Multidimensional Fluency Scale

Multidimensional Fluency Scale Use the following rubric (1-4) to rate reader fluency in the areas of expression and volume, phrasing, smoothness, and pace. EXPRESSION AND VOLUME 1. Reads words as if simply to get them out. Little sense of trying to make text sound like natural language. Tends to read in a quiet voice. 2. Begins to use voice to make text sound like natural language in some areas of the text but not in others. Focus remains largely on pronouncing the word. Still reads in a quiet voice. 3. Makes text sound like natural language throughout the better part of the passage. Occasionally slips into expressionless reading. Voice volume is generally appropriate throughout the text. 4. Reads with good expression and enthusiasm throughout the text. Varies expression and volume to match his or her interpretation of the passage. PHRASING 1. Reads in a monotone with little sense of boundaries; frequently reads word-by-word. 2. Frequently reads in two- and three-word phrases, giving the impression of choppy reading; improper stress and intonation fail to mark ends of sentences and clauses. 3. Reads with a mixture of run-ons, mid-sentence pauses for breath, and some choppiness, reasonable stress and intonation. 4. Generally reads with good phrasing, mostly in clause and sentence units, with adequate attention to expression. SMOOTHNESS 1. Makes frequent extended pauses, hesitations, false starts, sound-outs, repetitions, and/or multiple attempts. 2. Experiences several rough spots in text where extended pauses or hesitations are more frequent and disruptive. 3. Occasionally breaks smooth rhythm because of difficulties with specific words and/or structures. 4. Generally reads smoothly with some breaks, but resolves word and structure difficulties quickly, usually through self-correction. PACE 1. Reads slowly and laboriously. 2. Reads moderately slowly. 3. Reads with an uneven mixture of fast and slow pace. 4. Consistently reads at conversational pace; appropriate rate throughout reading. Scores range from 4-16. Generally, scores below 8 indicate that fluency may be a concern. Scores of 8 or above indicate that the student is making good progress in fluency. Adapted from Zutell & Rasinski, 1991

Guided Repeated Oral Reading from Put Reading First (summary of National Reading Panel Report, 2000) Students read passages aloud several times and receive guidance and feedback from the teacher. Repeated and monitored oral reading improves reading fluency and overall reading achievement. Students who read and reread passages orally as they receive guidance and/or feedback become better readers. Repeated oral reading substantially improves word recognition, speed, and accuracy as well as fluency. To a lesser but still considerable extent, repeated oral reading also improves reading comprehension. Repeated oral reading improves the reading ability of all students throughout the elementary school years. It also helps struggling readers at higher grade levels. Traditionally, many teachers have relied primarily on round-robin reading to develop oral fluency. In round-robin reading, students take turns reading parts of a text aloud (though usually not repeatedly). But round-robin reading in itself does not increase fluency. This may be because students only read small amounts of text, and they usually read this small portion only once. Researchers have found several effective techniques related to repeated oral reading: students read and reread a text a certain number of times or until a certain level of fluency is reached. Four rereadings are sufficient for most students; and oral reading practice is increased through the use of audiotapes, tutors, peer guidance, or other means. In addition, some effective repeated oral reading techniques have carefully designed feedback to guide the reader's performance. The guided part of Guided Repeated Oral Reading occurs when the teacher or more knowledgeable other provides feedback after each reading. This can involve: helping the student with words that they missed; coaching on observing punctuation when reading; coaching on reading with expression, phrasing, and correct intonation; etc.

Scaffolded Silent Reading: A Complement to Guided Repeated Oral Reading That Works! Reutzel, Jones, Fawson, Smith (Reading Teacher, 2009) (The authors recommend this strategy for students whose reading level is end of 2 nd grade or higher) Scaffolded Silent Reading involves: daily mini lessons Teacher explains & models an aspect of fluency or a comprehension strategy 20 minutes of silent reading daily try to match text to student s interests or allow guided selfselection 5 minute individual teacher-initiated reading conferences (4-5 students each day) Student reads about 100 words and teacher takes a running record to check for accurate reading and fluency Teacher and student discuss comprehension of what has been read so far Teacher and student set a goal to meet or work on before the next conference (what section of book will be read; what comprehension strategy will be focused on; etc.) genre wheel to encourage wide reading students choose to read books from different genres to complete each section on the wheel year-long expectations 5 books each term 2 complete genre wheels each year Have student(s) do oral repeated readings with a partner if not at end of 2 nd grade reading level or not willing or able to stay on-task while reading silently.

