Miss Mundy's Blog

Fluency is defined as freedom from word identification problems that might hinder comprehension.  Fluent readers are readers who do not spend time decoding words and instead can use that time comprehending what they are reading.  Like we discussed in class, if a student’s fluency is high, then their comprehension is going to be higher as well.  Many scholars believe that “gaining meaning from the reading is the ultimate goal in reading.”  I agree with this statement.  I believe that if students are not fluent in their reading, then this can cause a negative effect on comprehension.  I also believe that fluency is the basis for reading.  If a student is not fluent, then they are going to have problems comprehending the text as well as other problems related to reading.  Some effective instructional techniques for building reading fluency include modeled oral reading, supported oral reading, repeated reading, and performance reading.  Modeled oral reading is when teachers read aloud to their class.  Here students are gaining insight into what reading orally should sound like.  Students also are able to hear how the reader’s voice “brings alive” the written text.  Supported oral reading may be used as a scaffolding device to ease the transition from total teacher modeling to student independence.  Choral reading, echo reading, and “talking books” are examples of supported oral reading.  Here either the teacher or higher fluent student will read with the lower fluent student.  With choral reading, the student will read along with the teacher or other students at the same time.  Echo reading, either the teacher or higher fluent student will read the line and then the other student will copy or “echo” that same line.  ”Talking books” are books on tape in which the students will follow along in the book as they listen to the recording.  The goal here is to eventually get to where the student can read without the tape playing.  Repeated reading is where students read the same passage repeatedly.  The thought behind repeated reading is that if students read and reread the same section, their fluency will improve and eventually their comprehension will also improve.  Performance reading requires students to engage in understanding their text so they can get the entire audience engaged.  Performance reading is often used with poetry because it begs to be performed and offers the elements of repetition, rhythm, rhyme, and word phrases that may help in developing fluency.  An example of performance reading is also found in Reader’s Theatre.  During reader’s theatre, the dialogue is emphasized through the use of facial expressions and gestures.  As a teacher, I will use each of these strategies to help my students improve their fluency.

Reader’s Theatre would be a great activity to do with students when reading a novel.  During reader’s theatre, students read the dialogue out of the book and allows students to feel like the story is coming to life.  The main focus of reader’s theatre is to allow students to perform the reading “with fluency, appropriate prosody (phrasing and expression), and a complete and thorough understanding of the text.”  I feel like all of these things are important for students to have a concept of when reading a book.  It is very important for the students to understand what it is that they are reading.  

Sketch to Stretch would also be a great activity to use when reading particular scenes out of a book.  The purpose of sketch to stretch is to encourage the students to give a non-verbal response to what they are reading.  Students don’t sketch a picture of a character or what is happening in the story, but instead students will sketch something that symbolizes or represents the “feeling, emotion, or meaning related to a scene.”  Sketch to Stretch gives the students a chance to be creative and interpret their own meaning that they are gaining from reading the text.

I would use both of these activities in my classroom.  I think you could use these activities for any grade and for any book.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.  It was neat getting to see where Peter Pan originated from.  It makes me want to go watch Peter Pan now!  The descriptions provided in this book was amazing!  There were several scenes that appealed to all five senses and really made me feel as if I were there in person.  Pages 10-11, are a perfect example of this.  Here we can see what kind of affect the trunk has on people who are touching it.  We learn about how the warmth passes through the body, what it felt like, what smells they smelled, the sounds they heard, and the light they saw swirling around the crewman’s head.  This book was hard to put down and I always felt that I wanted to keep reading and couldn’t just read the pages that were assigned.  I would definitely teach this book to a class of fifth graders.  I would even plan a whole unit around this novel.  I think it would be a great resource to show students how to be a descriptive writer and how to write to appeal to all five senses.  This could also be a great book to discuss the author’s word choice.  I personally enjoyed this book and would use it if I ever taught fifth grade.