The Effects of Super Speed 100 on Reading Fluency Jennifer...
Transcript of The Effects of Super Speed 100 on Reading Fluency Jennifer...
THE EFFECTS OF SUPER SPEED 100 ON READING FLUENCY 1
The Effects of Super Speed 100 on Reading Fluency
Jennifer Thorne
University of New England
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Abstract
The fluency activity, Super Speed, 100 was examined in a seventh grade class in North
Carolina to determine the effects on fluency and reading attitude. The students worked in
partners to alternately read aloud the 100 most frequently used words. Students were
intrinsically motivated by the competition to beat their personal record. The findings indicate
that Super Speed 100 positively impacts reading fluency, which could boost reading
comprehension.
Keywords: Super Speed 100, Whole Brain Teaching, reading fluency, fluency
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Table of Contents
Title Page 1
Abstract 2
Table of Contents 3
Introduction 4
Participants 4
The School and Community 5
The Class and Students 6
Research Questions 6
Hypothesis 6
Ethical Considerations 7
Review of the Literature 7
Introduction 7
Background to the Study 8
Rationale 9
Physical Components of Reading 9
Whole Brain Teaching 10
Super Speed 100 12
Methodology 13
Sources of Data 13
Data Collection Procedures 13
Data Analysis 14
Data Validity Discussion 14
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Results 16
Findings from the Student Survey 16
Super Speed 100 Findings 24
Discussion 30
Limitations of the Study 31
Action Plan 32
Conclusions 33
Further Research 34
References 35
Appendices 37
Introduction
Participants
The researcher, Jennifer Thorne, has been teaching Language Arts at Clayton Middle
School in North Carolina for eight years. Clayton Middle School is in the Johnston County
School District. The researcher has a Bachelor of Science degree from The Pennsylvania State
University in Education, English & Communications; she is working on a Master’s of Science in
Literacy from the University of New England.
Clayton Middle School is located in North Carolina. During the 2011-2012 school year,
there are approximately 761 students enrolled at Clayton Middle School, with 254 students in the
seventh grade. The majority of the student population, 61%, consists of Caucasian students, 23%
of the students are African American, 12% are Multi-racial, 3% are American Indian, and 1% is
Asian or Pacific Islander. Although the school has a growing Hispanic population, there is no
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data to show how many Hispanic students are enrolled. Of the total population, 33% is
considered economically disadvantaged based on free and reduced lunch status. Students
enrolled in the Exceptional Children’s Program account for approximately 19% of the
population. Additionally, 4% of students receive additional classroom support through tier one
and tier two of the Response to Intervention initiative. Students with Limited English
Proficiency make up approximately 4% of the population. Finally, gifted students account for
about 9% of the school.
68 seventh grade students will be directly involved in the research. The student
population is composed of 34 male students and 34 female students. Although English is the
primary language for most students, seven students have Limited English Proficiency. The
students range from 11 to 15 years of age. Multiple ethnic groups are represented—Caucasian,
African American, Hispanic, and Multi-racial. Table 1 shows the breakdown of the ethnic
makeup of the students involved in the study.
Table 1
Ethnic Makeup of Students
Ethnicity Total Number Percentage (rounded)
Caucasian 33 49%
Hispanic 16 24%
African American 14 21%
Multi-racial 5 7%
Note: two Hispanic students withdrew from classes during the study.
The School and Community
Clayton Middle School is located in Clayton, North Carolina, which is approximately 17
miles from the State Capitol, Raleigh. Clayton and the surrounding area is home to
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approximately 28,000 residents. Clayton Middle School is one of 13 middle schools in the
Johnston County School District, which is the sixth largest school district in North Carolina.
Clayton Middle is a School of Distinction.
The Classes and Students
The 68 7th grade students are in three classes of 24 students, 25 students and 19 students.
Each class has 60 minutes of instructional time for Language Arts.
The students are acclimated to the five rules of Whole Brain Teaching: follow directions
quickly, raise your hand for permission to speak, raise your hand to leave your seat, make smart
choices, and keep your teacher happy. The research will specifically target the effectiveness of
one Whole Brain Teaching Activity that develops fluency called Super Speed 100. Students read
100 of the most common sight words alternately with a partner in one minute during the Super
Speed 100 activity.
Research Questions
• How does Super Speed 100 improve reading fluency (specifically speed)?
• What is the effect of Super Speed 100 on reading fluency?
• How do Whole Brain Teaching activities effect the students’ attitudes and feelings about
reading?
• How does Super Speed 100 engage students as a fluency activity?
Hypotheses
Many of the students struggle with text features, literary elements and vocabulary, which
can impact their fluency.
Students will become engaged and motivated by the Whole Brain Teaching strategies and
activities, which will improve reading speed. As speed increases, students may improve reading
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with prosody. As these skills improve, students will be able to focus on content, which will
improve their overall reading comprehension.
Ethical Considerations
The Principal determined that a consent form is not necessary because Whole Brain
Teaching Strategies are used daily at the school and fluency development is a natural part of the
curriculum. Student names will be changed to protect their identities and information. Students
are aware that their class assignments are used for examples outside of the class for research and
data analysis purposes.
