"Literacy and Reading News: Tackling Reading Fluency Issues
"A National Reading Panel report that identified fluency as "a critical component of skilled reading," has inspired teachers across the country to make reading fluency a critical part of teaching and assessing students. Many teachers have turned to Jan Hasbrouck, Ph.D., a nationally known educational consultant, researcher, and trainer, for the best advice on how to improve their students' fluency.
Dr. Hasbrouck defined fluency as the ability to read with appropriate speed, accuracy, and good expression. "Fluency is now understood to be a unique and fundamental component of skilled, proficient reading because of its close link to comprehension and motivation," she said. "Elementary students who struggle with fluency will most likely have difficulty understanding what they have read. These students will also be much less likely to read for pleasure and enjoyment."""
"A National Reading Panel report that identified fluency as "a critical component of skilled reading," has inspired teachers across the country to make reading fluency a critical part of teaching and assessing students. Many teachers have turned to Jan Hasbrouck, Ph.D., a nationally known educational consultant, researcher, and trainer, for the best advice on how to improve their students' fluency.
Dr. Hasbrouck defined fluency as the ability to read with appropriate speed, accuracy, and good expression. "Fluency is now understood to be a unique and fundamental component of skilled, proficient reading because of its close link to comprehension and motivation," she said. "Elementary students who struggle with fluency will most likely have difficulty understanding what they have read. These students will also be much less likely to read for pleasure and enjoyment.""
What is fluency? According the National Reading Panel (2000), fluency is the ability to read text with speed, accuracy and proper expression. Fluent readers: Why is fluency important? "Fluency is important because it provides a bridge between word recognition and comprehension." (Reading Links, 2002, p. 9).
What is fluency? According the National Reading Panel (2000), fluency is the ability to read text with speed, accuracy and proper expression. Fluent readers: Why is fluency important? "Fluency is important because it provides a bridge between word recognition and comprehension." (Reading Links, 2002, p. 9).
" Reading fluency is a measure of how quickly, smoothly, and easily text is read. Fluency means that words are read quickly and accurately, with little or no stumbling. It allows complete comprehension because less effort is needed for decoding. More thought power is available for understanding the author's message. Fluent readers read with expression and follow the punctuation cues. They read in sensible phrases, with pauses in natural places. Fluent readers are able to read aloud without attracting attention to the reading process, and listeners get the sense that the reader has a good grasp of the author's intent.
Many reading students fall short of fluency. They read well enough to get by, but not well enough to enjoy what they are doing. Struggling readers often have a very large gap between the level at which they read fluently and their grade placement level or the demands of their day-to-day life. Most find this very frustrating, and they will try to avoid reading tasks. "
"Fluency is a significant struggle for many. The less fluent a reader, the more he or she must focus on decoding individual words. Less fluent readers have difficulty with oral reading, which is often slow, choppy, and without natural expression. Less fluent readers must focus their time and attention on figuring out the words, leaving little room for actually understanding the text. Since reading fluency is the key to reading comprehension, less fluent readers often fall behind in educational and professional achievement. "
"Why is fluency important?
Comprehension is the goal of reading, and fluency is required for comprehension (National Reading Panel, 2000, p.3-1). At a minimum, accurate and efficient word reading is necessary. Comprehension suffers when poor readers must focus on "getting the words off the page" and therefore areble to give much attention to the meaning of what they are reading. In contrast, fluent readers are able to focus on meaning because for them, decoding is automatic and effortless. "
New updates to the 21st Century Fluencies website.
Tag line: "The 21st Century Fluencies have nothing to do with hardware-they are about headware, and heartware!"
1. What is Digital Information Fluency (DIF)? 2. How is DIF different from Print Information Literacy? 3. How is DIF different from Information Literacy? 4. Why is DIF important? 1. What is Digital Information Fluency (DIF)? Digital Information Fluency is the ability to find, evaluate and ethically use digital information efficiently and effectively to solve an information problem.
"Is it possible to be fully literate in English without being fluent. By literate I mean able to read most content easily and to write correctly. By fluent I do not refer to pronunciation, just the ability to express oneself orally. I am not talking about theoretically. I mean is it possible to imagine a person, other than a deaf/mute, who is literate and not fluent? In other words, is pursuing literacy a strategy for achieving fluency. "
"The National Literacy Act of 1991 defines literacy as "an individual's ability to read, write, and speak in English and compute and solve problems at levels of proficiency necessary to function on the job and in society, to achieve one's goals, and to develop one's knowledge and potential."
Research indicates that 17-20% of our nation's children experience substantial difficulties in learning to read, and that more than a third of students in fourth grade (and nearly 70% in some low-income urban schools) read below the basic level. Children who are not fluent readers by fourth grade are likely to continue struggling with reading into adulthood, making early identification and intervention of reading problems essential to a child's success in both school and society."