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

Abstract

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.On the surface James did not appear to be a poor reader. When he read grade-level material he was able to read all of the words accurately, and he knew the meanings of the words he read. His reading was full of effort-he labored over individual words and read them in a slow and unexpressive manner. He was significantly above average when tested for his overall intelligence and receptive vocabulary. When a passage was read to him, he understood it well. However, when he read it on his own, it was very likely that he would not understand much of what he had just read.This type of student seems to defy conventional wisdom or explanation. Good word decoder, high verbal intelligence, good vocabulary, capable of

Listening Comprehension Assessment: Validity Studies of Two Vertically Scaled Tests for Portuguese Students [Evaluación de la Comprensión Oral: Estudios de Validez de Dos Tests con Versiones Escaladas Verticalmente para Alumnos Portugueses]

“…The literature supports the view that the relationship between listening and reading comprehen- sion increases with advancing school grade, as a result of the mastering of decoding skills (Hudson, Pullen, Lane, & Orgesen, 2009;Rasinski, Homan, & Biggs, 2009). Additionally, according to the model of the Simple View of Reading and the research review of Aarnoutse, Brand-Gruwel and Oduber (1997), it would be expected that correlations between the TLC-n and TLC-e forms and reading comprehension assessments would be stronger.…”

Effects of Writing Instruction on Kindergarten Students’ Writing Achievement: An Experimental Study

“…Teacher explanations, think alouds, and modeling are recognized as integral components of effective instruction for word recognition, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension, (Coyne et al, 2009;Ehri, Satlow, & Gaskins, 2009;Rasinski, Homan, & Biggs, 2009). Therefore, it makes instructional sense that effective writing instruction would include these components of effective instruction.…”

The Effects of Reading Fluency Interventions on the Reading Fluency and Reading Comprehension Performance of Elementary Students With Learning Disabilities: A Synthesis of the Research from 2001 to 2014

“…Results indicated that students with LD are passively learning in large group settings with little to no specialized, intensive, and explicit instruction. Furthermore, many teachers believe students will naturally acquire fluent reading behaviors through sustained silent reading; however, struggling readers require direct instruction in reading fluency in order to make gains in fluency and comprehension (Rasinski, Homan, & Biggs, 2009). …”