Capacity building series

Reading fluency

-          Students must be able to read words in order to move forward as independent readers

-          We can only hold so much info in our working memory. Decoding requires significant cognative resources.

-          If identifying words is not automated, comprehension is likely to suffer.

-          Automation also motivates students to read. Makes it less laborious

-          Key element of reading fluency – automacy, phrasing and expression.

-          To make decoding automatic, there are 3 key areas to focus on

o   phonological awareness – ability to hear sounds in words eg rhyme, syllables etc

o   Alphabet letter knowledge – identify, name and recite letters

o   Alphabetic principle – learning there is a relationship between letters and sounds

-          Practicing fluency – shared readin, repeated reading of familiar text

-          Reading/writing connection. Interactive writing, daily independent writing,

-          Making decoding accurate, fast and fun

o   Build phonological awareness – Play one word is different (5 rhyming words with one not). Clap syllables.

o   Build alphabet letter knowledge. Draw students attention to difference between letter shapes. Activities – letter cards (sort and name), magnetic letters.

o   Teach alphabetic principle – teach letter blends such as diagraphs etc. activities – compare words by changing first and last letters etc