Fluency

Fluency Websites, as referred through MDE:

Developing Reading Fluency:

http://www.auburn.edu/~murraba/fluency.html

Articles on Fluency:

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/c59/

Research

http://www2.ed.gov/teachers/how/read/edpicks.jhtml

Reader's Theater:

http://www.aaronshep.com/rt/RTE.html

WHY IS FLUENCY IMPORTANT????

"The relationship between WCPM and comprehension has been found to be stronger in the elementary and junior high grades than in older students (Fuchs et al., 2001), likely due to the fact that as a reader matures, competent reading involves more complex skills, vocabulary, and knowledge (and thus any single measure becomes less predictive of general reading competence as a student develops). " -Jan Hasbrouck (2006)

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/27091/?theme=print

What is PROSODY, RATE and ACCURACY?
Prosody is the expression and phrasing during reading. Below are two charts that can guide you in order to analyze a student's prosody.
The below graph is from NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) Fluency Scale

Fluent	Level 4	Reads primarily in larger, meaningful phrase groups. Although some regressions, repetitions, and deviations from text may be present, these do not appear to detract from the overall structure of the story. Preservation of the author's syntax is consistent. Some or most of the story is read with expressive interpretation.
Fluent	Level 3	Reads primarily in three- or four-word phrase groups. Some small groupings may be present. However, the majority of phrasing seems appropriate and preserves the syntax of the author. Little or no expressive interpretation is present.
Non-Fluent	Level 2	Reads primarily in two-word phrases with some three- or four-word groupings. Some word-by-word reading may be present. Word groupings may seem awkward and unrelated to larger context of sentence or passage
Non-Fluent	Level 1	Reads primarily word-by-word. Occasional two-word or three-word phrases may occur but these are infrequent and/or they do not preserve meaningful syntax.

The following graph is from Hudson, Labe and Pullen Checklist:

Hudson, Lane, and Pullen (2005)~Checklist Student placed vocal emphasis on appropriate words. Student's voice tone rose and fell at appropriate points in the text. Student's inflection reflected the punctuation in the text (e.g., voice tone rose near the end of a question). In narrative text with dialogue, student used appropriate vocal tone to represent characters' mental states, such as excitement, sadness, fear, or confidence. Student used punctuation to pause appropriately at phrase boundaries. Student used prepositional phrases to pause appropriately at phrase boundaries. Student used subject-verb divisions to pause appropriately at phrase boundaries. Student used conjunctions to pause appropriately at phrase boundaries.

Accuracy and rate are usually the first indicators that there may be an underlying reading issue. We can use this as a screening mechanism.