Timothy V. Rasinski

Effects of Repeated Reading and Listening-While-Reading on Reading Fluency.

AbstractThe development of reading fluency is an important goal of reading instruction. Two approaches that are effective in fostering fluency are the methods of repeated reading and reading-while-listening. In this study, the effectiveness of the two approaches in promoting fluency for third-grade students was compared. Subjects practiced reading one passage independently and another passage while listening to a fluent oral rendition. Each treatment consisted of a pretest, two practice sessions, and a posttest. Both approaches resulted in significant gains in reading speed and word recognition accuracy. However, no significant differences between methods were detected. Implications for classroom reading instruction are discussed.

Training teachers to attend to their students’ oral reading fluency

The importance of oral reading fluency as a necessary dimension of proficient reading has recently received renewed attention. We know that good readers identify words quickly, read at a fluid pace, and demonstrate appropriate phrasing and expression. On the other hand, elementary grade students who need special help in learning to read typically show difficulties in all these aspects of fluent reading. Despite growing awareness of its importance in the research community, oral reading fluency is a neglected aspect of regular classroom reading instruction (Allington, 1983; Anderson, 1980). Several factors seem to contribute to this lack of attention.

Effects of Fluency Development on Urban Second-Grade Readers

Abstract This study was designed to test the efficacy of the fluency development lesson (FDL) as a supplement to the regular reading curriculum in urban second-grade classrooms. The 10-15 min FDL, which was implemented daily for 6 months, resulted in fluency gains for students. In addition, teacher response to the FDL was singularly positive.

Reading Fluency Instruction: Moving Beyond Accuracy, Automaticity, and Prosody

Three key elements of reading fluency are accuracy in word decoding, automaticity in recognizing words, and appropriate use of prosody or meaningful oral expression while reading. These three components are a gateway to comprehension. Readers must be able to decode words correctly and effortlessly (automaticity) and then put them together into meaningful phrases with the appropriate expression to make sense of what they read.

A Focus on Fluency: How One Teacher Incorporated Fluency With Her Reading Curriculum.

Reading fluency has been identified as a key goal for the elementary school reading curriculum. Despite its theoretical importance in reading development and research that has demonstrated its effectiveness in improving reading performance, many teachers are not familiar with effective methods of instruction for reading fluency and ways for integrating reading fluency with the overall classroom reading curriculum. This article details the three-year journey of one fourth-grade teacher to make reading fluency an integral part of her reading curriculum. Using Readers Theatre, partner reading, writers craft passages, and a limited focus on timed readings helped her develop a fluency curriculum that students found engaging and productive. Data from three years of implementation of the fluency curriculum indicate that students have made substantial gains in various aspects of reading development. Moreover, those gains have been greater than those found in years prior to the implementation and integration of fluency instruction with the reading curriculum.

Oral Reading in the School Literacy Curriculum.

The report of the U.S. National Reading Panel identified oral reading as a method for developing reading skills and improving achievement. The authors explore the role of oral reading in instructional practice, primarily among young children who struggle in reading. They examine current research and theory in oral reading, and comment on implications for classroom practice.

Why Reading Fluency Should Be Hot

This article explores problems that have surfaced in the teaching of reading fluency and how teachers and reading coaches can resolve those problems. Specific issues addressed include reading fluency being defined as reading fast and instruction that is focused on having students read fast, reading fluency viewed as solely and oral reading activity, reading fluency seen as an issue only for the primary grades, and reading fluency instruction viewed as a distinct form of reading instruction not integral to authentic reading that focuses on meaning. The author makes the case for an authentic, meaning-based, and comprehensive approach to fluency instruction that is integral part of the core reading program.

The Effects of Fast Start Reading: A Fluency-BasedHome Involvement Reading Program, On the Reading Achievement of Beginning Readers

This study tested the effects of a fluency-based home reading program called Fast Start. Thirty beginning first-grade students, representing a wide range of early reading abilities, were randomly assigned to experimental or control conditions for a period of 11 weeks. Parents and students in the experimental group received Fast Start training, weekly materials packets, and weekly telephone support. Control group parents and students received the parent involvement opportunities typical for their family and classroom. Significant effects for those students most at-risk in reading (as measured by pretest) were found on measures of Letter/Word recognition and reading fluency. Verbal and written survey information collected from the experimental group indicated generally positive perceptions of the program by parents.

Teaching Reading Fluency to Struggling Readers: Method, Materials, and Evidence

Reading fluency has been identified as a key component in reading and in learning to read. Moreover, a significantly large number of students who experience difficulty in reading manifest difficulties in reading fluency that appear to contribute to their overall struggles in reading. In this article we explore the nature of effective instruction in fluency. We examine proven methods for teaching fluency as well as instructional routines that combine various methods into synergistic lessons. We also take issue with more mechanical approaches to fluency instruction that emphasize reading rate as the major goal of such instruction. Instead, we attempt to make the case for more authentic approaches to fluency instruction, approaches that employ texts meant to be practiced and performed.

READING AND SPELLING CONNECTIONS IN THIRD AND FIFTH GRADE STUDENTS

The purpose of this study was to examine the connections between the oral reading abilities and the spelling behaviors of third and fifth grade students. Seventy-two third graders and sixty fifth graders from two different schools (one urban and one suburban) were the subjects of the study. Each subject read a selection one level above his/her current grade placement, spelled the words on the appropriate grade level list of the Qualitative Inventory of Word Knowledge and took the appropriate level of the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests. Oral readings were scored for accuracy, rate and phrasing. Spellings were scored for accuracy, phonetic quality and stage of spelling development. These scores were then analyzed using correlations, partial correlations and multiple regression techniques. At both grade levels there were high, significant correlations between spelling and reading variables, with spelling variables accounting for from 40% to 60% of the variance in oral reading measures and a smaller, but stil...