Reading Information For Parents
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Did you know.......
~ that it is very common for students to go down several reading levels after the summer. Usually it does not take too long to get back to their June levels, if they read every day once school begins in the fall.
~ that research has shown that a child's early reading achievement is a strong predictor of his or her future literacy skills. (Chall, 1991; Hiebert & Taylor, 2000: Juel, 1988)
~ poor readers fall farther and farther behind, while those who are proficient in kindergarten and grade one continue to improve and gain momentum throughout the primary grades (Stanovich, 1986)
Fluency Information
Fluency plays a key role in the development of reading (Kuhn et al., 2006). In fact, fluency gives reading its musical quality. Worthy and Broaddus (2002) explain that fluency "consists not only of rate, accuracy, and automaticity, but also of phrasing, smoothness, and expressiveness" (p.334). It is more than reading fast, it is reading with expression and meaning. A child has to understand what he or she has read.
"When fluent readers read silently, they recognize words automatically. They group words quickly to help them gain meaning from what they read. Fluent readers read aloud effortlessly and with expression. Their reading sounds natural, as if they are speaking. Readers who have not yet developed fluency read slowly, word by word. Their oral reading is choppy and plodding." (National Institute for Literacy)
Fluency is extremely important because it acts as a bridge between comprehension and word recognition. A fluent reader can focus their attention on what the text means, instead of working on sounding out words. Less fluent readers spend all their time decoding words so they have little attention left for understanding the text.
To become more fluent a child needs to read, read, and read text that is reasonably easy for them (they know most of the words). It has been proven that there is a strong relationship between reading ability and how much a child reads. Furthermore, a child needs to read and then reread a text (up to four times) until the desired level of fluency is obtained. However, this must be done orally, not silently and a child must receive feedback and guidance. For example, as a parent, read aloud to your child to model fluent reading. Then, have your child read back the passage. By doing this activity, your child is engaged in repeated reading.
This year your child's reading will be rated on a multidimensional reading fluency scale. This scale rates expression, volume, phrasing, smoothness, and pace. It also focuses on the three foundation skills or fluency indicators:
1. Accuracy - a reader is able to decode words accurately, as a result of a growing sight word vocabulary and the use of decoding strategies
2. Automaticity of word recognition - is the ability to quickly recognize words with little effort or attention. This helps a reader read quickly and effortlessly
3. Prosody of oral text reading - is the ability to read with proper phrasing and expression, not word by word.
How do I know my child is reading fluently?
~ They read smoothly instead of pausing in the middle of sentences or at the end of a line.
~ They take into account the punctuation marks by pausing when there is a period, changing their voice when there is an exclamation mark, and changing their voice when different characters are speaking.
~ They do not rush or read too slowly.
~ They are able to answer 'thin' questions - who, what, where, when.
~ They are able to answer 'thick' questions - why, how, what would happen if, with occasional support.
Remember listening to a fluent reader should be a pleasant experience because fluent readers use expression to reflect upon what is going on in the story and they read smoothly, not like a robot. They also know most of the words and are able to independently apply a reading strategy to figure out the occasional unknown word. Finally, they can answer many questions about the story they just read. Be careful! It is very easy to think a child is reading fluently because they say all the words correctly, and even add expression. However, if they cannot answer comprehension questions, they are not really reading fluently!
To learn more about how to help your second grader learn to read, check out the article Shining Stars: Second and Third Graders Learn to Read.
At home:
"When parents, caregivers and communities support the work of schools, students make greater progress."
~ Hill and Crevola, p.133
The next time you are listening to your child read, try to use some of the reading strategies to start a discussion with your child about what they have read. For example, you could tell them what the book reminded you of, or you could tell them something that you are still wondering about, or you could share what the most important thing in the story was to you. Then ask your child to tell you his or hers.
Also have your child retell the story to you. Remember just because a child knows how to break the letter code and read difficult text, it does not mean that he/she understands what he/she has read! Retelling a story can help your child become a better reader by helping them understand what they have read. Ask your child to think about all the important things that happened in the story. Now have him/her tell the main ideas in the order that they happened in the story, using words like first, then, next, finally. Some children benefit from the following questions being asked.
Who are the characters in the story?
What was the story about? or What problem did the character have?
How was the problem solved?
What was the first thing that happened?
What was the next thing that happened?
How did the story end?