Paired Repeated Reading (strategy to improve fluency) With this strategy, students work in pairs. One student chooses a selection to read that is at his independent reading level. Both participants have the recording sheet. The partner listens carefully while the reader reads the selection cold. The reader than evaluates and records on the top half of his own sheet his performance for reading # 1; (the listener records nothing until after the second reading.) The reader rereads the same selection and again evaluates his performance. This time, the listener, on his own sheet, marks areas where his partner showed improvement. The reading is repeated a third time with both students again marking their own forms. The two then switch roles and repeat the process. http://public.rcas.org/administration/sd/seclit/strategies/paired%20repeated%20reading%20form%20and%2 0directions.doc Paired Repeated Reading (strategy to improve fluency) Reader Date Passage used How well I read: Reading #1 was: great good so-so not very good Reading #2 was: great good so-so not very good Reading #3 was: great good so-so not very good What I did best in my reading today is Today I listened to read. Reading #2 This is how my partner s reading improved: partner read more smoothly partner read with more expression partner knew more words partner stopped more for punctuation Reading #3 This is how my partner s reading improved: partner read more smoothly partner read with more expression partner knew more words partner stopped more for punctuation

ChoralReading ChoralReading:Rationale Choralreadinginvolvesstudentsandteacherssimultaneouslyreadingthestorytogether.Duringchoral reading,itistheteacher sjobtosetthepaceofthereading.astheteacherreads,studentsreadalongwith himorher,imitatinghisorherinflectionandtoneofvoice.itprovidesstudentswithsupportedword recognitionandprovidesthemwithaccesstothetext.theremaybevariationsinchoralreadingtoincrease studentengagement(girlsgo,andthenboysgo,thentheleftside,thentherightside,etc). ChoralReadingModelLesson:WhatDoesChoralReadingLookLike? Tell students to turn to the correct page. Explain, Today, we will be choral reading the story we read yesterday. Choral reading is when we read the story as a group out loud. As I read and you read aloud with me, I want you to imitate the way I read the sentences. Make sure you pause at the end of sentences, and put some life into your voice! Also, remember to speak loud enough so your voice can be heard, but not too loud as if you were screaming. Pause here and answer any questions. Explain, Before we begin, we are going to practice. Read along with me. Make sure all students read the first page or few sentences of the story with the students. Scan the room to see if any students are not following along or just mumbling. Practice reading with the students until the reading is clear and fluent and make sure all students are reading along with you. Begin the story again with the students and read it chorally. Be sure to pause for comprehension checks and questions about meanings of words they may find difficult. PointersforChoralReadingSuccess Let students know that they are expected to read with the class and that choral reading is a part of the reading lesson, not a break time. Make sure students are actively engaged with the text. Make it fun! Alternate between reading slowly and quickly. Have the girls read one sections and the boys the next. Divide the class into groups (A, B, C) and alternate groups reading. If the story has a lot of dialogue, assign parts for students. Change it up to keep it interesting. Encourage students to put life into their voices as they read. Model expressive reading yourself. Source: University of Georgia Development of Reading Fluency Project

EchoReading EchoReading:Rationale Teachersreadasectionofthetextaloud.Itisimportanttostartwithasentenceorsoandasstudents becomemorefamiliarwiththetechniqueandmorecompetentwiththematerial,thiscanbeextendedintoa paragraphorlonger.students echo theselectionbackaftertheteacherreadsit.thisisausefulwayof makingdifficulttextaccessible.point of contactvocabularyclarificationandcomprehensionquestioning shouldoccurafterreadingeachfewsectionsoftext. EchoReadingModelLesson:WhatDoesEchoReadingLookLike? Tell students to turn their books to the correct page. Explain, We will be echo reading the story we read yesterday. I will read a paragraph out loud and you read it back to me out loud. As I read and you read aloud, I want you to read it along with your eyes. Are there any questions? Have students practice echo reading with a few sentences from the story before beginning the actual reading. Explain, We are going to practice before we begin. I will read a couple of sentences and you read along with your eyes. Scan the class to see that each student is ready to read. Is everyone ready? Let s begin! Teacher reads the sentences aloud. Now it is your turn to read with me. Make sure your eyes are on the text. Are you ready? Teacher and students read the sentence aloud. Continue this until students are ready to echo read the entire text with the teacher. As you are echo reading with the students, visually monitor whether students are reading and enunciating the words appropriately. During reading, be sure to stop and ask questions about the text and go over difficult words. PointersforEchoReadingSuccess Echo reading is only successful if the entire class is engaged in the activity of reading. It is important to set the tone for echo reading when doing it as a whole class activity. Appropriately model what echo reading looks like for the class before you begin regular implementation. Echo reading can become part of the routine very easily if students know the entire drill step by step. It can become a fun and interactive way to read aloud with students. Make sure students know that they are expected to read silently when the teacher is reading. They need to understand that when the teacher reads, they should be reading along silently. If there are children who are not reading along, you can provide each child with an index card or pointer so that they move down the page as they are reading. Source: University of Georgia Development of Reading Fluency Project