Review of the Literature
Introduction
Without adequate reading fluency, students struggle with reading comprehension. In his
article, “Assessing Reading Fluency,” Dr. Timothy V. Rasinki (2003) stated:
“For years teachers thought that if students could learn to decode words accurately, they
would be successful in reading printed text. While it is true that accuracy in decoding is
important for fluency, it is not the entire story. Readers not only need to decode the words
accurately; they also need to decode them effortlessly or automatically. Fluency is
important in reading, then, because it affects how well readers understand what they
read.”
Therefore, one way to increase comprehension is to improve fluency.
It is estimated that non-fluent readers read less than readers of average fluency. Reading
can increase fluency and comprehension gaps among students. In fact, non-fluent readers, who
avoid reading, begin to exhibit a deterioration of reading skills and then fall behind in
achievement (Huang, Nelson, & Nelson, 2008).
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Background to the study
Fluency weaves together three important skills—reading accuracy, speed, and prosody.
According to Gail E. Tompkins (2009) in Literacy for the 21st Century, “accuracy is the ability to
recognize familiar words automatically without conscious thought, and to identify unfamiliar
words almost as quickly.” She defines reading speed as “at least 100 words per minute,” which is
reached by most students in the third grade. Finally, Tompkins (2009) defines prosody as “the
ability to orally read sentences expressively.” However, Rasinski (2009) uses a different scale
for fluency; his scale is also measured in words read correctly per minute, but has different
norms. See Table 2. Yet another definition of fluency arises in William Grabe’s article,
“Fluency in Reading—35 Years Later,” when he states that fluency is the “ability to read rapidly
with ease and accuracy…to read with appropriate expression and phrasing… and text
comprehension is the expected outcome” (2010). All definitions of fluency agree that students
should be able to read automatically, accurately with expression and have the intent of
comprehension.
Table 2
Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) Target Rate Norms
Words Read per Minute (WPM)
Grade Fall Winter Spring
1 2 3 4
30-60 50-90 70-110
10-30 50-80 70-100 80-120
30-60 70-100 80-110 100-140
5 6 7 8
80-120 100-140 110-150 120-160
100-140 110-150 120-160 130-170
110-15- 120-160 130-170 140-180
Note: WPM indicates words read per minute. Target rates are established during the fall, winter and spring.
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Rationale
Teachers must focus on all areas of fluency—speed, accuracy, and prosody to have
successful fluency instruction. If teachers focus primarily on reading rate and neglect expression
and accuracy, students will fail to comprehend the text they are reading (Rasinki, 2003). The
biggest challenge for teachers is how to increase fluency rates. Repeated readings provide
students with frequent opportunities to practice and increase their proficiency (Alber-Morgan,
2006). Another way to increase reading fluency is to provide performance feedback, which can
consist of the number of words students read correctly or incorrectly in one minute. Repeated
one-minute reading of the same text, in which the teacher or students track their progress, is
another way to help students improve their fluency (Nation, 2009). Students increase their
reading speed when involved in timed reading activities (Chang, 2010). Furthermore, when
students improve their reading fluency, they should be praised and rewarded in some way, even
tangible ways if necessary. As they continue to grow the rewards should diminish in frequency
in hopes that the student begins to read for pleasure. Finally, teachers should monitor students’
progress on a chart or graph because this enhances the effectiveness of the fluency instruction
(Alber-Morgan, 2006). Regular reading fluency instruction and assessment leads to successful
gains in reading fluency and eventual improvement in comprehension (Rasinki, 2003). In order
to read fluently, students should be taught to read and use words fluently and to recognize them
automatically (Grabe, 2010).
Physical Components of Reading
Students’ oral and silent reading fluency is connected. Most readers “hear” or use an
inner voice when reading silently, and readers can develop this voice and their fluency by
reading both orally and silently (Rasinki, 2003). Furthermore, to be able to increase reading
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fluency, teachers must understand the physical component of reading—eye movements. Skilled
readers do not fixate on all the words in a reading passage; most skip over unimportant words,
such as “the” and “to.” The longer or more difficult a word is, the more likely a reader is to
fixate on it. Readers jump on average 1.2 words or eight letters when reading. Skilled readers
make about 15 regressions for every 100 fixations. Regressions occur because the reader made
too large of a jump or the reader did not comprehend what was read. Regressions are one way
readers self-monitor their reading (Nation, 2009). The number of words read correctly per
minute is important because if students are reading too little, then they are not fluent readers
because they are likely fixating on units smaller than words, spending a long time on each
fixation, or making many regressions. However, if students read too fast, they are scanning or
skimming the text and will not be able to answer comprehensive questions about the text
(Nation, 2009). Fluency, then, can be thought of like Goldilocks: the rate should be just right so
that reader can read accurately, automatically and expressively with the goal of comprehending
what was read.
Some studies make a distinction between reading rate and purpose for reading. For
instance, students have an baseline reading rate when reading to learn, a slower rate when
memorizing, and a faster rate when skimming (Chang, 2010).
Whole Brain Teaching
Whole Brain Teaching was once known as Power Teaching. The main principle of
Whole Brain Teaching is to engage students mentally, emotionally and even kinesthetically to
increase attention to class topics and decrease behavior disruptions. In fact, Whole Brain
Teaching addresses both academics and behaviors simultaneously by using short lessons,
competitive games and student involvement (Biffle). “Whole Brain Teaching keeps students
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engaged in learning and makes classrooms easy to manage because it combines auditory, verbal,
and visual elements of teaching instruction” (Palasigue, 2009).
