Reading instructional level

Fluency: An Introduction | Reading Rockets

Even when students recognize many words automatically, their oral reading still may be expressionless, not fluent. To read with expression, readers must be able to divide the text into meaningful chunks. Readers must know to pause appropriately within and at the ends of sentences and when to change emphasis and tone. For example, a reader who lacks fluency may read, probably in a monotone, a line from Bill Martin Jr's Brown Bear, Brown Bear as if it were a list of words rather than a connected text, pausing at inappropriate places:

Brown/
bear brown/
bear what/
do/
you see.

A fluent reader will read the same line as:

Brown bear/
Brown bear/
What do you see?/

The difference between fluency and automaticity

Although they terms automaticity and fluency often are used interchangeably, they are not the same thing.

Automaticity is the fast, effortless word recognition that comes with a great deal of reading practice. In the early stages of learning to read, readers may be accurate but slow and inefficient at recognizing words. Continued reading practice helps word recognition become more automatic, rapid, and effortless.

Automaticity refers only to accurate, speedy word recognition, not to reading with expression. Therefore, automaticity (or automatic word recognition) is necessary, but not sufficient, for fluency.

Fluency instruction

Fluency is not a stage of development at which readers can read all words quickly and easily. Fluency changes, depending on what readers are reading, their familiarity with the words, and the amount of their practice with reading text. Even very skilled readers may read in a slow, labored manner when reading texts with many unfamiliar words or topics. For example, readers who are usually fluent may not be able to read technical material fluently, such as a textbook about nuclear physics or an article in a medical journal.

It is important to note that fluency instruction should be with a text that a student can read at their independent level. It is at this level where students are able to practice on speed and expression rather than decoding. The chart below describes each reading level:

In an effort to help teachers gain knowledge on fluency instruction, researchers have investigated two major instructional approaches related to fluency. In the first approach, repeated and monitored oral reading (commonly called "repeated reading"), students read passages aloud several times and receive guidance and feedback from the teacher. In the second approach, independent silent reading, students are encouraged to read extensively on their own.

Repeated and monitored oral reading

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 re-readings are sufficient for most students.
• 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.

Silent, independent reading

No research evidence is available currently to confirm that instructional time spent on silent, independent reading with minimal guidance and feedback improves reading fluency and overall reading achievement.

One of the major differences between good and poor readers is the amount of time they spend reading. Many studies have found a strong relationship between reading ability and how much a student reads. On the basis of this evidence, teachers have long been encouraged to promote voluntary reading in the classroom. Teacher-education and reading-education literature often recommends in-class procedures for encouraging students to read on their own, such as Silent Sustained Reading (SSR) or Drop Everything and Read (DEAR).

Research, however, has not yet confirmed whether independent silent reading with minimal guidance or feedback improves reading achievement and fluency. The research suggests that direct instruction in reading is the best predictor of reading achievement. However, it is important for students to be given time to apply their reading skills through silent reading with a book at their independent level (read with 95% word accuracy).

Why Instructional-Level Text (Usually) Isn't Enough for Lower Readers

Do you have any students in your class who aren’t yet reading at grade level?

Even if those lower students are making progress, they still may not be “bridging the gap.”

(In other words, the higher readers are making progress, too. And the lower readers are still behind, even though they may be getting better every day.)

So how do we bridge the gap?

That’s exactly what I’m going to tackle in this blog post!

Years ago, when I was getting my master’s degree in literacy leadership (at the University of Illinois at Chicago), I worked in the university literacy clinic.

At the clinic, we served struggling readers in elementary school and high school. We were tasked with having students read grade-level text, even though the students’ independent reading levels were significantly lower.

This approach was a bit different from what I’d learned about teaching reading, especially to struggling readers.

Before that, I’d always been told to use instructional-level text.

Instructional-level text is text that’s slightly harder than what a student can read independently. The idea is that the student can be successful with that challenging text, given teacher support.

In theory, instructional-level text can help bring kids forward in their reading. They’re being challenged by the text, but not so much that they’re overwhelmed or unable to grasp the text.

Going beyond instructional-level text

At the reading clinic, however, we were going over students’ instructional level. In some cases, we went way over!

Our professor (Dr. Tatum) explained that if students are always given instructional-level text, then they may not ever “bridge the gap” and catch up to their peers.

That idea made a lot of sense to me. (And I also saw that it really worked! The 7th grade student I worked with really did improve in her reading!)

Yet…I also don’t believe that reading grade-level text is always enough to help lower readers “bridge the gap.”

My experience has shown me that students who read below grade level (and all students, really) should read texts at a variety of levels, not just instructional-level and/or grade-level text!

This concept is similar to the act of climbing stairs.

If some students are currently at the “bottom stair” (aka reading far below grade level), working in grade-level text likely won’t help them magically leap up the stairs.

In this example, there are multiple steps in between the student’s current reading level and grade-level text. (This image shows two steps, but obviously, the actual number of steps would vary.)

I propose that we give students opportunities to read books at a variety of levels.

For lower readers, this means having them read texts:

• At their independent reading level (on their own)
• At their instructional level (with teacher support…or maybe even on their own sometimes!)
• At grade-level (with teacher support)
• At levels BETWEEN their instructional level and grade level

Whoa. That’s a lotta levels!

But this actually isn’t very difficult in practice. It just means that we choose texts at different levels for our small-group reading instruction / guided reading.

(By the way, if you’d benefit from having passages at a variety of levels so you can make this happen, check out my First & Second Grade Literacy Club. Members get new passages every month!)