PartnerReading PartnerReading:Rationale Studentschooseorareassignedpartnerstorereadthetextthattheclassisworkingonthatweek.Eachpair readstheentirestoryorsectionofthestory,takingturnsbyparagraphsorpages.asonepartnerreads,the othermonitorsthereadingandhelpswherenecessary.afterthestoryiscompleted,asecondreadingshould becompletedwithpartnersreadingoppositepages. Partnerreadingismostsuccessfulwhenchildrenunderstandthegroundrules.Tomanagenoise,we emphasizethe sixinchvoicerule.toexplain,showthestudentsa12inchruler.explainthedifference betweena12 inchvoice(loudly)anda6 inchvoice(softervoice).havestudentsuse12 inchand6 inchvoices withtheirneighbors.afterillustratingtherule,explainthatwhilepartnerreading,studentsmustusea six inchvoice.anotheroneisthe shoulder to shoulderrule.explaintostudentsthatwhentheypartnerread, theymustbe shoulder to shoulder.illustratebyhavingtwostudentstalkinfrontoftheclassabout2feet apart.afterthis,havethestudentstalkshoulder to shoulder.inotherwords,theymustnotbeveryfaraway fromeachothersothattheycanheartheirpartnerandnothavetotalkloud. PartnerReadingModelLesson:WhatDoesPartnerReadingLookLike? Begin by explaining to students what partner reading is. Tell students, Today you are going to read our story with a partner. When you partner read, you take turns reading pages or sentences, depending on how long the text segment is. During partner reading each partner has a job. One partner reads the sentence or page out loud and with expression. When one partner is reading aloud, it is the other partner s job to read the words silently with him or her to make sure he or she is saying all the words right and using expression. I will assign your partner. Go over the jobs of each partner. Choose a student to come to the front of the room to partner read with you. Model with the student for the class what partner reading looks like, using the 6-inch voice rule and reading shoulder to shoulder. Model helpful assistance when a word is unknown. Have children get their books out and turn to the selected page. Tell students, It is time to begin partner reading. Remember to use your six-inch voices and follow along with your partner to check his or her reading. If you finish reading before time is up, switch places and read the story over again with your partner. Begin. Students will commence partner reading and teacher walks around to monitor each pair. PointersforPartnerReadingSuccess Partner reading is all about management and modeling. If you explain the expectations ahead of time, students will know what to expect and know the boundaries of the activity. Assign partners ahead of time. This eliminates students leaving other students out and saves time during class. Students like to rotate partners also. Avoid pairing two low skilled children together. Instead, pair low skilled children with a more skilled partner with whom they get along, or even better, with whom they are friends. Two low skilled children tend to get off task because they cannot support each other through the text (Meisinger, Schwanenflugel, Bradley, & Stahl, 2004). Avoid putting two highly skilled

children together. High skilled readers usually don t need the support that a partner provides. Instead, assign them to a child that could benefit from assistance, but with whom they get along well. Students think it is a treat to read on the floor. After they are comfortable with the process and you are satisfied with their reading, it might be fun for the students to read around the room. Set guidelines and this should go smoothly also (e.g. No reading under tables). Source: University of Georgia Development of Reading Fluency Project