Whole Brain Teaching Rules. Teachers motivate and engage students by following five
simplified rules and by incorporating various teaching strategies and games. Each rule has a
gesture, which is taught when the rules are reviewed, so when a student breaks a rule, the teacher
can simply make the gesture. Also, some teachers have students practice the rules and gestures
during lunch or recess to dissuade them from breaking them repetitively (Biffle). The rules are:
follow directions quickly, raise your hand for permission to speak, raise your hand for
permission to leave your seat, make smart choices, and keep your dear teacher happy. In order to
get the attention of the class, the teacher simply says “class” and the class responds “yes.” The
class responds in whatever manner the teacher says class, so if the teacher says “classity class,”
the response is “yesity yes.” If the teacher wants students to pay particular attention to
instructions, the teacher says “hands and eyes” and the students place their hands on their desks
and focus intently. This alerts students to something important. Whole Brain Teaching
recommends teaching in short segments, then having students digest the information. One way
to have the students comprehend the information is to teach it to a partner; this method is called
“Teach-Okay.” The teacher says “teach” and the students respond “okay,” then teach the lesson
to their partner. When the teacher says “switch,” the students respond “okay,” then the other
student begins teaching. During these strategies, the teacher uses gestures and various tones,
which the students copy, so the students are constantly engaged visually, auditory, and
kinesthetically (Palasigue, 2009).
Whole Brain Teaching recognizes that students are motivated by competition, so one
technique to manage classroom behavior is the scoreboard. The scoreboard is used to motivate
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students to follow directions, rules or other objectives identified by the teacher. Whole Brain
Teaching also incorporates academic games in which the object is for students to beat their
personal highest score. One of these games is called Super Speed 100, which is a game aimed at
developing reading fluency.
Super Speed 100
Super Speed 100 contains 100 sight words that make up approximately half of the words
students read. Sight words, such as “the, to, and, of” are some of the most common words in
English, so students should be able to read these words rapidly and automatically in order to be
successful in the classroom (Biffle, 2007). The words in Super Speed 100 are arranged by
frequency, thus “the” is the first word. According to the game’s creator, Chris Biffle, the words
are a combination of words from the Dolch and Frye sight word lists. They are arranged into
levels and every ten levels there is a challenge. The last challenge, level 100, should be
completed in 60 seconds. If students complete the final challenge, they move on to Super Speed
1000. The game is played in pairs; the students read alternate words on the list and if one partner
does not know a word or mispronounces a word, then the other partner helps. After they
complete a challenge, the students record their record (Biffle, 2007).
Super Speed 100 and Reading Fluency. Super Speed 100 provides students with the
opportunity to increase their reading fluency. First, the activity is repeated. Also, it helps
students focus on building automaticity because they are learning to read frequently used sight
words quickly. The students are challenged and motivated by the game and competitive nature
of beating their personal best scores. They receive feedback from their peers and the teacher and
their progress is automatically charted when they complete the activity so the student can see
their results.
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Methodology
Sources of Data
Four sources of data were used and analyzed in this study—the student surveys, student
record logs (the recorded number of words read during Super Speed 100), the cloze assessment,
and teacher observation logs. The information gained from all four sources helped to determine
the impact of the Super Speed 100 reading fluency activity on students’ reading fluency—
specifically reading speed.
Data Collection Procedures
Clayton Middle School is committed to improving reading proficiency and decreasing the
number of office referrals for undesired behaviors and disruptions. The Whole Brain Teaching
strategies are can potentially improve reading proficiency while simultaneously creating an
engaging classroom environment that leads to less disruptions. The administration is supportive
of the implementation of Whole Brain Teaching strategies. Therefore, teachers are able to
implement strategies that align to the School Improvement Plan and the curriculum.
Students completed the final challenge of Super Speed 100, which contains 100 of the
most commonly used sight words in the English language. The activity was completed in pairs,
with students reading every other word aloud with a 60 second time limit. Afterwards, students
recorded the number of words they read on their record sheets. While students completed the
activity, the researcher recorded irregularities, distractions, influences, and comments on the
observation sheet. In order to assess changes or growth that could be attributed to the Super
Speed 100 activity, students were assessed before and after the study. The survey, completed at
the beginning and end of the study, was used to determine if Super Speed 100 impacted their
feelings or attitudes toward reading. Also, the results of the cloze assessment students
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completed at the beginning of the study were compared to the results of the same cloze
assessment at the end of the study in order to evaluate reading fluency.
Data Analysis
Because Super Speed 100 is a timed activity, the words read per minute each time the
students complete the activity will determine how students are progressing. As the numbers
steadily increase, students’ fluency skills will be improving; if the words read per minute
decrease or are stagnant, then the fluency is not improving.
Student responses on the questionnaires will be analyzed for changes in attitude or
feelings towards reading or fluency from the onset of the study.
Data Validity Discussion
In order to guarantee thorough research, teacher researchers must consider validity,
reliability, and generalizability of the research (Mills, 2011 p. 101). Validity measures the
accuracy of the tests or surveys used in research. Valid tests and surveys accurately measure the
skills the researcher is targeting. Reliability refers to the consistency of a test. In a study, it is
important to have both a valid and reliable test, because researchers want to consistently measure
the correct variable. Finally, the research should be applicable in various settings or schools with
the goal of improving education; therefore, research should be generalizable.
