Action Research Project– Fall 2014

Reading Fluency

Abby DiamondClassroom Teacher: Mrs. Myrex

1st grade

Formulating the Question:Meeting with Mrs. Myrex

O Met with cooperating teacher Mrs. Myrex on second clinical day

O Recommended I work with two students in the area of reading fluency• Student J- strong reader who lacked

expression in his reading• Student S- average reader who also lacked

expression in her readingO Focus on expression and prosody because

Student J. was a strong reader but lacked expression in reading

Formulated the Question:

O Initially formulated the question: “What strategies can I use to improve reading fluency, in particular expression, in these students?”

O Three weeks into action research, Student J. left school

O Re-evaluateO Continued to focus on expression and prosody,

but incorporated other aspects of reading fluency the student was lacking

O Question evolved into: “What strategies can I use to help improve overall reading fluency in this student?”

What does research say about Fluency?

O According to National Reading Panel in 2000, reading fluency is defined as “the ability to read text quickly, accurately, and with proper expression”

O Fluency consists of accuracy, rate, and prosody or expression (Hudson, Lane, and Pullen, 2003)

O Serves as bridge between decoding and comprehension (Chard and Pilulski, 2003)

O According to research, fluency instruction should be a part of every comprehensive reading program

Evidence-based Strategies for Improving Fluency

O Modeled ReadingO Reading aloud provides students with model of

good fluencyO Provides model of how to pace reading in

connected text and use expression (Chard and Pilulski, 2003)

O Repeated ReadingsO One of the most frequently used instructional

method to improve fluency (Chard and Pilulski, 2003)

O Gives students practice on all areas of reading fluency– accuracy, rate, and prosody

O Timed repeated readings improve rate and accuracy (Hudson, Lane, and Pullen, 2005)

Evidence-based Strategies for Improving Fluency

O Assisted Reading O Students need correction and

feedbackO Helps improve prosodyO Hudson, Lane and Pullen (2005) state

this is done primarily through echo reading- teacher reads a phrase or sentence and student repeats and unison reading- teacher and student read text together

Evidence-based Strategies for Improving Fluency

O Reader’s TheatreO Helps improve prosody O Very effective in developing fluent

oral reading (Abadiano and Turner, 2005)

O Isolated word practiceO Can be extremely beneficialO Researchers have found that

practicing reading words in isolation led to improved fluency (Hudson, Lane, and Pullen, 2005)

Additional ResearchO Choosing a text to improve student’s

fluency is keyO Passages at the student’s

independent reading levelO Text that is motivating and interesting

to the student(Hudson, Lane and Pullen, 2005)O This made interest inventories very

important

Conducting Action Research

Timeline:O Interest Inventory and Reading

Attitude SurveyO Initial AssessmentO Learning SessionsO Midpoint AssessmentO Learning SessionO Final Assessment

Interest Inventories

Assessments

OTwo main assessments used:OOral Reading Fluency

Passage- calculate accuracy and rate (WCPM)

OMultidimensional Fluency Rubric

Example of Oral

Reading Fluency Passage

Assessment

Multidimensional Fluency Rubric

Baseline DataStudents were first assessed on October 15, 2014Initial Assessment:O WCPM (Words Correct Per Minute)

rate= 13O Accuracy rate= 76%O Multidimensional Fluency Rubric= 5

out of 16

Strategies Implemented

O Modeled ReadingO Using Elephant and Piggy books by Mo

Willems- Should I Share My Icecream?O Assisted Reading

O Through Elephant and Piggy books by Mo Willems- We Are In A Book and There Is A Bird On My Head

O Repeated ReadingO “Hot” and “cold” fluency passages

Strategies Implemented

O Reader’s TheatreO “My Friend is Sad” by Mo Willems

O Isolated Word PracticeO High frequency words for first-grade

O Phrasing/scooping techniqueO “Pass It On!” passage (sample

sentences)

AssessmentsO Initial Assessment:

O WCPM (Words Correct Per Minute) rate= 13O Accuracy rate= 76%O Multidimensional Fluency Rubric= 5 out of 16

O Midpoint Assessment:O WCPM (Words Correct Per Minute) rate= 25O Accuracy rate= 96%O Multidimensional Fluency Rubric= 8 out of 16

O Final Assessment:O WCPM (Words Correct Per Minute) rate= 40O Accuracy rate= 96%O Multidimensional Fluency Rubric= 12 out of 16

Results

Assessment 1 Assessment 2 Assessment 3 Assessment 40

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

"Cold" read"Hot" read

Student Progress Monitoring Chart- Fluency Rate (WCPM)

Results

Assessment 1 Assessment 2 Assessment 3 Assessment 40%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

Accuracy Rate

Accuracy Rate

Results

Assessment Fluency Rubric score (out of 16)

Assessment #1- Initial Assessment

5

Assessment #2- Mid Assessment

8

Assessment #3- Final Assessment

12

Multidimensional Fluency Rubric

Student Data Chart

Data Analysis

Student S. improved in reading fluency over the course of the project

O Her reading rate improved from 13 WCPM to 40 WCPM

O Accuracy rate improved from 76% to 96%

O Improved from a 5 out of 16 on the Multidimensional Fluency Scale to a 12!!

ReflectionO Overall, I saw huge improvement in fluency

in Student S. over the course of the project– rate, accuracy, and expression

O Biggest improvement was expressionO Initial assessment: read in quiet, monotone

voice in short, choppy sentences with very little expression

O Final Assessment: read with good expression in large phrases paying close attention to punctuation with good stress and intonation

What I learned…O Explicit instruction is necessary to teach fluencyO Modeling is extremely beneficial for teaching

expression to studentsO Sometimes things do not go as planned and you

have to learn how to make adjustmentsO To change and modify my teaching strategies

based off of dataO Really listen and pay attention to students

needs and not overlook them

It is extremely rewarding to see students improve!

Works CitedO Abadiano, Helen R. and Turner, Jesse (2005). Reading

Fluency: The Road to Developing Efficient and Effective Readers. New England Reading Association Journal, 41(1), 50-56.

O Hudson, R.F., Lane, H. B., & Pullen, P. C. (2005). Reading Fluency Assessment and Instruction: What, why and how? Reading Teacher, 58(8), 702-714. doi:

10.1598/RT.58.8.1O Kiley, T. J. (2006). Part I -- Fluency: A Missing Piece of

the Puzzle? Illinois Reading Council Journal, 34(2), 70- 73.

O Pikulski, J. J., & Chard, D. J. (2005). Fluency: Bridge Between Decoding and Reading Comprehension. The Reading Teacher, 58, 510-519

Questions? Comments?

Thank you!Abby Diamond

Samford University