A presentation from the East TN Title 1 Conference. Fluency is important but how we instruct it depends on whether we understand just what role it plays in literacy.

1. Five Ways to Ensure Fluency
Keith Pruitt, Ed.S.
Words of Wisdom Educational
Consulting
www.woweducationalconsulting.com

2. How We Understand
Fluency Determines How
We Instruct It—
How Do You Define
Fluency?

3. “Fluency is one of several
critical factors necessary for
reading comprehension.
Despite its importance as a
component of skilled
reading, fluency is often
neglected in the classroom.”
Report of the National Reading Panel – Teaching Children to Read, 2000.

4. What Does A Fluent Reader •Fluent readers read with
automaticity
•Fluent readers read with
prosody
Do?
•Fluent readers read naturally
as though speaking (phrasing)
•Fluent readers read
accurately and with natural
flow or pace

5. Is It Necessary to Teach Fluency?
The teacher said the principal is
the best in the district.
“The teacher,” said the
principal, “is the best in the
district.”

6. Defining Terms
•Automaticity- By “automatic” we simply mean that the
words in the text can be decoded with ease, speed, and accuracy. --
S. Jay Samuels, Reading Fluency: It’s Past, Present, and Future. (2006). Fluency
Instruction: Research-based Best Practices. Guildford.
The author goes on to use the comparison of a person driving a car.
From www.buzzle.com

7. Defining Terms
• Prosody- “Expression (the technical term is prosody)
includes pausing, phrasing, rhythm, pitch, smoothness, and
stress, all working together in an integrated was to reflect the
reader’s interpretation of the text.” --p.71, Fountas & Pinnell, Teaching for
Comprehending and Fluency(2006). Heinemann.

8. Defining Terms
• Phrasing- “refers to the way readers put words together in
groups to represent the meaningful units of language.”—Fountas and
Pinnell (2006). Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency. Heinemann

9. Ensuring Fluency
1.Students need to hear language. Reading TO
students.
Students should be able
to read with
fluency, expression, and
correct phrasing—all
indicators of
effective, meaningful
reading. Research has
shown that oral reading is
one of the best ways to
help children develop

10. Ensuring Fluency
1.Students need to hear language. Reading TO
students.
2.Students should read to each other. INTERACTIVE
READING.
Isn’t as threatening.
Allows for familiarity with
difficult text and vocabulary
Provides opportunity for
active listening activities
Builds confidence as a reader

11. Ensuring Fluency
1.Students need to hear language. Reading TO
students.
2.Students should read to each other. INTERACTIVE
READING.
3.Students should use technology. Books on
electronic file.
Hearing a book read on tape helps her see how the words on the
page can come alive in a fluid, expressive way. It helps her focus on
the sounds of words read without interruption and provides a
model of fluent reading. Audio books also give her an important
introduction to listening — a skill that she must master in order to
learn to read. --Susan Neuman, The Literacy Benefits of Listening, from Scholastic website

12. Ensuring Fluency
1.Students need to hear language. Reading TO
students.
2.Students should read to each other. INTERACTIVE
READING.
3.Students should use technology. Books on
electronic file.
4.Students should read to themselves.
INDEPENDENT READING

13. Ensuring Fluency
1.Students need to hear language. Reading TO
students.
2.Students should read to each other. INTERACTIVE
READING.
3.Students should use technology. Books on
electronic file.
4.Students should read to themselves. INDEPENDENT
READING
5.Students should read to their teachers. GUIDED
READING.

14. Unless you are listening to your students
read, how are you going to know their
abilities and deficits?

15. Ensuring Fluency
1.Students need to hear language. Reading TO
students.
2.Students should read to each other. INTERACTIVE
READING.
3.Students should use technology. Books on
electronic file.
4.Students should read to themselves.
INDEPENDENT READING
5.Students should read to their teachers. GUIDED
READING.

16. Fluency involves many aspects of
literacy. It isn’t just reading fast!
But so much rests on the student’s
ability to read as a fluent reader. It has
impact on comprehension and in the
end shows in the assessment.

17. Thank You
Keith Pruitt
Words of Wisdom
www.woweducationalconsulting.com