Developing Fluent Readers

I just finished reading the article “Reading Fluency Assessment and Instruction: What, Why, and How?” written by Rosanne F. Hudson, Holly B. Lane, and Paige C. Pullen. I found this article to be VERY informational. Being elementary school teachers, our responsibility lies, not only with teaching students how to read, but also with teaching students how to become skilled readers, and skilled readers are fluent readers. During my junior year, when I was in TE 301, I spent a good deal of time connecting the dots between reading comprehension and reading fluency; however, I had never focused my attention solely on the different aspects of reading fluency and how theses aspects are directly correlated to a student’s level of comprehension. According to the reading, “fluent reading [is] comprise[d] of three key elements” (p. 1). At its foundation, these three elements are – accuracy, rate, and prosody. It’s important to realize that, as teachers, we need to assess our students' abilities to read fluently, in order to accurately and fairly instruct our class in an attempt to foster a deeper level of reading comprehension.

Automaticity is an important aspect of fluency to keep in mind. This refers to how quickly a student is capable of identifying words. Due to the limited capacity of a student’s working memory…when they are capable of identifying words at a faster rate, their cognitive abilities are free to focus on the context of what they are reading as opposed to focusing on word identification.

Another important aspect of reading fluency relates to a student’s ability to accurately decode words. Decoding refers to the process a student goes through when they are reading…it is composed of: seeing a word, recognizing the letter-sound relationship, and blending the phonemes together to create a word. This is a process that, in a fluent reader, should take a split second; however, for a struggling reader, the process of decoding can be extremely difficult. It is the teacher’s job to explicitly identify word-identification/decoding strategies for the class.

One aspect of this article that I found surprising relates to the section covering the importance of prosody. I have never really considered how important a student’s ability to read with expression is in correlation to their reading comprehension. BUT, it makes sense. I mean, if a student reads a question in their text like a statement, then they obviously do not comprehend what they are reading. If they did, then that statement they just read would be phrased like a question.

Not only did this article give in depth details and information regarding exactly WHAT fluency is, but, what I found most interesting, was the amount of information given in relation to HOW to teach fluency and HOW to ASSESS fluency. There are numerous tables and resources given that an instructor can reference and utilize in the future, which I most certainly will; specifically on the fifth and eighth pages of this article, two tables are given with listed assessment strategies and instructional resources. One thing I want to point out is how important it is to be EXPLICIT in your instruction of fluency with struggling readers…for some, fluency comes naturally, but for a majority of students, it does not. We are severely impeding their learning progress by not giving these students ample instruction, opportunities for practice and repetition, and adequate assessments that detail their progress.

I really enjoyed reading this article and it is definitely something that I see myself looking back on in the future.

Fluent Readers and Writers

"Fluency is the ability to read quickly, accurately, and with expression, and to read fluently, they recognize most words automatically and identify unfamiliar words easily" (Tompkins, 188). There is a huge difference between children who are learning to read word for word, and a fluent reader. Being fluent means that students are using expression when reading, and able to read accurately all while being able to derive meaning from what they are reading. Many times we think of being fluent as only applying to reading, but being fluent also transfers to writing as well. By reading and participating in spelling tests and vocabulary practice, students are not only furthering their ability to read, but also practicing skills that are necessary for writing.

There are several important strategies that help students to learn to read and write fluently. One of those is word recognition, because "students develop a large stock of words that they recognize automatically because its impossible for them to analyze every word they encounter when reading or want to spell when writing" (Tompkins, 189). Being able to use high frequency words is important to fluency, because students will then be able to read quickly and accurately if they have the knowledge of high frequency words. Word walls, word recognition, and word identification are all great ways to help students become more fluent.

It is very important that teachers promote literacy in various ways in the classroom. "Teachers [need] to model fluent reading for students, provide oral support while students are reading, have students do repeated readings of brief texts, and focus students attention on chunking words into meaningful phrases" (Tompkins, 209). These are all great approaches that students can take to helping students become more fluent readers. Fluency is so important for our students to work on, and these are some of the main points I found from the chapter on fluency by Tompkins.