When we give students a more challenging text, we also have to provide them with appropriate support. We can’t just hand them grade-level text and expect magic to happen!

In my next post, I’ll explain specific strategies to help any student successfully read challenging text. Stay tuned!

Teaching reading to preschoolers

The section "Teaching reading to preschoolers" introduces children 5-6 years old with letters and allows them to learn how to put them into words. Forming a list of tasks, the specialists of the Razumeikin development site used traditional methods of presenting material. However, some methodological techniques are copyrighted.

Please note that when we learn consonants in online tasks for children 5 years old, we call them without a vowel overtone. For example, not [be], but [b], not [ef], but [f], etc. This approach will allow the baby to facilitate the process of establishing the relationship between sounds and letters. And their names the child will be able to learn, getting acquainted with the alphabet.

In order to make the process of learning letters in the form of a game easy for children of 5 years old, it is advisable to use the maximum number of analyzers. The specialists of the Razumeikin development site tried to take this nuance into account when compiling a list of exercises. When completing online tasks in the “Teaching Preschoolers to Read” section, the child hears the sound corresponding to the letter, sees it in whole and in parts, creates it from wire, lace or plasticine, draws it with a finger. You can design letters from any materials at hand. It can be pebbles, matches, sticks, etc. Such exercises help kids learn letters while playing.

Very useful and effective are games with "rough" letters. They can be cut out of sandpaper or sheet with a velvet surface. At first, you can invite the baby to swipe the letter with his finger. This will help him understand how it is written and remember the direction of the hand movement. Then invite the child to recognize this letter among several others. In this case, the baby's eyes should be closed.

When creating exercises for preschoolers, our specialists tried to make them not only understandable and fun, but also really useful. Consistently passing online classes from this section, the child learns to read. At first, we learn to read simple and short words in syllables, then gradually the tasks become more difficult. By the end of the lesson, the child will be able to read and, most importantly, understand texts of several sentences.

A few words about the submission of material

In order to make reading for children aged 5 easy and productive, the specialists of the Razumeykin development site have prepared special thematic pictures and voiced text for each task. Some exercises also involve the motor area. All developmental tasks in the block "Reading for children 5-6 years old" can be completed online by preschoolers.

How are results evaluated?

For the correct performance of tasks-games in the section "Teaching preschoolers to read" there is a whole system of rewards. We are sure that in this way it is possible to increase the interest of preschoolers in learning and form positive motivation.

Toddlers receive a reward by completing tasks in the form of an educational game in the "Reading and letters for children of 6 years" section. For their achievements, they can be awarded medals, cups, pennants and certificates.

Most of the exercises in the section "Reading for children 5-6 years old" are evaluated depending on how the child was able to give the correct answer. If necessary, it is possible to return to any exercise done. By completing the task in the section “Reading for children 6 years old” again, the child will be able to improve the previous result. For this, in turn, he will be awarded a higher award.

Your child may be tested when they start reading. The results obtained will help you understand which tasks you need to dwell on in more detail. In addition, parents will be able to determine which exercises in the section "Reading and letters for children of 6 years" should be performed first.

It is important to take into account that the child needs not just to learn to read, but to learn to understand the meaning of what he read. This is what our online classes are devoted to in the section "Teaching reading and letters for preschoolers."

Reading courses for children at AMAKids

What is included in the

Primer

Includes familiarity with all the sounds and letters of the Russian language, as well as mastering the sound-letter analysis of the word.

Chitarika

Forms in children the skill of fluent syllabic reading with a gradual transition to reading whole words.

After that, the skill of conscious reading of sentences, as well as small texts with a complete understanding of the meaning of what is read, appears.

Why does my child need a course?

• Phonemic hearing The child will be able to correctly recognize all the sounds of the Russian language and get acquainted with the peculiarities of the pronunciation of sounds, their spelling and orthoepic norms.
• Sound-alphabetic analysis Children will learn to distinguish sounds by their qualitative characteristics, determine the position of a sound in a word, correctly correlate sounds and letters.
• Development of speech With the help of our methodology, the child will master competent, beautiful and expressive oral speech, as well as learn to convey his thoughts and feelings figuratively and accurately.
• Expansion of vocabulary The child's intellect is developed by enriching the vocabulary, since speech is one of the indicators of mental abilities. In our classes, work with the dictionary is given special attention.
• Working with texts The child learns to build simple and common sentences, generalize and analyze, and also conduct research when working with texts.
• Reading technique In our classes, the child will learn the means of expression. Such as fluency, intonation, pause, speech rate and logical stress.
• Literacy Literacy develops in children who read well, a lot and with interest. Our program has developed a large number of didactic materials aimed at developing literacy.

Do you think this is fantasy?

How are the classes going?

Frequency of the course Primer

Composition of groups

Frequency of the course Chitarika

Duration of classes and format of training

Modular training - by blocks

Teaching materials

FAQ

• Why does the method of teaching reading have two names - Bukvarika and Chitarika?

  Primer is an elementary course for children of the alphabetic period.
  Chitarika is a course of mastering reading from syllable to text.

• Is the course suitable for my child if he knows the letters and reads syllable by syllable?

  After the trial lesson, the trainer determines which module is recommended to start with.

• Can my child go to LIBERICA after LEARNING TO READ?

  Yes, it can, if the child's starting performance for Liberica is suitable.

• How fast will my child read after completing the course?

  Minimum 40-50 words per minute with full reading comprehension.

• What is an online platform for?

  Our training is based both on textbooks and includes a game component in the online platform. In the coming years, the role of the computer and process automation will only grow. Modern children get used to and adapt to new technologies, which opens up a comfortable future for them.

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