The researcher discussed the validity of the research with the school’s principal,
technology specialist, and the Response to Intervention (RTI) specialist during separate
meetings. The two main data component, the student survey and the reading records were
discussed. The students will complete one survey at the beginning and a follow-up survey at the
end of the research period. The students will also record their reading times.
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The principal expressed a concern about integrating the Whole Brain Teaching
philosophy and fluency activities into the classroom with fidelity. He believes that the activities
must be completed with fidelity in order to have the greatest impact on student performance.
Because of this concern, students completed the Super Speed 100 fluency activity two to three
times each week during the research data collection period. Students are familiar with Whole
Brain Teaching practices, reading activities and class rules. Completing the activity frequently
throughout the week will promoted reliability within the research.
The technology specialist has been involved in classroom research and has worked in a
variety of classroom settings. She suggested the use of an observation form, which would track
idiosyncrasies with student performances, absences or positive influences. The researcher used a
simple form that logged student interest in the activity, distractions, comments made during the
activity and positive or negative influences on the students at the time of the fluency activity.
Finally, the RTI specialist was consulted for her input on fluency assessment and data
analysis. She agreed that the pre and post student survey would be helpful to determine how
students’ attitudes change as a result of the fluency activities. However, she recommended
testing each student’s development actual Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) levels. The students
completed a cloze passage in Social Studies, so it was decided that that the data from the cloze
passage would be used for the pre-assessment and would be compared to the same cloze
assessment which will be completed at the end of the study period. However, both agreed that a
Maze assessment would have better assessed students’ ORF levels. Because data had been
collected, it was determined that it was too late to get an accurate baseline measure which could
be used to compare scores to at the end of the study. The close passage is a valid source,
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however, there was some concern that students would recall the vocabulary words and inherently
receive a higher score on the ensuing completion.
After input from three colleagues, it was determined that the study needed to maintain
fidelity. A researcher observation form and Oral Reading Fluency assessments will be added to
the student survey and time logs in order to enhance the data collection and analysis during the
research study. This will give the research four total data resources. In his book about Action
Research, Geoffrey E. Mills (2011) refers to the “use of multiple resources of data” as
triangulation. Mills states that “researchers should not rely on any single source of data,
interview, observation, or instrument” when conducting Action Research (Mills 2011, p. 92).
Therefore it is necessary to include the student survey, ORF assessment, teacher observations,
and completion times on the fluency activity.
Results
Findings from Student Survey
The first information collected in the study was the student survey, which was used to
gain a baseline for the students’ feelings toward reading. The survey allowed students to respond
to questions by selecting one of five answer choices, which were arranged on a scale. At the end
of the study (approximately five weeks later), students completed a survey with identical
questions and three additional questions about Super Speed 100. In general, the most popular
answer was the average, indifferent, or the central answer choice. At the time of the first survey,
68 students were enrolled in the classes, but two students transferred and did not take the follow-
up survey.
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According to the first round of the survey, 33 students felt that they read at an average
speed, whereas 22 students responded that they read somewhat fast or fast and 13 students said
they read somewhat slow or slow. On the second round, 38 students felt they read at an average
speed, with 23 stating they read somewhat fast or really fast and five stating that they read below
the average rate. Figure 1 shows the total number of student responses when students were
asked “how fast do you think you read?” on both rounds of the survey.
Figure 1
Figure 1. Students’ personal indications of their own reading speed. Each bar indicates the total
number of student responses when asked how fast they read before and after completing Super
Speed 100.
Student responses differed when they were asked how fast they read aloud. Figure 2
shows that 41 students stated that they read at an average rate when reading orally. However, 9
stated that they read aloud somewhat fast or fast and 18 stated that they read somewhat slow or
very slow when reading aloud. After they completed the Super Speed 100 activity for
58
33
20
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38
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5
0
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15
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25
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40
Very Slow Somewhat Slow
Average Somewhat Fast Really Fast
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approximately five weeks, 38 students said they read at an average rate orally, while nine
reported that they were somewhat fast or really fast and 19 believed they read somewhat slow or
very slow when reading orally.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Students’ personal indications of their oral reading speed before and after completing
Super Speed 100. Each bar indicates the total number of student responses for each answer
choice.
Students mostly felt indifferent or disliked reading aloud in class. Before beginning
Super Speed 100, 51 students were indifferent or disliked reading aloud in class and 16
responded favorably. In the post survey, the responses were similar, with 51 students stating that
they felt indifferent or disliked reading in class (see Figure 3).
3
15
41
8
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38
7
2
0
5
10
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45
Very Slow Somewhat Slow
Average Somewhat Fast Really Fast
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Figure 3
Figure 3. Total number of student responses about reading aloud in class. Each bar indicates the
total number of student responses for each answer choice before and after completing Super
Speed 100.
Students were asked to rate to rate their attitude toward reading from dislike to love to
show how they felt about reading. The results for this question were relatively balanced,
although most students sated that they felt indifferent about reading; see Figure 4. In the initial
survey, 27 students gave a positive response, 22 were indifferent, and 19 provided a negative
response. In the follow-up survey, 31 students provided a positive response, 16 were indifferent
and 19 gave negative responses.
