a wide variety of topics to choose from or high interest
articles similar to those in ZooBooks.
Strategies for modeling Fluent reading include teacher read aloud, Echo reading, and
Choral reading. Echo reading and Choral reading are pretty similar. Choral reading involves a
more explicit instruction technique by doing whole group, small group and individual
instruction. I really liked converting stories of interest into readers theater dialogue. The
retentiveness using the activity is also good for fluency.
Rereading strategies include listening to recorded reading, reading like a radio announcer,
timed repeated reading and paired repeated reading. My favorite idea from this section was
recording echo or choral readings and having the children listen to them. The child is able to
compare and contrast my expressiveness when reading as well as their own and their classmates.
I was not very fond of the timed repeated reading strategy. I feel that I would do this early on and
later in the semester for assessment rather than instruction. However I did like paired repeated
reading because the students are able to talk about what they are noticing in their classmates
errors and gain feedback from their peers.
Over all, Fluent reading can be influenced by reading easy text, modeling expression and
reparative reading.



QSticky; When doing a paired reading, would it be okay to put students with lower ability with
higher so the student is modeling the behavior for a lower abled classmate?

(Better to pair lower or higher level students with a middle level student.)