June 9th Readings

The article by Timothy Rasinski, Creating Fluent Readers, thoroughly discusses the importance of fluent reading over speed in reading. Rasinski also breaks down the definition of a “fluent” reader. Reading fluency is broken down into three categories: accuracy in word decoding, automatic processing and prosodic reading. Accuracy in word decoding references the phonics aspect of reading-sounding out the words and making few errors doing so. Automatic processing is the understanding of the context of the reading without much effort. Finally, prosodic reading, which means applying the correct inflection of one’s voice to the reading, taking note of punctuation, as well as including appropriate pauses in the sentences themselves. A readers decoding proficiency is typically gauged by accessing the amount of correct words in relation the reading level being tested, 90-95 percent places one at the adequate level. Automaticity is assessed by courting the number of words read in a certain amount of time. Prosodic levels are calculated using a rubric of necessary elements and determining which elements a student possesses while they read aloud. Rasinski refers to teachers who turn their classrooms into “poetry cafés” as an effort to given student s forum to read with correct inflection and development of other prosodic reading skills. The importance of not confusing fluency with speed is also stressed in the article, as they are two very different things. A fast reader is not always a prosodic reader. A reader with adequate scores in the three categories has a better chance at having a successful reading future, as opposed to a reader that speeds through the reading making multiple mistakes and missing the key elements.

                Theresa A. Deeney dicusses similar things as the article by Rasinski. However, Deeney brings about other aspects of reading fluency that should be stressed in the classroom, as well as breaking down the assessment systems and discussing the obvious flaws in them. One-minute reading assessments have become a large part in evaluating the fluency of a reader. These assessments consist of having a student read a short passage, they are evaluated on the amount they can successfully read within the 60 seconds. The first  issue with this is that is has become heavily relied on by teachers, as it at first glance seems to be a brilliant way to evaluate the students. However, as Deeney points out, one-minute fluency measures are no the best approach. For example, some students start off their reading extremely strong-therefore giving results of excellent fluency. These same students may taper off and struggle with reading after the one minute. While other students may struggle within the first 60 seconds, gaining confidence as they continue—rendering high scores if the test lasted long than 60 seconds. This is an issue of endurance. Endurance is key in reading, after all what good does it do you if you can only successfully read the first minute of everything? A easy fix to this is the evaluate the students over an extended amount of time, have them read passages that span multiple minutes verses just the one.

                Chapter 4 of the book brings back the importance of the word wall. I cannot recall a world wall in my classrooms as a child, although I am sure some version of it existed. Word walls serve as reading aide for struggling and beginning readers. Placing “high-frequency” words on your wall (words such as: what, of, they, said, and have) on your wall makes for easy identification and memorization of the words that are vital to the first steps in reading. Choral reading is also a valuable tool in developing reading fluency. Breaking your students into groups and assigning them parts in a story keeps them engaged, all the while improving their reading skills. Echo reading is a way in which a teacher can help students improve their prosodic reading. Reading a text aloud with correct emphasis and having the classroom mimic your voice teaches them the importance on inflection and timing within a story. Encouraging your students and catching the little things earlier is an important part of being a teacher, by helping students to improve their individual reading fluency at an early age teachers have the ability to set the student up for a lifetime full of successful reading.