1214
25
12
4
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12
3
0
5
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Strongly Dislike Dislike Indifferent Like It Love It
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Figure 4
Figure 4. Students’ personal feelings toward reading before and after completing Super Speed
100. Each bar indicates the total number of student responses for each answer choice.
Although students ranged from strongly disliking reading to feeling indifferent toward
reading, all but 11 students considered themselves average or above average readers. Of the 68
students surveyed on the initial survey, 3 students stated that they were terrible readers, 8 said
they were bad readers, 30 said they were average readers, 21 stated they were good readers and
the remaining 6 said they were fantastic readers. Figure 5 shows how students rated their
reading abilities differently before and after completing Super Speed 100 for approximately five
weeks. In the follow-up survey, 21 students felt like average readers, whereas 8 rated themselves
as below average readers and 37 students said they were good or fantastic readers.
11
8
22
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22
9
0
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Strongly Dislike Dislike Indifferent Like It Love It
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Figure 5
Figure 5. Student responses to survey indicating their own reading ability before and after
completing Super Speed 100. Each bar indicates the total number of student responses for each
answer choice.
Students were asked about two components of being a good reader—comprehension and
reading with expression. Most students indicated that they understood what they read, see Figure
6, but many thought they read with average or below average amounts of expression, which is
indicated in Figure 7.
3
8
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21
64 4
21
25
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0
5
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20
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35
Terrible Bad Average Good Fantastic
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Figure 6
Figure 6. Students’ personal indications of their reading comprehension. Each bar indicates the
total number of student responses for each answer choice before and after completing Super
Speed 100.
Figure 7
Figure 7. Student responses about their reading expressiveness before and after completing
Super Speed 100. Each bar indicates the total number of student responses for each answer
choice.
46
24
21
12
4 3
24 25
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Terrible Bad Average Good Fantastic
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None Almost None Average Some A Lot
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Students were asked how often they read at home. Figure 8 shows that student responses
were balanced.
Figure 8
Figure 8. Reading habits of students at home. Each bar represents the student reponses on the
survey conducted before completing the Super Speed 100 activities.
Super Speed 100 focuses on the most common reading words, so students were asked
about their vocabulary knowledge and ability to sound out unfamiliar words. As see in Figure 9,
all but six students believe they had an average or above average vocabulary. Figure 10, shows
that all students, except 10, believe they have an average or above average ability to sound out
unfamiliar words.
9
19
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0
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Never Rarely A Little Sometimes A Lot
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Figure 9
Figure 9. Students’ rating of their vocabulary knowledge before completing Super Speed 100.
Figure 10
Figure 10. Students’ self-assessment at sounding out unfamiliar words.
Super Speed 100 Findings
Overall, most students improved from the first time they completed the Super Speed 100
oral reading fluency activity to the last time they completed the activity. Some students
improved from reading approximately 34 words per minute to 100 words per minute. The
average reading rate for all three classes was 71 words per minute (for each pair of students)
15
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Terrible Bad Average Good Fantastic
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Terrible Bad Average Good Fantastic
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during the first week. By the fifth week, the average reading rate per minute (for each pair of
students) was 95 words per minute.
The 24 students in class one showed improvement from the first series, where the average
rate was 70 words per minute to the fifth, were the average reading rate was 88 words per
minute. Figure 11 shows overall growth for each student and the total number of words read
over the five series. Although many students read a small number of words per minute in the
first series, they improved over the ensuing activities.
Figure 11
Figure 11. Results of Super Speed 100 in Class 1. Each bar indicates one student and the color
denotes the student’s progress during each week. The highest possible words read per minute
each week is 100, with a highest possible total of 500. Students with missing data were absent.
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Series5
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Students in class two improved their average reading rate from 66 words per minute in
the first week to 98 in the fifth week. By the fourth week, many students were reading
approximately 80 or more words per minute; see Figure 12 for class two’s specific results.
Figure 12
Figure 12. Results of Super Speed 100 in Class 2. Each bar indicates one student and the color
denotes the student’s progress during each week. The highest possible words read per minute
each week is 100, with a highest possible total of 500. Students with missing data were absent.
The students in class 3 started with an average reading rate of 76 words per minute (for
each pair of students) and improved to 99 words per minute. The overall class average was the
highest of the three classes and several students in this class reached 100 words per minute in the
second or third week. Figure 13 shows the results of the Super Speed 100 reading activity for
students in class three. Of the 19 total students in class three, eight students regressed for at least
one week during the five week period, even though their oral reading rate progressed overall.
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Series5
Series4
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THE EFFECTS OF SUPER SPEED 100 ON READING FLUENCY 27
Figure 13
Figure 13. Results of Super Speed 100 in Class 3. Each bar indicates one student and the color
denotes the student’s progress during each week. The highest possible words read per minute
each week is 100, with a highest possible total of 500. Students with missing data were absent.
