So glad we are discussing ways to monitor fluency to increase reading comprehension!
This year in my fifth grade class, I felt frustrated because a few students slipped through the cracks. Their fluency with Open Court one-minute tests was around 80-90 words per minute, but what shocked me was their low comprehension scores. Out of 10 questions, they regularly could only get about 2-4 questions correct. My approach (which failed) of helping these students was to suggest they practice fluency reading at home, out loud so their parents could help. There were many words they didn't know, but I don't believe the help was found at home, because their fluency and sight word recognition never increased. In the classroom, I worked with small groups of students who had low comprehension scores. We read the short stories in the test booklets. We went over lots of short practice tests, and I taught them reading comprehension test-taking skills, I also focused on teaching the students how to increase comprehension using various strategies that good readers do. Now, in the light of summer vacation I realize that there was never any reading comprehension achieved by these students. They had no comprehension because these students were skipping (or not understanding) many, many words. Their fluency test would show a slow speed, plus many errors. But that is not what the entire story is: All those words they are skipping or not knowing what they are, are the exact reason there is no comprehension! These words are essential to understanding both the story and the questions themselves. I know this is true, because when we would read the weekly OCR story, and discuss the particulars, the students could follow along with the proficient readers. It is only when they are alone can one see how truly shut out they are from the reading process. Perhaps, as they get in older grades, the consequences on their low fluency becomes glaringly strong. I equate this sensation of saying words but not knowing their meaning to when I tried to read college level French. The requirement for a Masters in Art History was fluency in French. This meant if you could pass a written exam in French, you accomplished the requirement. My oral fluency was intermediate, but there were too many words on the written exam for me to flounder over. I just could not get the meaning from the writing to pass the test! This is what my students are experiencing with English. The students could be English Language Learners, but with the two I am thinking about today, these are English speakers that are slow learners, but started making great advancements in math in my class. I know that if I can reach students in math, there must be specific ways of reaching them in Language Arts too. (By the way, they also have atrocious spelling. I took this to mean they read very little, so they did not often see correctly spelled words in stories.) I need your help! First: I need a great miscue test to give that will specifically show me the exact phonics skills these students are missing. Somewhere in their first - third grade phonics education, they did not connect. I need your ideas on helping these students, once I figure out what they are missing. We do not have DRA at our school. I will be purchasing materials with my money, so I can't spend hundreds of dollars are testing materials. Second: How do I help these fifth grade students catch up? Small group choral practice? Focusing on everything, plus specifically re-teaching what they are missing with phonics? Third: What types of books could they enjoy reading independently? Third grade readers? For example: Black Lagoon Chapter books or Flat Stanley books. Should I get the first grade decodables? I have stopped approaching this as a reading comprehension skills overview, and now believe they need to learn phonics and sight words. There are some great powerpoints people have made with Fry's Words put into phrases. I could have the students drill with these. Fourth: What else can I do to get them caught up in the phonics department? We have not been teaching phonics in fifth. I need your help in a great book to use to fill in the missing pieces. What else can I do? I really want to reach these low students before it is too late for them to connect. Thanks for your ideas. Francie 5th Los Angeles _______________________________________________ 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.
