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An indispensable resource for classroom teachers and teacher educators alike, the reader-friendly text offers a range of expert perspectives on the key aspects of fluency.
An indispensable resource for classroom teachers and teacher educators alike, the reader-friendly text offers a range of expert perspectives on the key aspects of fluency.
Reading fluency has been identified as a key component of proficient reading. Research has consistently demonstrated significant and substantial correlations between reading fluency and overall reading achievement. Despite the great potential for fluency to have a significant outcome on students’ reading achievement, it continues to be not well understood by teachers, school administrators and policy makers. The chapters in this volume examine reading fluency from a variety of perspectives. The initial chapter sketches the history of fluency as a literacy instruction component. Following chapters examine recent studies and approaches to reading fluency, followed by chapters that explore actual fluency instruction models and the impact of fluency instruction. Assessment of reading fluency is critical for monitoring progress and identifying students in need of intervention. Two articles on assessment, one focused on word recognition and the other on prosody, expand our understanding of fluency measurement. Finally, a study from Turkey explores the relationship of various reading competencies, including fluency, in an integrated model of reading. Our hope for this volume is that it may spark a renewed interest in research into reading fluency and fluency instruction and move toward making fluency instruction an even more integral part of all literacy instruction.
The changing and moving field of reading is reflected in the progression of What Research Has to Say About Reading Instruction over the years, as the editors have sought to provide a solid foundation for the important work of teaching students to read. This new edition of this classic research review offers a broad and balanced perspective of the latest theory, research, and practice to provide that foundation.
"Subject Areas/Keywords: assessments, decoding, elementary, English language learners, fluency, literacy instruction, oral reading, primary grades, prosody, reading comprehension, reading expressiveness, reading methods, secondary, struggling readers Description: This accessible guide brings together well-known authorities to examine what reading fluency is and how it can best be taught. Teachers get a clear, practical roadmap for navigating the often confusing terrain of this crucial aspect of balanced literacy instruction. Innovative approaches to instruction and assessment are described and illustrated with vivid examples from K-12 classrooms. The book debunks common misconceptions about fluency and clarifies its key role in comprehension. Effective practices are presented for developing fluency in specific populations, including English language learners, adolescents, and struggling readers"--
Because fluency instruction was identified only recently as a cornerstone literacy subject, it is still an unfamiliar terrain for many teachers. This volume fills a crucial gap by offering a thorough, authoritative examination of what reading fluency is and how it should be taught. The contributing authors - who include the field's leading authorities - review the growing knowledge base and provide clear recommendations for effective, engaging instruction and assessment. The special topics include promising applications for struggling readers and English language learners. Throughout, vignettes and examples from exemplary programs bring the research to life, enhancing the book's utility as an undergraduate- or graduate-level text and a resource for in-service teachers.
All the latest research on fluency plus dozens of practical lessons and ready-to-use fluency-priming tools, including partner poems, word ladders, and more!
This is the first book to examine in-depth the crucial role of the speed of information processing in the brain in determining reading fluency in both normal and dyslexic readers. Part I explains fluency in reading from both traditional and modern perspectives. Fluency has historically been viewed as the outcome of other reading-related factors and has often been seen as a convenient measure of reading skills. This book, however, argues that fluency has a strong impact on other aspects of reading and plays a central role in the entire reading process. Part II deals with the determinants of reading fluency. Chief among these is the speed of information processing in the brain. Using both behavioral and electrophysiological evidence, the book systematically examines the features of processing speed in the various brain systems involved in reading: visual-orthographic, auditory-phonological, and semantic and shows how speed of processing affects fluency in reading. Part III deals with the complex issues of cross-modal integration and specifically with the need for effective synchronization of the brain processes involved in reading. It puts forward the Synchronization Hypothesis and discusses the role of the Asynchrony Phenomenon as a major factor in dyslexia. Finally, it summarizes research on manipulating reading rate by means of the Acceleration method, providing evidence for a possible intervention aimed at reducing Asynchrony. Key features of this outstanding new book include: *Expanded View of Fluency. Reading fluency is seen as both a dependent and an independent Variable. Currently available books focus on reading rate solely as the outcome of other factors whereas this volume stresses that it is both an outcome and a cause. *Information Processing Focus. Fluency itself is determined to a large extent by a more general factor, namely, speed of processing in the brain. The book presents wide-ranging evidence for individual differences in speed of processing across many subpopulations. *Brain Synchronization Focus. The book posits a new theory arguing that effective reading requires synchronization of the different brain systems: visual orthographic, auditory-phonological, and semantic. *Research-Based Interventions. Interventions to enhance fluency and, thereby, reading skills in general are presented in detail. *Author Expertise. Zvia Breznitz is Head of the Department of Learning Disabilities and Director of the Laboratory for Neurocognitive Research at Haifa University in Israel, where she has been researching this topic for over a decade. This book is appropriate for researchers and advanced students in reading, dyslexia, learning disabilities, cognitive psychology, and neuropsychology.
This timely book offers two distinct approaches to oral reading instruction that can easily be incorporated into primary-grade literacy curricula. It enables teachers to go beyond the conventional "round-robin" approach by providing strong instructional support and using challenging texts. Grounded in research and classroom experience, the book explains what works and why in helping students build comprehension along with word recognition and the expressive elements of oral reading. Specific lesson plan ideas, helpful vignettes and examples, and reproducibles make this an indispensable classroom resource. Included are chapters on fluency's role in learning to read, motivation, the home-school connection, fluency assessment, and strategies for struggling readers.
