Our district has a fluency issue--not so much due to rate (though that has been an issue), but due to phrasing (particularly with complex sentence structures), a lack of expression and a failure to read punctuation. Our teachers have been stepping into this issue not by talking AT ALL about speed, but by providing students with opportunities to record themselves reading, self-assess their oral fluency with a couple of kid-friendly rubrics and also with buddy reading and assessment. I believe our oral fluency issues are tied to language issues. We work with a unique group, Native American children who test as language learners but do not, with rare exception, have any experience with any language other than English. We abandoned DIBELS several years ago but did so with the knowledge that we needed to find a more holistic way to support children who were indeed reading slowing, but more importantly were struggling to voice the written word in a way that reflected they were understanding the nuances of language structure and punctuation. I have been working on DRA's for a teacher battling cancer and worked last week with an on level reader (who had previously struggled with fluency). She read aloud so well, reflecting the events in the story, the humor and the conversation. She handled the prediction, retelling and connection questions with ease but struggled with another of our district's problems--difficulty in describing author message or inferring theme. We're working on that as well. Rather than buy into DIBELS and going the route of timer, I feel that our teachers are working to define fluency in a way that is meaningful to children, a way that promotes meaning-making, rather than racing through the text.
Lori Jackson District Literacy Coach and Mentor Todd County School District Box 87 Mission SD 5755 ----- Original message ----- From: [email protected] To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group <[email protected]> Date: Saturday, January 17, 2009 6:56 PM Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] DIBELS attn especially Michigan teachers > I feel your pain! I'm in Alabama, we're doing tons of assessments and have > used DIBELS at least for the past 5 years. ONE of the big problems I'm > seeing now from so much attention being given to DIBELS is children think > reading is all about speed and have no idea what they've read. At the > beginning of second grade this year, I had at least 7 students that could > read 135+ WPM, and retell 2 words of what they'd read. (Benchmark for the > beginning of second grade is 44 WPM.) I'm now having to add another component > to teaching-teaching children to slow down, focus on the punctuation, and > think about what their reading. Trying to "reprogram" these students into > understanding how important comprehension is has become unnatural to these > children. Once a child is proficient with reading, comprehension usually > developed along with the fluency. These children have missed that component. > Not only do I have my major strugglers in the classroom, this new > interference is so much fluency with no comprehension! This is my 20th year > of teaching and I believe it's a direct result of districts/schools not using > DIBELS as only one form of assessment, but using as THE Main one and putting > way too much weight on it. When children are to read a passage with a timer, > what are they going to do? Read faster~ If a balanced approach is used to > teach the children, they will be fluent readers with understanding. > I need to stop now, I could go on and on... > Celeste Wells > Tuscaloosa, Alabama > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: [email protected] > > To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group , Beth Lauterbach > > Sent: Sat, 17 Jan 2009 14:18:07 +0000 (UTC) > > Subject: [MOSAIC] DIBELS attn especially Michigan teachers > > > > > > > > We are having a meeting with one of the "high ups" about assessing literacy > skills this week. I am in Michigan, and we are required to do M.LP.P. (every > few weeks if the child is low), running records (as needed), and now > D.I.B.E.L.S. has been added (this is not to mention all of the other > assessments that we are doing). Keep in mind, that we generally have 29-35 > students (29 in K&1, 32 in 2&3, and 35 in 4&5) , and I am in a Title 1 > school). We have to do all of this assessment on our own time, and are not > provided with subs or anything. Now, I am not here to complain (as I am sure > that others have it worse), but am seeking what other districts in Michigan > are doing, as we have been told that all districts are doing this, and that > it will not go away. We are all very frustrated that all we are doing is > assessing, and not having time to teach. I want to teach them how to read > and comprehend...not how to take D.I.B.EL.S. which goes agains what we teach > them to do:) They are so confused... Any information in welcome, as it may > be helpful for our meeting. Thanks! Have a great day! > > > > Ellen/2nd/MI > > E-Mail: [email protected] > > MODERATOR of yahoo group: ITEACHPRIMARY, http://iteachprimary.ning.com/ > > Proud owner of: > > www.geocities.com/iteachprimary (updated 4/1/08) > > www.geocities.com/beachteach2007 (updated 1/21/08) > > www.geocities.com/campingteacher2006/ (updated 7/28/07) > > www.geocities.com/learningcenters2003 (updated 12/3/07) > > www.geocities.com/michstudies (updated 5/22/07) > > Quoting "Beth Lauterbach" : > > > > > Progress Monitoring > > > > > > Jen, you wondered about progress monitoring... > > > We start the year with DIBELs for K-4, MAP for 3,4, Observation Survey > > > (Reading Recovery) for most of 1, Rigby to all 2. > > > Dibels is given in Jan. and April again to all, progress monitoring happens > > > as needed. > > > MAP is usually given informally in Jan. and again formally in April. > > > Rigby is used as needed to check for grouping in K-4. > > > Saxon Phonics (Decoding) is used in K,1,2 - and there is built in progress > > > monitoring in that program. > > > Iowa Test of Basic Skills is given in March to 3,4 but that info is really > > > used to drive instruction, and check for AYP - not to progress monitor, > > > although many parents use that information for that purpose. > > > It is a struggle trying to come up with an effective way to measure growth > > > that measures efficient problem solving and thinking strategies - creative > > > and standardized test thinking...all in a way that can be done not taking > > > more time than we already invest in testing!! > > > I look forward to finding out what others use. Thanks for putting the > > > question out there, Jen. > > > Beth > > > _______________________________________________ > > > 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. > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > 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. > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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. > > _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. 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