Overall, students increased an average of 24 words per minute. When asked how the
Super Speed 100 activity impacted their reading and reading speed, eight students said that it had
no impact and nine students reported that it had almost no impact. Just as many students, nine,
reported that Super Speed 100 helped them a lot with their overall reading and seven stated that
it aided their reading speed a lot. Most students believed that Super Speed 100 had some
impact—29 students reported that the activity helped their reading speed and 24 said it helped
their reading overall. The rest of the surveyed students stated that Super Speed 100 helped them
an average amount, although more believed Super Speed 100 helped an average amount with
reading speed. Specifically, 16 students said Super Speed 100 helped with reading speed an
average amount and 13 students reported that the activity helped an average amount with overall
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Series5
Series4
Series3
Series2
Series1
THE EFFECTS OF SUPER SPEED 100 ON READING FLUENCY 28
reading abilities. Figure 14 shows how students felt Super Speed 100 impacted their reading
speed and reading abilities.
Figure 14
Figure 14. Student responses when asked if Super Speed 100 improved their reading and
reading speed. Each bar indicates the total number of student responses for each answer choice.
Many students were excited to complete Super Speed 100. When they began the activity,
they would say “yes!” or “oh, I like this.” Oftentimes, when students reached 100 words at the
end of the 60 seconds, they would express their excitement by saying “yes” or “we beat our
record!” Occasionally, when students did not beat their record or make it to 100 words
(especially if they were close), they would be disappointed. Some students would say “oh man”
and two different pairs of students hit their desk because they were so close to reaching 100
words. Two groups of students competed, which seemed to motivate their efforts, and when one
pair read more words than the other, they said “we beat you!” and the other pair said they would
beat them the next time.
8 9
16
24
98 913
29
7
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Not at All Almost None Average Some A Lot
Reading Speed
THE EFFECTS OF SUPER SPEED 100 ON READING FLUENCY 29
Some students did not appear to be very motivated. One boy did not like his partner and
when the activity would begin, he would not have his materials ready, so they did not begin on
time. One pair of girls started later than the rest of the class, but then tried to continue after time
expired and were told a second time that they had run out of time. Some groups of students
would occasionally start slower than the rest of the class, which occurred with more frequency as
the students became more familiar with Super Speed 100 and showed more improvement with
the activity. When a student was absent, the present partner would be reassigned a temporary
partner within the class. Absences led to some missing data for students. Figure 15 shows how
students felt about completing the Super Speed 100 activity (when they were asked on the follow
up survey). Overall, 17 students rated it as an average activity, 13 students gave the activity a
negative rating, and 32 gave the activity a positive rating.
Figure 15
Figure 15. Student responses when asked if Super Speed 100 was engaging and an enjoyable
activity.
5
8
20
16 17
0
5
10
15
20
25
Strongly Dislike
Dislike Indifferent Like It Love It
THE EFFECTS OF SUPER SPEED 100 ON READING FLUENCY 30
Discussion
Changes in Student Feelings. When asked how well they comprehended what they
read, student results changed slightly after being exposed to Super Speed 100. In the pre-survey,
10 students stated that they had below average comprehension, 25 stated their comprehension
was average and 33 stated they had above average comprehension. After Super Study, the
students rated their comprehension slightly higher. Seven students said they had below average
comprehension, the same number, 24, said they had average comprehension levels, and 35 said
they had above average comprehension. When asked if they were good readers, which
encompassed both comprehension and fluency, 41 students said they were terrible, bad or
average in the pre-survey, and 29 said they were terrible, bad or average in the post-survey.
Furthermore, ten more students classified themselves as good or fantastic readers from the pre-
survey to the follow up survey. Initially, 27 students said they were good or fantastic readers,
but in the follow up survey, 37 students said they were good or fantastic readers. This does not
align with the students’ scores on the previous year’s End-of-Grade Test, completed in May of
their sixth grade year. Table 3 shows the sixth grade EOG scores for the students involved in
this study.
Table 3
Student Proficiency on Previous Year End-of-Grade Reading Assessment
Level Proficiency Level Total Competency Level
No Score Unknown 7
Level 1 Not Proficient 1 Below Average
Level 2 Not Proficient 11 Below Average
Level 3 Proficient 40 Average
Level 4 Proficient 9 Above Average
THE EFFECTS OF SUPER SPEED 100 ON READING FLUENCY 31
Positives gains can be attributed to consistent fluency practice. Students were motivated by
internal competition to do better than their own previous score and their peers’ scores. All but 17
students attributed some reading improvement to Super Speed 100; therefore, the evidence
suggests that Super Speed 100 increased fluency, which increased comprehension and reading
confidence.
Changes in Reading Speed. Every student involved in this study improved overall
reading speed from the first timed reading to the last timed reading on the Super Speed 100
reading activity. However, some students did not consistently improve and some students were
stagnant and received the same score each time during the timed activity. The study indicates
that Super Speed 100 positively impacts reading speed, which influences reading fluency.
Limitations of the Study
Students completed Super Speed 100 in pairs, so each student was impacted by their
partner. However, any changes in completion time were documented.
Because students were paired with a partner for this task, there was a possibility that the
students would lose focus or that students would lack motivation to beat their highest score.
