Ms. Docherty
Mara Docherty
Educational Portfolio
Winona State University
Elementary Education
Fluency
Definition:
Automaticity, prosody, and rate put together to combine into fluency.
Fluency= Automaticity + Prosody + Rate
When testing fluency, fluency shows exactly how well the student is doing is many categories or if the book is too hard, or too easy. We will go over the components of fluency, instruction, and how it makes a difference.
Fluency not only is rate but also prosody. Prosody is the expression, students should have expression while reading with fluency.
Fluency is measured using words per minute correct or known as wpmc. Most of the time while measuring fluency it is in a one minute sample. Students will read for one minute straight while the assessor would mark the mistakes. After the minute count the mistakes and all of the words. This will be their wpmc.
Fluency is considered a building block for expression, without automatically, prosody, and rate you will be able to know that student is struggling with the subject, context, vocabulary, grammar, and comprehension. This will be more relevant especially 3rd grade and above.
Instruction regarding fluency can be performance reading. Performance reading gives a natural audience. Repeated reading and monitoring comprehension helps with fluency rates with instruction as well. Fluency accuracy fix-ups are slow, careful, stop and think, rereading. Fluency rate flix-ups are slow if hard for students and fast if easy. Fluency expression fix-ups include big breaths between, pausing and pitch with punctuation.
Audio Center
Having a place where students can go and listen to books can help with fluency. Students learn by listening. Students can go to the audio center and pick a pair of headphones and a tape. Students will follow along in the book. You can put comfy chairs in the center to draw attention to the area for students to go to.
Vocabulary for Fluency
Prosody- elements that make reading fun for kids and expressive. There are five different elements.
Automaticity- quickly recognize words with little effort
Theory of Automaticity- The theory of automatic refers to when students are able to recognize information and understand it without having to think about it.
Rate- the speed at which someone reads the content accurately
Accuracy- correctly decode a word and the speed of how fast it was done
Prosody and all 5 components
Expression- having expression and enthusiasm while reading
Stress- certain words will be stressed and the reader is able to do so
Pitch- change volume or tone in voice while reading to create a dynamic
Phrasing- Reader will group certain words together and not talking a breath to emphasize
Rhythm- pausing at punctuations, having appropriate rate or pace

To help with fluency, a big component is just reading or listening to someone read. With this website children can find free and original stories for their age group. They even have different languages. Students will never be able to say they don't have anything to read when they have access to this website.

One Minute Reader
Energizes students to take their regular independent reading time into an exciting experience. Students have one minute to read as far as they can. The student will work at their own pace throughout the text. The program automatically tracks the readers progress.

Reading Fluency
This app takes reading fluency and makes it into a game-like environment. Pick players and everyone practices beating the timer. As the levels get harder the increase of the required speed.

ThinkFluency
This app is for teachers and students. Record mistakes in the passage they are reading by tapping on the word. While the wpmc is calculated for you. Students will be able to see what they need to work on.
Fluency Strategies
Goal: 4.7
Title: Warm=up and Transfer
Age and reading level: 1-5+
Brief Description:
Start by warming up on an easier book, getting the feel for how it is to be fluent. As you continue and feel as it is smooth and easy to move up to a little bit harder book. As you warm up it will help you be ready to read something at your level fluently.
Materials needed:
different level books
Steps for instruction:
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Grab and easier book
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Read this book and notice how smooth it sounds as you read it
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When you feel ready to go to the next level book or go to a book you're working on
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As you read the next level book think to yourself, "Remember how it felt with an easy book? Do the same with this one, I read all the words correctly and it was smooth"
Goal: 4.12
Title: Fluency phone for Feedback
Age and reading level:
K-5+
Brief Description:
Listen to yourself as you read, with a fluency phone you are able to listen closely to the way you read text. If you catch yourself sounding choppy, go back and try again. Keep trying till it sounds smooth. This is a great tool for students who want to practice reading aloud.
Materials needed: Fluency phone and a book
Steps for instruction:
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Grab the fluency phone and a book at your level
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Really try and hear yourself, does it sound smooth or choppy?
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Reread things that didn't sound smooth
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Read at a low volume to hear yourself.
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You can receive instant feedback from yourself.
Goal:
4.14
Title:
Get Your Eyes Ahead of the Words
Age and reading level:
2-5+
Brief Description:
When you know you are reading smoothly, your eyes should be ahead of the words you are currently reading. This helps your brain to process what's coming next and the natural pauses or expression.
Materials needed:
Book or text
Steps for instruction:
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Start by reading a book, see if you can catch yourself looking ahead
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If you don't, try looking ahead while reading
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Did it sound smoother?
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See if you can read a sentence in on breath and let your eyes move ahead of where you are reading
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Keep going back and smoothing it out
Goal: 4.18
Title: Partners Can Be Fluency Teacher
Age and reading level:
3-5+
Brief Description:
Just like a teacher, partners can listen to you read as well. One partner can act as a teacher as the other reads while giving feedback. Both partners will benefit as the teacher will be learning things to practice on their fluency while coaching the other partner.
Materials needed:
Partner and a book
Steps for instruction:
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Have students paired or pick partners
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One student will start as the teacher and the other as the student
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Pick a page from their book that they have been struggling on\
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Re aloud to their partner
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The teacher partner will tell them things like go back and read that again, smooth that out, make your voice match the feeling, that was very smooth, that sounds just like how you talk, or that was a little choppy.
Goal: 4.1
Title: Read it Like You've Always Known it
Age and reading level: K-5+
Brief Description: Attack the word that you aren't familiar with, don't let it slow you down. When you have to pause to decode the word, head back to the beginning and reread the sentence. This next time try reading the word as you've always known it.
Materials needed: Book or text
Steps for instruction:
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Notice that you're stopping to try and figure out an unknown word
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Go back and re-read the whole sentence like you know the word, even if you don't.
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Have confidence
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Now that you know the word, go back a reread it again to grasp the meaning of the sentence
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Make sure it makes sense
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Reread one more time.
Resources
Bendix, J. Fluency Fix-up Strategies [PDF document]. Retrieved from BrightSpace online course website: https://winona.learn.minnstate.edu/d2l/le/content/4944895/viewContent/42944862/View
Bendix, J. Fluency Guided Notes [PDF document]. Retrieved from BrightSpace online course website: https://winona.learn.minnstate.edu/d2l/le/content/4944895/viewContent/42944864/View
Bendix, J, (2020). Fluency [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://winona.learn.minnstate.edu/d2l/le/content/4944895/viewContent/43043538/View
Literacy Apps. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.readingrockets.org/literacyapps/
Serravallo, J. (2015). The reading strategies book: your everything guide to developing skilled readers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.