TimedRepeatedReading Materials: TimedRepeatedReadingChart Passagefromindependentlevelorfamiliartext Stopwatchorclock Procedure: 1. Selectaneasypassageofapproximately100words. 2. Thechildreadsaloudaselectionwhiletheteacherrecordsthetime.Thestudent sfirst orsecondreadingofthepassageistobeusedasabaselinetochartimprovementwith eachreading. 3. TherearemanywaystoconductaTimedRepeatedReading: Oneminutereading Thestudentreadsfor1minute.Theteacherorpartnercounts thenumberofwordsreadduringeachtrial. TimedReading Thestudentreadsthesamepassageeachtime.Theteacheror partnercountshowmanysecondsittooktoreadthesamepassage. Wordsperminute Chooseapassage.Timethestudentwhens/hereadsthe passage.todeterminewpm,usethetotalnumberofwordsinthepassageand multiplythisby60.takethistotalanddividebythetotalnumberofsecondsittook thechildtoreadthepassage. 4. Recordthestudent sprogress.childrenaremotivatedbyandoftenenjoypersonally chartingtheirprogress. Source:Johnston,F.R.Invernizzi,M.,Juel,C.(1998)Bookbuddies:Guidelinesforvolunteertutorsof emergentandearlyreaders.newyork:theguidfordpress.

PhonicsPhones Materials: PVCPipes Familiartexts Procedure: 1. Use PVC pipe corners for students to practice reading familiar texts aloud, thus improving their fluency. By whispering into the pipe, the student s voice is amplified into their ear. Source:Johnston,F.R.Invernizzi,M.,Juel,C.(1998)Bookbuddies:Guidelinesforvolunteertutorsof emergentandearlyreaders.newyork:theguidfordpress.

ReadersTheater Materials: Booksorreadingpassagesforstudentstoread Procedure: 1. Selectatextthatisappropriateforgradelevelandlendsitselftobeingreadaloudby multiplestudents.typically,readerstheatreshoulduseanindependenttext. 2. Brieflydescribe/reviewthestory.Workwithstudentstopickappropriateroles. 3. Studentspracticereadingthescriptindependently(andathome). 4. Explaintostudentsthatgestures,props,andmovementarenotusedinReaders Theater.Instead,thefocusistouseone svoice,emotion,andexpression. 5. Studentspracticeasagroup. 6. Whenthestudentsareready,havethemperformthestoryfortheirclassmates. Source:Johnston,F.R.Invernizzi,M.,Juel,C.(1998)Bookbuddies:Guidelinesforvolunteertutorsof emergentandearlyreaders.newyork:theguidfordpress.

RadioReading Materials: Narrativeorexpositorypassage Smallgroupofstudents Objectsthatprovidechildrenwithahistoricalcontextforradio Procedure: 1. Discussthecontentandstyleofaradiobroadcast,emphasizingtheimportanceof listeningcomprehensionandcommunicatingaclearmessage.youmaywishtosharea historicbroadcastwithstudentsand/orfindimagesofchildrenlisteningtotheradio priortotelevision.explainthatradio,likereading,requiresyoutouseyour imaginationandvisualizeimages.youmaywishtobringinexamplesofradiostoday. 2. Distributethepassageandassignaparttoeachstudent. 3. Allowstudentstimetopracticetheirpart individuallyorwithapartner. 4. Performthepassagewithstudentsreadingtheirassignedparts.Thereisnoneedfor propsorcostumes,sincethisis radio. Source:Johnston,F.R.Invernizzi,M.,Juel,C.(1998)Bookbuddies:Guidelinesforvolunteertutorsof emergentandearlyreaders.newyork:theguidfordpress.

PoetryClub Materials: Variouspoems/poetrybooks Procedure: 1. Readaloudseveralpoemstoyourstudentsanddisplaypoetrybooksthroughoutthe classroom. 2. Givestudentstimetolookthroughthebooksandselectapoemtoreadtotheclass. Allowstudentsplentyoftimetopracticethepoemandexperimentwithdifferentways ofreadingit. 3. StudentscanselectapoemonMonday,practiceitoverthecourseoftheweek,and readaloudduringpoetryclubonfriday.postapoetryclubsign upsheetwhere studentscanchooseatimetosharetheirpoem. 4. GatherthestudentsduringPoetryClubtime.Studentsmayincludewhytheychosethe poem. Source:Johnston,F.R.Invernizzi,M.,Juel,C.(1998)Bookbuddies:Guidelinesforvolunteertutorsof emergentandearlyreaders.newyork:theguidfordpress. http://www.fcrr.org/fcrrreports/pdf/readingfluency.pdf http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4468 http://reading.uoregon.edu/big_ideas/flu/flu_what.php RATE http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4367 EXPRESSION http://www.fcrr.org/assessment/et/routines/pdf/instroutines_1orf.pdf PHRASING http://www.resourceroom.net/comprehension/phrasing_jones.asp