Comprehension

I found the two reading that we had to do for this week really interesting, Gibbons Chapter 5 and Thompkins Chapter 4. I really liked the idea of having the students and the teacher work together to come up with a rubric for a major assignment. This lets all students have a say in the projects they are doing in class and motivates them to do the projects. The idea of talking with each student about their grades on major assignments is also an extremely interesting idea. Although this would be time consuming it would allow the students to have a better understanding of the grade that they received. I know that when I was in school I always had questions on the grading of my assignments and this would allow for all of the students questions to be answered. During this meeting, it was also suggested that the teacher and student talk about goals for the next assignment. This is also a great idea because the student can take what they did not do well on in the assignment before and then make this their goal for the next assignment.

Forgiveness poems are another way for students to connection with people in their life, work with poems, and work on comprehension. Some students have a hard time with expressing themselves with words so if the students are able to write how they feel it will make their writing better because they are writing about something that they care about.

The comprehension strategies that were given in the Gibbons chapter were ones that we have used in class but also some new ones. One of the strategies is using a book that is non-fiction and below there level of reading. If it is below their level of reading they will focus on the content and not on the words. I also read this strategy in Strategies that Work and I am using this in my mini lesson with my second graders!

Many of the strategies that are given in Chapter 5 are used in my second grade class. We have reading workshop and the teach starts this by reading a book to the children and model how they should read certain types of books. Then students read in pairs with students that are at the same level. This allows the students to feel comfortable reading with each other. When the students are done reading they are asked to summarize what they have read to the other person. After lunch the teacher has a read aloud book for two purposes one for the students to understand how to read and two a time for the students to settle down.

Some of the ideas that I have never heard of are story innovation, innovating on the ending, cartoon strip, readers’ theatre, wanted posters, story map, hot seat, freeze frames, and cloze. These are all creative ideas that I would love to use in my classroom someday. The hot seat was my favorite activity because it makes the students think about what they have read and then also use their imagination. I think that this would take a lot of modeling before the students would feel comfortable doing this on their own. The wanted posters and cartoon strips would interest the students that like to draw. Some students like to express themselves through drawings so this would be a really good activity for them. The wanted posters would also take some thought to make because the students would have to understand the character inside and out to make sure that people know who they are looking for. 

Reading in a Second Language

First of all, I need to comment on the very first page of Chapter 5: Reading in a Second Language…Pauline Gibbons begins this chapter in an extremely thought provoking, and interesting way; the second, third, and fourth paragraphs consisted of scrambled words, words with vowels or consonants missing, the endings missing, etc. yet, I could still read it! I’ve talked about this a lot in previous years…I’ve taken some TESOL classes and therefore have had a lot of opportunities to discuss ELLs and I have also been introduced to this idea before. Actually, I’m currently in an American Sign Language (ASL) class and when trying to grasp “finger spelling” I’ve had to remember that I only need to know the first and last couple of letters to grasp the word. It really is amazing…I just had to point that out.

But, moving on…another point that this chapter makes, that is SO important, is the fact that readers construct meaning NOT solely from the words and sentence structure, but from the interaction that occurs between the reader and the text. It is extremely important to remember, as teachers, that not all of our students will be able to develop that meaningful interaction; especially not ESL students. I mean, how could they? They are completely unaware of the cultural, social, political, emotional, etc. implications that reside within the text of a story. Can you imagine reading a book that discusses a holiday or celebration that you are completely unaware of? How could you possibly understand, or comprehend, what the story is about?

There are so many different roles/characters that a reader must try on, or become, when he/she reads text. You become a “code breaker, a text participant, user, and analyst”. As teachers, we can’t assume that every single one of our students is capable of putting on this mask when they pick up a story. We have to be patient, and empathetic to the journey every one of our students is taking in the process of becoming literate individuals.

