The article that Bil posted isn't the kind of fluency work that I've seen. I was a Reading Recovery teacher for many years and worked with kids and fluency often. Using The Giver doesn't make sense to me and I think there are a lot of very knowledgeable teachers who work with timed fluency in very meaningful ways. I still see as a middle school teacher that fluency plays a critical role in the success of our readers who struggle. Fluency is directly affected by comprehension and vice versa---the same thing for writing---we have so many kids that have difficulty thinking about writing and actually putting pen to paper at the same time that the thinking is happening that we do all kinds of quick writes and strategies to help them with that process. We tell them to just get something down, put an empty circle or line to represent a word you can't come up with right then---writing is so much more concrete. The same kind of process has to occur for readers. We need to keep looking for ways to encourage that fluency. As adults our reading pace constantly fluctuates based on what we are reading. Our kids who struggle need to actually "feel" what it's like to read at a pace where meaning, structure, and visual cues all come together. That rarely if ever happens for them. I've watched kids who have increased their fluency through repeated timed readings actually celebrate their feeling like a reader for the first time. I completely agree this is only part of helping those strugglers, but the way they sound is what usually categorizes them (with their peer groups) as low readers.
>>> May Dartez <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 10/28/2006 7:22 AM >>> I have really enjoyed following this discussion. By common sense, just like you had felt, I felt as if the fluency checks were a complete waste of time and did not support them. However, I attended the Teacher to Teacher workshops over the summer and did see some of the research that supports fluency checks and teaching. I think that any kind of literacy program needs to be balanced and focused on comprehension, but it did convince me that fluency should be a strong part of a balanced program. May Dartez 6th, GA On Oct 27, 2006, at 11:01 PM, Margie Waterbrook wrote: > On 10/27/06, Bill IVEY <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> >> . Note the phrase I highlighted mid-description - would you >> agree in general? For your school? >> >> It's really interesting timing that you posted this today, Bill. >> Several years ago I worked at a charter school where it seemed all the >> special ed reading teacher did was time kids on their reading...and >> my group >> of friends on the the faculty, from a common-sense rather than a >> research >> point-of-view--just thought it was ridiculous and one more reason we >> all >> wanted OUT of that particular school. > > > Now I am at a much better school and teach an "English Support" > class > with a special ed teacher whom I respect...and, much to my surprise, > all of > a sudden we are doing these fluency checks. We discussed this, and she > tells > me that that was her reaction at first as well...but that she dug into > the > research and it supports this kind of teaching. > Research v. common sense...this approach still doesn't make > sense to > me. Luckily, unlike at the earlier school, where this is about all > they did, > we have a much more balanced program. But I am still unconvinced about > pushing for speed. It's not as if it's a typing class! > Margie > > Margie Waterbrook > 9th & 10th Grade English > Vail High School > Vail, AZ > > "Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm." > --Winston Churchill > _______________________________________________ > The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive > _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
