Sue Ann Mayberry
Module #4
Fluency
One important thing I learned from chapter four was that fluency consisted of so many components. The components are word recognition, accessing word meaning, deciding on the correct meaning of the word, grouping words into grammatical units, generating inferences, and using reader knowledge to construct a coherent, understandable model of text. I knew some of the components; however, reading it in the chapter really made me think about the process of being a fluent reader.
Another important aspect I thought about while reading the decoding section was how the Jewish children could read the Hebrew text in preparation for their confirmation. However, they could not speak or understand the Hebrew language, which means no comprehension was taking place. So a student can be a fluent reader without constructing meaning of the materials that are read.
On page 178, it suggests that students should reread a passage four times to gain reading speed, word recognition, error reduction, and expression in oral reading. Students reach these goals with their teacher or in groups. Page 179 says that “students who are often embarrassed by poor oral reading skills achieve confidence and accomplishment through rereading of a text.”
The way I implemented research in my classroom was through chalk talks, hand puppets, and stick puppets while reading and retelling stories. The changes I made in my classroom were reading a story more than once, and giving students materials in centers so that they could make their own puppets.
The before strategy I used in my classroom was that I asked students questions that made them think about the events they thought were in the story. After students answered questions they were written on the board. The next day I re-read the story with the puppet. I asked the students the same questions to see if their answers changed. After questions were answered I put puppets, materials to make puppets and books in centers so that students could interact with the materials.
The effects of this activity was motivational, hands-on and creative for the students. I will continue using activities like this to help build a love for reading in my classroom.
We know fluent readers
ReplyDelete1. Use knowledge of language to keep reading.
2. Use an appropriate reading rate.
3. Slow down to solve problems
4. Have automatic word recognition.
5. Have automatic word analysis skills
6. Use intonation to convey meaning.
7. Adhere to punctuation cues
8. Use knowledge of story structure and expository text to keep reading.
9. Reproduce the natural phrasing of the text.
Thus if a student can't do these things "naturally" then they are considered disfluent readers and rate, automaticity and prosody has to be addressed.
Are you field testing the suggested strategies while you read? I hope so, that was the intent of the given strategies for you as a the reader to try them out in the BEFORE, DURING, and AFTER part of the lessons. Then you were to pick one or two and "field test" them in the classroom. Without the classroom, you will have to have someone try them out...a child, a husband, a ????
Then you are to comment how they went. I don't see in this blog that you did the recommended strategies. You mentioned puppets...that was not mentioned. The strategies are found in the Course Materials part of Module 4 and the suggested ones were IEPC, Word Aliv Map, Vocabulary Map, Questioning the Author, Insert Method, Summary Frame or ORQ. Please go back and field test some of them while you read, for sure, and then test a couple of them on another person. This is the application part of the lesson. Do you understand?