As Brooke said in her post, I found the activities that were provided on pages 84-97 VERY helpful. But, not only is it important to plan and implement great activities, but (I’d almost say this is MORE important) is picking the right books. Picking the right book will help students acquire language AND reading skills.

All in all, it is vital that we, as teachers, “build bridges into the text” (Gibbons, p. 100), and allow our ESL students the opportunity to connect with the text in a meaningful way, and develop a love for reading.

Facilitating Comprehension

After reading Chapter Nine, “Facilitating Students’ Comprehension: Text Factors”, of Gail E. Tompkins book - Literacy for the 21^st Century: A Balanced Approach, 5^th Edition, I’m realizing that one of the MOST important factors of facilitating comprehension with students is simply getting them to engage with the text on a personal level. What I mean is that students need to understand what they are reading…they need to understand what kind of book they are reading (Genre), is it fiction or non-fiction/informational, what kind of audience is the book geared towards, and they need to understand the patterns that present themselves in these texts. When a student has an understanding of these basic text factors, then they are able to develop a deeper connection with what they are reading. Rather than focus on information t hat isn’t important (such as trying to sound out words, stumbling over syntax, etc.) students can focus their attention to the plot, characters, and the conflict/resolution. By taking out the guess-work in their reading activities, we (the teachers) can enhance the level of understanding our students achieve. On page 311 of our textbook, Tompkins states an important finding…“Researchers have documented that when teachers teach students about text factors, their comprehension increases” (Tompkins, p. 311).

Another important point I’d like to make is this…as I said before, by providing our students the opportunity to develop a connection with what they are reading and what they are DOING (as in the subsequent activity) we can instill a sense of meaningful learning within our students. In the first section of this chapter, I read about Mr. Abrams and his fourth grade classroom. One aspect of his story that stuck out to me was when he discussed how he AND his students developed a rubric (TOGETHER) to assess the books they made. I thought that was a really beneficial activity. It creates an environment of collaboration that can really motivate students…and when students are motivated to work hard, they will engage and comprehend on a deeper level.

I’m currently in a fourth grade classroom and I am constantly seeing my Cooperating Teacher (CT) discuss comprehension strategies with this class. It may not be explicit; for instance, he does not say: “When you are trying to comprehend what you are reading, you should notice the text factors”. Rather, he asks questions during shared reading to get students thinking… “What is the author trying to do? How did that make you feel? What do you think is about to happen? What genre is this? Why?”

Not only does my CT guide student thinking to enhance comprehension, but he also does a really good job of incorporating reading/writing and think-alouds into nearly every subject he teaches throughout the day. While I do give him props for that, I do think that he could incorporate a more collaborative feel to his classroom. If students felt that they had more of a hand in their day to day lessons then I think they would work harder and therefore, engage with the material.

I think this was a GREAT chapter to read. The information given is something that I think I will continue to look back on.

Tompkins Chapter 9

This chapter of Tompkins was really interesting to me, because I have never really thought about comprehension in terms of genre and text factors. I always think of comprehension as what is being portrayed and explained in the story, but there are different types of comprehension that takes place depending on the type of genre. For example, there are going to be different focal points around folklore stories, rather than realistic fiction or fantasy texts. "Students learn about the subgenres of stories and read stories representing each one, examine the structural patterns that authors use to organize stories, and point out the narrative devices that authors use to breathe life into their stories" (pg. 290). Children begin developing these understandings at a very young age, but it is important to teach them the context of comprehension in all genres and elements of text.

Elements of story structure was also an important element of this story. Characters, setting, plot, theme, and point of view are all significant pieces of story structure that students learn and add up to their understanding of comprehension. These element can develop at different levels throughout the students academic years. For example, I am working in a kindergarten classroom right now, and the way they represent plot is through beginning-middle-end stories. Not only do they do this for comprehension when reading a story as a class, but they also create stories that have a beginning, middle, and end. These are the first understandings of comprehension in plot for younger students which later develops in to summarizing, paraphrasing, and key points from the text.

