I was very happy to read Tim Rasinski's comments about Martin Luther King's speech and oral reading fluency. I was trying to decide if I should use 6 Minute Solution with my struggling readers who read slowly (a program that uses repeated reading of same passage to improve fluency). However, I timed myself reading one of the passages to get a sense of how many words per minute expressive, fluent reading takes and realized that I was reading much slower than the program allowed. I decided not to use it. I felt it would be counter productive to teach kids who struggle with comprehension to 'read it fast'. Instead I opted for 'reader's theater' and poetry...authentic reasons to read and reread aloud with expression.
On 5/26/07 10:29 AM, "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > But let me close with a brief case study I did back in January. I love the > work of Dr. Martin Luther King, admire his principals, but also his ability > to communicate. I think most people would agree that he is one of the most > fluent speakers/readers of all time. Yet, in January I printed out his I > Have a Dream Speech and listened to his delivery of the speech from > 1963. On impulse, I decided to subject his reading of the speech to the > DIBELS oral reading fluency test. As you might expect he did not do > well. I calculated his reading rate at 102 words correct per minute, the > level of a primary grade student. It's hard to believe that if his speech > was a test, it might have landed him in a remedial reading setting. --------------------------- Lee Brazell, Literacy Specialist Mountain View Middle School Goffstown, NH 03045 _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
