Reading Fluency
Quite simply, reading is the ability to decode (i.e., read each word), and then understand the meaning of those written words.1 Reading fluency is critical in the ability to comprehend because, by definition, fluent readers read smoothly and accurately and this means that these readers do not need to focus on reading each word, but rather this happens almost “automatically” allowing them to focus all their cognitive energy on the ideas in the text.2 In contrast, novice and struggling readers have to concentrate on decoding individual words leaving little cognitive room for text comprehension.3
Reading fluency requires the ability to read smoothly and accurately. When reading aloud, fluent readers are designated by their ability to read effortlessly and with appropriate expression as if the reader is talking.4 All three of these components (i.e., smoothness, accuracy, and expression) are critical for proficient and fluent reading. Reading fluency is important because it serves as the bridge between word recognition and comprehension5, yet too many children in schools today struggle to become fluent readers.
Students are considered to be at-risk if they are reading more than 10 words below the 50th percentile.6
Conservative recommendations are that students should be reading at least 43 words per minute by the end of first grade and 79 words per minute by the end of second grade.6 But other authorities offer that the reading rate for first graders may need to be as high as 50 or 60 correct words per minute (CWPM) and second graders 90 CWPM to ensure proficient and wide range reading in subsequent grades.1,7 Reading fluency begins as early as kindergarten or 1st grade, is predictive of subsequent reading proficiency, and can be improved in first and second graders through systematic instruction.8-11
Early instruction is critical because research clearly shows that once students fall behind, they rarely catch up. Longitudinal studies indicate that students who struggle with fluency late in kindergarten or early first grade tend to have persistent problems with reading throughout the grades. 12, 13 Fluency does not automatically emerge from teaching of other skill areas such as phonemic awareness and the alphabetic principle, but in many cases needs to be deliberately taught.1, 14 The National Reading Panel3 found reading fluency to be so important they included it as one of the five most necessary components of reading instruction (i.e., phonemic awareness, alphabetic principle, word vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension); yet they also determined it to be the “most neglected” reading skill.
Fluency is most likely to result from practice with words read correctly in a meaningful context. 15-17 Although silent reading does present students with the opportunity to practice reading words in context, it can be problematic because it is difficult to determine if the students are reading the words correctly, or even engaged in the reading process at all. This program provides students with multiple opportunities to practice reading aloud. Students then receive assistance and feedback from the computer’s voice recognition software.
Repeated reading intervention (RRI)
RRI is a strategy used to facilitate increased fluency and ultimately comprehension. RRI is the evidence-based strategy employed for this intervention. Students are directed to read and reread a passage until a desired level of fluency is obtained.4 Repeated readings improve word recognition, smoothness, and accuracy resulting in improved reading fluency and overall improvement in reading ability.3, 4 Repeated readings involve listening to a model and then repeatedly reading a passage until the desired goal is reached.
Reading Passages
This curriculum includes 25 first-grade and 25 second-grade passages. First- and second-grade urban students in Columbus City Schools served as sources of background information for the content of the passages. The passages contain themes and ideas generated through interviews and questionnaires with first- and second-grade students, their parents, and their teachers. Additionally, the passages were developed to be culturally relevant and affirming for the children. First-grade passages range from 90 to 120 words and have a Spache Readability grade level range from 2.0 to 2.3. The second-grade passages range from 240 to 270 words and have a Spache Readability grade level range from 2.4 to 2.8.
Spache Readability (http://www.readabilityformulas.com/spache-readability-formula.php) is a simple formula designed to calculate the grade level of a text. It utilizes the sentence length and number of unfamiliar words to provide a ranking specific to the grade and corresponding month. Spache Readability can serve as an excellent tool for teachers to determine the appropriateness of a text.
These grade levels conform to the end of year reading expectations for the respective grades. The project team wrote all of the passages to ensure passage equivalence and cultural relevance. The passages were edited and revised to ensure they were equivalent in terms of level of word usage, number of words, sentence length, and that each story met the requirement of a minimum of 70% of the words being decodable at either the first- or second-grade level.