There are countless ways to present text factors to students and it is vital that we do it in a variety of ways which include different genres and lesson plans. Text factors help students understand the text and use comprehension, but "the goal is for students to actually use what they've learned about text factors when they're reading and writing" (Pg. 312). As teachers, we cannot just give students meaningless activities that have them pick out characters or settings and not have it apply to their comprehension of the story, rather give them activities that can connect to their prior knowledge and real life examples.

Tompkins Chapter 9

This chapter of Tompkins was really interesting to me, because I have never really thought about comprehension in terms of genre and text factors. I always think of comprehension as what is being portrayed and explained in the story, but there are different types of comprehension that takes place depending on the type of genre. For example, there are going to be different focal points around folklore stories, rather than realistic fiction or fantasy texts. "Students learn about the subgenres of stories and read stories representing each one, examine the structural patterns that authors use to organize stories, and point out the narrative devices that authors use to breathe life into their stories" (pg. 290). Children begin developing these understandings at a very young age, but it is important to teach them the context of comprehension in all genres and elements of text.

Elements of story structure was also an important element of this story. Characters, setting, plot, theme, and point of view are all significant pieces of story structure that students learn and add up to their understanding of comprehension. These element can develop at different levels throughout the students academic years. For example, I am working in a kindergarten classroom right now, and the way they represent plot is through beginning-middle-end stories. Not only do they do this for comprehension when reading a story as a class, but they also create stories that have a beginning, middle, and end. These are the first understandings of comprehension in plot for younger students which later develops in to summarizing, paraphrasing, and key points from the text.

There are countless ways to present text factors to students and it is vital that we do it in a variety of ways which include different genres and lesson plans. Text factors help students understand the text and use comprehension, but "the goal is for students to actually use what they've learned about text factors when they're reading and writing" (Pg. 312). As teachers, we cannot just give students meaningless activities that have them pick out characters or settings and not have it apply to their comprehension of the story, rather give them activities that can connect to their prior knowledge and real life examples.

Gibbons Chapter 5

This chapter gave a lot of great ideas about how ESL students go about reading, and also how we as teachers can help them with reading and comprehension. One of the most important things to remember about students who are ESL, is that many times the stories are written with the idea that everyone understand the social norms, which is not always the case. Gibbons states, "We should also remember that most children's books are written with the assumption that their readers will be familiar with the cultural aspects of the story and already fluent in the spoken language" (pg. 83). If we approach teaching ESL students in this way, we are setting up a detrimental learning environment for these children because we are not giving them a fair advantage to learn to their full potential. We must remember that there are many implications for ESL learners, and we have to approach teaching them in a careful and understanding way. Familiarity with the language is also important because there are many words that ESL students may confuse with other words or have two different meanings for the same word. These are all things that we need to remember when teaching ESL students and learning how to approach their learning.

There are several techniques that are discussed in this chapter that can help ESL students with comprehension. One of the most important ones is Predicting from a Key Illustration. I have seen this in my own experience in working with children, because if they are confused about a word, they can look to the pictures to try and come up with an idea of what is going on in the text. Although this is not always going to help the students, it is a good starting point for them to try and comprehend what is going on. Another important technique is Jigsaw Reading. Jigsaw reading consists of 3 or 4 people who each read a portion of the text and come together to share and get the idea of what is going on in the text. Jigsaw reading can be a great way to collaboratively work with students of different achievement levels, and it "provides an authentic context for developing summarizing skills, since each group of experts must decide on the key points they are going to share with others" (pg. 90). These are just a few of the techniques that can be used to help ESL learners, but there are many more on pages 85-96 so I encourage everyone to take a look!

