1. Accuracy in decoding- ability to sound out words / phonics
2. Automatic processing- little effort in decoding so they can focus on meaning
3. Prosodic reading- use of expression, emphasis, punctuation, etc
I think that the third dimension is one that is often ignored. I remember reading our textbooks aloud in class and listening to how some students completely ignored punctuation, just reading and reading like it was all one sentence.
On the other hand, I was babysitting a 6 year old boy who was reading Junie B. Jones an wanted to read it aloud to me. As he read (30 pages..) I was so surprised to see how he changed voices for different characters, used inflection, and detected emotions and altered his voice to reflect them. Although he often made mistakes, he would always go back and re-read the sentence, adding the inflection, emotion, pause, etc to the sentence. He knew how it was supposed to sound and was practicing.
I think that the difference between these two cases is exposure. The young boy's mother was a teacher, and she read to him all the time. Rasinski says it is important for children to "hear what fluent reading sounds like and how fluent readers interpret the text with their voices." In the other situation, those children may have not received the same modeling.
Other ways to help encourage fluency that I liked were:
-having students perform speeches/scripts/dialogues/jokes
-having students read along with the book on tape
-teacher reads, then follow along silently, then read as a group
1. What are some other ways to encourage fluency?
2. What are some setbacks/flaws in schools teaching literacy?
I think one way to teach reading fluency is to have your students do a "Readers Theater," and use a lot of expression and acting when they read a story. Another way to teach reading fluency is to have your class read aloud with you to ensure they do not add words or get lost in the reading. Some flaws or setbacks in schools teaching literacy is that they often focus on a students reading rate that they don't focus enough on their understanding of the text. They want to try to get their students to the next reading level and do not slow down to make sure each student is understanding.
ReplyDeleteI think a great way to encourage fluency is by having a child reread text. According to Chapter 4 of Classrooms that Work, there are a couple of ways that can encourage a child to reread text. My favorite was Echo Reading, which involves reading text first, then having the child to "echo" what you have read. I think this is a great way to encourage the child to read text that they may struggle with, especially if the teacher reads the passage first. Not only does this allow the child to comprehend the text, but it leaves room for them to add words they may not have recognized first to their reading vocabulary.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Aneisha that Echo Reading can serve as a great way to encourage prosodic readers. I tutor a third grade ESL student who is significantly below grade level for reading. Throughout the semester, I began to realize just how vital prosodic reading really is. Even though he certainly has not mastered decoding or automatic processing, I still think that a large part of my focus should be directed at helping him develop his prosodic reading skills. Prosodic reading allows the reader to really get consumed by the text. This dimension of fluency encourages connectivity. Understanding the feelings of the characters allows the reader to experience he excitement, worry, anxiety, happiness, and growth of the character.
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