Students were paired based on similar reading abilities based on scores on the North Carolina
End-of-Grade (EOG) reading test and the Discovery Education Assessment (DEA). Because
students were paired according to reading ability, they should be able to assist one another, but
there was a possibility that both students would fail to correct a pronunciation mistake. All
words were read aloud via choral reading to ensure that all students knew how to read and
rehearse the sight words. If one partner was absent, especially for an extended amount of time,
then this effected the other partner negatively. Some students were paired with another student
THE EFFECTS OF SUPER SPEED 100 ON READING FLUENCY 32
whose partner was absent or they joined a pair of students to complete the activity. Some
students were not pleased with their partner; however, caution was used when pairing students
and because the activity is short, they have a simple task on which to focus.
Student absences caused irregular fluency practice for both the absent student and the
partner. Although the student who was present for the day was matched with another student, it
caused some discomfort with students who were comfortable with partners. Furthermore,
partners were matched according to ability, and when one partner was absent, ability was not
considered when finding a temporary partner.
Some students were not comfortable with their initial partners. This happened with two
student pairings, which impacted four students total. In these cases, the students were able to
complete the assignment, although they had one timed reading impacted because they did not
start on time. With one pair, the students had materials, but did not want to share, so when time
started one student retrieved extra materials, causing the pair to start late. Another pair did not
share materials and one partner walked across the classroom to retrieve a pencil when time was
started.
Another influence on student achievement was the perception of this activity. Although
most students stated that they enjoyed this activity or were indifferent to the activity, 13 students
said they did not like it, which could impact the amount of effort they were willing to put into the
activity, and therefore impact the outcome of the activity.
Action Plan
Incorporating Super Speed 100 into classroom instruction must be done with fidelity in
order to ensure success. Initially, students must understand how to complete the activity quickly.
THE EFFECTS OF SUPER SPEED 100 ON READING FLUENCY 33
The activity should be set up as a game or break that allows students to compete with their
record, which helps engage and motivate them. Once students demonstrate mastery of the 100
sight words in Super Speed 100 by consecutively reaching 100 words, they are ready to continue
to Super Speed 1000, which includes 1000 sight words. Super Speed 1000 is completed in class
just as Super Speed 100—it includes the same time parameter and it requires students to track
their progress on the same record sheet. Figure 16 shows the action plan in which students
progress from Super Speed 100 to Super Speed 1000.
Figure 16
Figure 16. Students begin Super Speed 100, then reach the mastery level before progressing to
Super Speed 1000.
Because fluency is a major step toward comprehension, it is often addressed during
instructional planning. Super Speed 100 can be used to remediate students who struggle with
reading fluency and comprehension. This action plan was shared during a Professional Learning
Community meeting and during a faculty meeting.
Conclusions
The findings of the study indicate that the Whole Brain Teaching activity, Super Speed
100, has some impact on fluency. The average timed reading speed of each class improved
during the study. Furthermore, students were engaged by the activity and motivated by the
competition to beat their personal records. Students indicated that they enjoyed the activity and
Super Speed 100
0-100 WPM
Mastery of Super Speed 100
95-99 WPM
Consistantly
Super Speed 1000
THE EFFECTS OF SUPER SPEED 100 ON READING FLUENCY 34
the majority of students attributed their improvements to the rehearsed speed reading of Super
Speed 100.
Upon completion of the study, it was decided that a Maze assessment would have given a
more complete measure of each student’s Oral Reading Fluency than the cloze passage. This
would give more accurate data to indicate to what extent Super Speed 100 impacted actual
reading fluency, other than measured by the activity itself.
Further Research
Super Speed 100 is one activity within Whole Brain Teaching. The impact of Whole
Brain teaching strategies and classroom management needs further research. Specifically, how
these activities influence student performance in reading fluency and comprehension. Also,
more research about how Whole Brain Teaching activities motivate and engage students would
provide insight into how and to what extent these activities are successful. There is sufficient
research to support the hypotheses, which state that rehearsal of reading sight words will
improve reading fluency, which will in turn improve comprehension. However, the majority of
the research supports the link between fluency and comprehension. More research is necessary
to establish the link between rehearsed speed reading, like practiced with Super Speed 100, and
improvements in reading fluency.
THE EFFECTS OF SUPER SPEED 100 ON READING FLUENCY 35
References
Alber-Morgan, S. R. (2006). Ten ways to enhance the effectiveness of repeated
readings. Journal of Early and Intensive Behavior Intervention, 3(3), 2006.
Biffle, C. (2007). 60 power teaching case studies. Whole Brain Teaching. Retrieved from
http://www.wholebrainteaching.com/docman.html.
Biffle, C. (2007). Superspeed 100. Retrieved from
http://www.wholebrainteaching.com/docman.html
Chang, A. C. S. (2010). The effect of a timed reading activity on EFL learners: speed,
comprehension, and perceptions. Reading in a Foreign Language, 22(2), 284-303.
Grabe, W. (2010). Fluency in reading—thirty-five years later. Reading in a Foreign
Language, 22(1), 71-83.
Huang, L. V., Nelson, R. B., & Nelson, D. (2008). Increasing reading fluency through
student-directed repeated reading and feedback. The California School Psychologist, 13,
33-40.
Mills, E.G. (2011). Action research: A guide for the teacher researcher (Fourth Edition).
Pearson: Boston, MA.
THE EFFECTS OF SUPER SPEED 100 ON READING FLUENCY 36
Nation, P. (2009). Reading faster. International Journal of English Studies, 9(2), 131-
144.
Palasigue, J. T. (2009). Integrating whole brain teaching strategies to create a more
engaged learning environment. (Master’s thesis). Available from ProQuest
database.
