Chapter 8: Fluency: Role In Reading Devleopment And Factors That Affect The Developemtn Of Fluency

Question 1

Define the three key indicators of reading fluency

Answer 1

The three indicators of reading fluency are accuracy, rate, and prosody

Accurate - using phonics skills, sight word knowledge, structural analysis, syllabic analysis, and orthographic knowledge

Pace - ability to quickly decode words and to quickly read phrases and sentences.

Prosody - expression, pausing, raising pitch etc.

Question 2

Discuss the role of fluency in all stages of reading development

Answer 2

Children must be fluent at all stages of reading development: whey they read single letters, then simple words and texts, and finally when they read longer words and more complicated texts.

Question 3

Describe the interrelationships among fluency and word analysis skills, background knowledge, and comprehension

Answer 3

Children must achieve fluency in all stages of reading development. When students get bogged down on decoding a word, reading comprehension suffers. Reading with prosody also is essential to comprehending text.

Question 4

Define the four factors that can disrupt fluency.

Answer 4

1. Weak Word Analysis Skills - slowly reading to decode unfamiliar words, reading slowly forget what they are reading about
2. Lack of Familiarity with content Vocabulary - Two types (a) one sure words: words that are used within the context of one area of study, but rarely used elsewhere (b) multisyllabic content words: size alone challenges the young reader (amphibian and photosynthesis)
3. Lack of background knowledge - reading about physics in a simple book = lack of background knowledge = slow, confused reading
4. Lack of familiarity with complex sentence structures - especially in informational texts

Question 5

Explain the role of decodable text in fluent reading.

Answer 5

The frequent use of decodable text is important in building fluency among our youngest readers, who have limited phonics skills and sight word knowledge.

Question 6

Explain the role of systematic, explicit instruction in promoting fluency development

Answer 6

All children need explicit instruction to help them develop fluency, though this type of instruction has frequently been neglected.

Includes: frequent oral reading experiences and appropriate guidance and feedback from the teacher

Question 7

Define the role of independent and silent reading and the development of fluency

Answer 7

Independent silent reading can play a role in developing fluency; however, there is no guarantee the child is reading fluently while reading silently.

More Effective Independent Silent Reading

1. books at appropriate reading levels
2. hold students accountable for comprehension - reading logs, book reports, oral presentations, partner reading/discussion, individual conferences

Question 8

10.1 Key indicators of Fluency

Answer 8

Accuracy, Rate, Prosody

Question 9

10.1 Define automaticity Theory

Answer 9

Automaticity Theory - reading requires the reader to perform two main tasks
1. Decode words
2. Understand the meaning of the text
If readers have poor word identification skills and do not read fluently they get bogged down on the decoding task and are unable to focus on the meaning of the text