Passage Equivalence
The project team initially wrote 30 passages (24 fictional and 6 expository) for each grade level for a total of 60 passages. Two authorities in reading and children’s literature critiqued each of the passages for general literacy, cultural relevance, and decode-ability. At least 70% of the words in each of the passages are decodable. After a series of revisions, 26 first- and 24 second-grade students read the respective passages to determine that the passages were equivalent in difficulty and that they were appropriate for teaching and assessment. Over a two-week period each student read 30 passages, four passages a session for seven sessions and two passages for the eighth session. The project team rated the students’ readings according to correct words per minute (CWPM).
Statistical analyses of these data revealed which passages fell at the extremes and failed to cluster with the other passages. Five passages (four fictional, one expository) were eliminated at each grade level, leaving 25 passages for each grade.
Cultural Relevance
Many authorities 18-20 suggest that culturally relevant materials may be uniquely beneficial for struggling students, particularly those from culturally diverse backgrounds. Culturally relevant (CR) literature contains characters, experiences, historical events, food, dress, language, and so forth that reflect the reader’s background and interests. These materials are also age and gender appropriate. In general, cultural relevance is not uniformly defined, but in the classroom, student responses to texts are usually a good barometer. For example, if the students show excitement about reading the materials, talk about similar personal experiences while reading, indicate that they want to share the materials with family members, request to read other similar stories, and so forth, it is likely that the materials are culturally relevant.
American school populations are increasingly diverse. This diversity poses corresponding greater challenges for teaching beginning readers and for acquiring culturally diverse texts that are representative of a multitude of cultures.
Despite the difficulty, CR material for the beginning reader is an extremely worthwhile pursuit to motivate and affirm culturally and linguistically diverse learners. worthwhile pursuit to motivate and affirm culturally and linguistically diverse learners. Although all students should become proficient readers of both CR and non-culturally relevant (NCR) literature, CR literature may increase the reading activities and skills of the beginner who shows reading risk. This software gives teachers the capability to add stories and mazes that are CR for the students in their classrooms.
Motivation
Motivation is an important theme in CR literature. Motivation is important because the more we like something the more we will do it. Proficiency in reading requires hours of reading and hours of practice, but if reading does not come easily, the learner will resist reading and, accordingly, miss out on opportunities to become a good or proficient reader. Thus, it is important to make the reading materials as attractive as possible. CR materials are considered to be motivating because they can be more personal and meaningful to the learner.
A beginning poor reader who likes to shoot hoops with his big brother, for example, might initially find that passage of greater interest than a selection about sailing, which is not in his current experiential repertoire. There is anecdotal and research evidence that culturally and linguistically diverse learners will request to read more and will read better with CR literature.
Affirmation
When children see themselves, their communities, and the people that are most important to them in the materials that they read, it is affirming. It says to them that they are valued and they can do worthwhile things. Cultural resources could serve as buffers to external forces that communicate directly/indirectly that students cannot learn. It is important to include in CR literature accomplished/successful characters who reflect the readers. Such passages communicate to the reader that although the material may seem difficult, the student is capable of being successful. CR literature affirms the reader, teaches him/her not only to value his/her own culture but also to respect the cultural difference of others. When children are affirmed, they begin to think of themselves more positively, of being capable to succeed, and able to perform challenging tasks.
One affirming principle is a psychological concept entitled growth mindset21, which proposes that intelligence is not fixed but that we can increase our abilities by exercising our brain. In other words, intelligence is expandable. We can strengthen our brain through exercise and in the case of this curriculum, exercise occurs through repeated readings. Prior to beginning the intervention and before each lesson, students are told that if we exercise our brain, we make it stronger and learn better. They also are told that the lessons have many practice activities that will help them exercise their brain and read better.
Children who are vulnerable to early failure need to see themselves as capable learners. They need identity safety21, which essentially provides positive, nonthreatening environments for learning. As such, learners are affirmed, appropriately high expectations are set, and learners are assured that they can reach these standards. The passages are intended to depict urban students in a variety of natural environments, including school, where they are successful and enjoy learning.
Prior to each passage, a computer delivered message tells the student that the reading goal is set high, but the student is smart enough to reach the goal, and that assistance will be offered to help them be successful. The settings and activities of these passages are intended to increase self-identity.
As the student moves through the lessons, there will be computer-based affirmations to celebrate victories (e.g., great! You’ve reached your goal!), or encouragements (e.g., Keep going, you’re almost there.), or soft corrections with encouragement (e.g., Oops! Not this time. You’re making progress. Keep trying.).