Did the character learn a lesson? If so, what was it?
~ that it is very common for students to go down several reading levels after the summer. Usually it does not take too long to get back to their June levels, if they read every day once school begins in the fall.
~ that research has shown that a child's early reading achievement is a strong predictor of his or her future literacy skills. (Chall, 1991; Hiebert & Taylor, 2000: Juel, 1988)
~ poor readers fall farther and farther behind, while those who are proficient in kindergarten and grade one continue to improve and gain momentum throughout the primary grades (Stanovich, 1986)
Fluency Information
Fluency plays a key role in the development of reading (Kuhn et al., 2006). In fact, fluency gives reading its musical quality. Worthy and Broaddus (2002) explain that fluency "consists not only of rate, accuracy, and automaticity, but also of phrasing, smoothness, and expressiveness" (p.334). It is more than reading fast, it is reading with expression and meaning. A child has to understand what he or she has read.
"When fluent readers read silently, they recognize words automatically. They group words quickly to help them gain meaning from what they read. Fluent readers read aloud effortlessly and with expression. Their reading sounds natural, as if they are speaking. Readers who have not yet developed fluency read slowly, word by word. Their oral reading is choppy and plodding." (National Institute for Literacy)
Fluency is extremely important because it acts as a bridge between comprehension and word recognition. A fluent reader can focus their attention on what the text means, instead of working on sounding out words. Less fluent readers spend all their time decoding words so they have little attention left for understanding the text.
To become more fluent a child needs to read, read, and read text that is reasonably easy for them (they know most of the words). It has been proven that there is a strong relationship between reading ability and how much a child reads. Furthermore, a child needs to read and then reread a text (up to four times) until the desired level of fluency is obtained. However, this must be done orally, not silently and a child must receive feedback and guidance. For example, as a parent, read aloud to your child to model fluent reading. Then, have your child read back the passage. By doing this activity, your child is engaged in repeated reading.
This year your child's reading will be rated on a multidimensional reading fluency scale. This scale rates expression, volume, phrasing, smoothness, and pace. It also focuses on the three foundation skills or fluency indicators:
1. Accuracy - a reader is able to decode words accurately, as a result of a growing sight word vocabulary and the use of decoding strategies
2. Automaticity of word recognition - is the ability to quickly recognize words with little effort or attention. This helps a reader read quickly and effortlessly
3. Prosody of oral text reading - is the ability to read with proper phrasing and expression, not word by word.
How do I know my child is reading fluently?
~ They read smoothly instead of pausing in the middle of sentences or at the end of a line.
~ They take into account the punctuation marks by pausing when there is a period, changing their voice when there is an exclamation mark, and changing their voice when different characters are speaking.
~ They do not rush or read too slowly.
~ They are able to answer 'thin' questions - who, what, where, when.
~ They are able to answer 'thick' questions - why, how, what would happen if, with occasional support.
Remember listening to a fluent reader should be a pleasant experience because fluent readers use expression to reflect upon what is going on in the story and they read smoothly, not like a robot. They also know most of the words and are able to independently apply a reading strategy to figure out the occasional unknown word. Finally, they can answer many questions about the story they just read. Be careful! It is very easy to think a child is reading fluently because they say all the words correctly, and even add expression. However, if they cannot answer comprehension questions, they are not really reading fluently!
To learn more about how to help your second grader learn to read, check out the article Shining Stars: Second and Third Graders Learn to Read.
At home:
"When parents, caregivers and communities support the work of schools, students make greater progress."
~ Hill and Crevola, p.133
The next time you are listening to your child read, try to use some of the reading strategies to start a discussion with your child about what they have read. For example, you could tell them what the book reminded you of, or you could tell them something that you are still wondering about, or you could share what the most important thing in the story was to you. Then ask your child to tell you his or hers.
Also have your child retell the story to you. Remember just because a child knows how to break the letter code and read difficult text, it does not mean that he/she understands what he/she has read! Retelling a story can help your child become a better reader by helping them understand what they have read. Ask your child to think about all the important things that happened in the story. Now have him/her tell the main ideas in the order that they happened in the story, using words like first, then, next, finally. Some children benefit from the following questions being asked.
Who are the characters in the story?
What was the story about? or What problem did the character have?
How was the problem solved?
What was the first thing that happened?
What was the next thing that happened?
How did the story end?
Did the character learn a lesson? If so, what was it?