ISS Book Week Literacy Night February 7, 2013

Oral Reading Fluency K-Grade 2

What is Oral Reading Fluency? Reading fluency is the ability to read quickly and easily. It means that a child can recognize and decode words accurately and automatically and understand the words as they are being read. Children who do not read fluently (choppy readers) have to work so hard on the mechanics of reading that theres no mental energy left to think about the meaning of what they are reading. But fluent reading is not a guarantee of comprehension more a component of it. Many students can word call but still need comprehension strategies and practice to become competent readers. How do I know if my child is reading fluently? Check your childs reading fluency by listening to him/her read grade level text aloud. As your child reads consider the following: How many words does he/she struggle with? How easily is he/she sounding out an unknown word? Is she/he reading with expression (pausing at punctuation)? Can she/he retell or summarize what the paragraph/story was about?

How can I help my child read fluently? Model fluent reading be sure to read with expression pausing appropriately at punctuation marks and changing your voice for characters. Teach your child high frequency sight words. High frequency sight words are words that readers are encouraged to recognize without having to sound them out (often the words cannot be phonetically sounded out). Practice on flashcards, go on word hunts in books, magazines and newspapers, play concentration/memory games with the words. It is estimated that the first 100 sight words account for approximately 50% of what we read. Examples are the, he, said, when etc. When having your child read aloud, choose books at your childs independent reading level. Use the 5-finger rule: If a child struggles with more than 5 words on a given page, the text is not an independent reading level. Repeated reading re-read, re-read, re-read. Make it fun with voices, taking turns on lines or pages, and having many family members participate. Reading a text 4 times is a good guide for practicing fluency. Use RAZ Kids all our students have an account. The RAZ-Kids program is set up to encourage repeated reading and there is a component where students can record themselves reading aloud to check fluency. Ask your teacher or Mrs. Burden (Literacy Specialist) for more ideas, lists of high frequency words or book recommendations for fluency. Check out the ISS Literacy Blog for more ideas - http://literacyatiss.weebly.com/

ideas from www.blogmaketaketeach.com, Mrs. Burden, and ReadingLady.com