Rasinski, T. V. (2003). Assessing reading fluency. Pacific Resources for Education and
Learning, Retrieved from www.prel.org/programs/rel/rel.asp
Tompkins, G. E. (2009). Literacy for the 21st century. (5th ed.). Boston: Prentice Hall.
THE EFFECTS OF SUPER SPEED 100 ON READING FLUENCY 37
Appendix A
Student Questionnaire
1. How fast do you think you read?
Very Slow Somewhat Slow Average Somewhat Fast Really Fast
2. How often do you read at home?
Never Rarely A Little Sometimes A lot
3. How do you feel about reading aloud in class?
Strongly Dislike Dislike Indifferent Like It Love It
4. How do you feel about reading?
Strongly Dislike Dislike Indifferent Like It Love It
5. How much expression do you read with?
None Almost None Average Some A lot
6. Do you think of yourself as a good reader?
Terrible Bad Average Good Fantastic
7. How fast do you read aloud?
Very Slow Somewhat Slow Average Somewhat Fast Really Fast
8. How well do you understand what you read?
Terrible Bad Average Good Fantastic
9. Do you think you have a good vocabulary?
Terrible Bad Average Good Fantastic
10. How are you at sounding out familiar and unfamiliar words?
Terrible Bad Average Good Fantastic
THE EFFECTS OF SUPER SPEED 100 ON READING FLUENCY 38
Appendix B
Cloze Reading Passage
Words:
business communism criticized government wealthy
communist own poor produce system
The ideas of capitalism became important during the Industrial Revolution. Capitalism
means people _______________ their own businesses and keep the profits they earn. Business
owners decide for themselves what they want to _______________.
Industry growth sometimes caused depressions, periods in which _______________
activity is very slow, causing people to lose jobs and become _______________.
Some people critiqued, or _______________, capitalism and said it allowed business
owners to become _______________ while their workers were poor. Some people thought that
socialism was better. Socialism is a _______________ in which the _______________ controls
some businesses and social service programs such as education and healthcare.
In 1848, Karl Marx wrote a book about _______________. Under this economic system,
the government owns land and businesses and makes all the decisions. _______________
governments allow people very little freedom.
THE EFFECTS OF SUPER SPEED 100 ON READING FLUENCY 39
Appendix C
Teacher Observation Form
Date and Time of Activity:
Overall Student Interest:
Rate overall student interest: 1 2 3 4 5
Comments made by students at the beginning of the activity:
Possible Distractions:
Negative influences:
Positive Influences:
Absences/Partner substitutions:
Comments made by students at the conclusion of the activity:
THE EFFECTS OF SUPER SPEED 100 ON READING FLUENCY 40
Appendix D
Super Speed 100 (Final Challenge) from Whole Brain Teaching
Final Challenge: Read these 100 words perfectly!, the 100 most common words in English. This
level must be completed in 60 seconds or less!
the, to, and, he, a, I, you, it, of, in, was, said, his,
that, she, for, on, they, but, had, at, him, with, up,
see, all, look, is, her, there, some, word, out, as,
be, each, have, go, we, am, then, little, down, do,
can, could, when, did, what, so, not, were, get,
them, like, one, this, my, would, me, will, yes,
big, more, went, are, come, if, number, now,
long, no, way, came, too, ask, very, than, an,
over, yours, its, ride, into, just, blue, red, from,
good, any, about, around, want, don’t, how,
know, part, right, put, sound
(Biffle, 2007)
THE EFFECTS
Appendix E
Personal Word Record Log (Words Read Per Minute) from Whole Brain Teaching
Super Speed Personal Record Stars
Place a checkmark in a star each time you
(Biffle, 2007)
EFFECTS OF SUPER SPEED 100 ON READING
Word Record Log (Words Read Per Minute) from Whole Brain Teaching
Speed Personal Record Stars
Place a checkmark in a star each time you break a personal record!
N READING FLUENCY 41
Word Record Log (Words Read Per Minute) from Whole Brain Teaching
THE EFFECTS OF SUPER SPEED 100 ON READING FLUENCY 42
Appendix F
Maze Assessment (Suggested)
Oral Reading Fluency (ORF)
Suggested resource to assess ORF
THE EFFECTS OF SUPER SPEED 100 ON READING FLUENCY 43
Follow-up Survey Super Speed 100
1. How fast do you think you read?
Very Slow Somewhat Slow Average Somewhat Fast Really Fast
2. How much as Super Speed 100 helped your reading?
Not at All Almost None Average Some A lot
3. How do you feel about reading aloud in class?
Strongly Dislike Dislike Indifferent Like It Love It
4. How do you feel about reading?
Strongly Dislike Dislike Indifferent Like It Love It
5. How much expression do you read with?
None Almost None Average Some A lot
6. Do you think of yourself as a good reader?
Terrible Bad Average Good Fantastic
7. How fast do you read aloud?
Very Slow Somewhat Slow Average Somewhat Fast Really Fast
8. How well do you understand what you read?
Terrible Bad Average Good Fantastic
9. How much as Super Speed 100 helped your reading speed?
Not at All Almost None Average Some A lot
10. Do you like Super Speed 100?
Strongly Dislike Dislike Average Some A lot