Goin' Clubbin'

I love that we are spending time discussing the benefits of incorporating Book Clubs into the language arts curriculum in an elementary school classroom. One question I have, that hasn’t been introduced yet in class, is: at what age should students be introduced to the idea of Book Clubs? I believe any student, as young as 5, could benefit from the concepts that coincide with Book Clubs; however, do the benefits outweigh the difficulties that would present themselves when trying to get children that young to understand and participate in such discussions? Should Book Clubs be limited to students in upper elementary? I’m in a fourth grade class, and I really wish my CT would’ve incorporated these activities with his students. The class is divided into reading groups and he meets with each group where they have discussion, etc. but I feel like the students are missing out. They lack opportunities to interact with each other, and learn the correct way to socially interact through the medium of a book discussion.

I can’t wait to introduce this idea to my future classroom. However, I think that the way we have been discussing this topic and exploring this topic in class has created a slightly “off” perception as to how easy/difficult it is. With all the ideas being thrown into the mix about having “reading roles”, writing prompts, student run discussions, etc., I feel like it’s easy to misconstrue exactly how much work this will be. It appears, on the surface, to be a very smooth running, classroom led, activity; but, I think that the only reason it appears this way, is due to the large amount of work the teacher has put into it. We’re not getting a look at the work that goes into this process at the start of the year. I would like to spend some time, as a class, discussing ways to introduce the idea of peer led discussions, correct ways to socially interact through book discussions, and how to respond to writing/reading prompts. Students don’t walk in on the first day of school, already capable of participating in an authentic Book Club discussion, it has to be taught; and I would love to spend time talking about THAT aspect in our TE class.

But as I was saying, a Book Club sounds like a wonderful tool to utilize in a language arts curriculum. I think that book clubs would GREATLY benefit student’s abilities to comprehend, as well as help each child develop the strategies necessary to aid in the comprehension process. Comprehension is fundamental to criticizing, questioning, analyzing, and responding to literature. A Book Club can teach students ways to read a story that will help them comprehend and therefore be better participants in class. As we said in class, Book Clubs and comprehension go hand-in-hand, and I think that teachers should take the time and energy to put a Book Club into place in their classrooms. There are SO many resources on the web to help in this process…take a look at a few here:

Planet Book Club

Great Schools

eHow

"How Can I Help Children With Learning Disabilities?"

The article, "How Can I Help Children with Learning Disabilities," was particularly interesting to me because I am a special education major, focusing on learning disabilities. There were a number of great examples used in the text, and a variety of ideas to use in a classroom with children who have learning disabilities. Now more than ever, we are seeing more mainstream classrooms, where children with learning disabilities are being incorporated into the general education class. It is important that we are reaching out to all of the children in our classrooms, to make sure each and every child is benefiting from their education and time spent in the classroom. Just because a child has a learning disability, does not mean that we need to overlook their needs, but foster their development by coming up with proper instruction techniques.

There are several comprehension techniques that were discussed in this article that are extremely important for students. The first way to foster comprehension is to use collaborative learning in the classroom. Working in collaborative learning groups can be beneficial to children with learning disabilities because it allows students to work with students that have various achievement levels. Working with students that have higher achievement levels, might challenge children with learning disabilities and give them a chance to step out of their comfort zone and work with children that they otherwise would not. It is also important for teachers to collaborate with other teachers to come up with the most effective instruction strategies so they can ensure the students are going to benefit from the material. Communication is another key component of teaching comprehension strategies to children with learning disabilities. Communication between students, parents, and the teacher is absolutely vital for students with learning disabilities not only for comprehension strategies but also in terms of behavior and academic interventions. Providing students with the expectations and standards early on, allows them to know exactly what is expected of them from early on, so the communication lines are open and there is no confusion. These are several of the important issues that were discussed in this article that will really help students with learning disabilities.

It is also important to create a classroom environment where the students feel comfortable participating in various activities that promote comprehension. Mixing up the activities for reading and comprehension keeps things exciting for the students which can be more motivating for them to work with and complete. As future teachers, we want to make sure we are keeping the idea of comprehension exciting for students and promoting reading comprehension in a meaningful way, to show children the purpose of such assignments.