![]() The exact role of expression and phrasing - or prosody - in fluency and comprehension has not yet been determined, but it certainly is one element that signifies whether or not a student is truly a fluent reader. If not, how should it be developed? If a student is appropriately fluent for her grade level, how does a teacher help maintain that student’s fluency? And, how does a teacher make these determinations? This process begins with assessments of the component pieces of fluency: prosody, accuracy, and rate. So it’s important that teachers determine if their students’ fluency is at a level appropriate for their grade. ![]() When children read too slowly or haltingly, the text devolves into a broken string of words and/or phrases it’s a struggle just to remember what’s been read, much less extract its meaning. However it is defined, this much is certain: Fluency is necessary, but not sufficient*, for understanding the meaning of text. While the National Reading Panel’s definition of fluency as the ability to read text with accuracy, appropriate rate, and good expression (NICHD, 2000) is widely accepted among fluency researchers, these experts continue to debate the more subtle aspects of fluency (Stecker, Roser, and Martinez, 1998 Wolf and Katzir-Cohen, 2001). Getting a handle on things like digital guided reading groups could be the thing that does that for you.Let’s cut through the buzz around fluency and review what reading fluency is, why it is essential to ensure that our students have sufficient fluency, how fluency should be assessed, and how to best provide fluency practice and support for our students. Last week, I shared about my Digital Guided Reading Passages with you all! I think we all are in agreement that we’d like to see academic progress happen for all of our students this year, no matter the teaching conditions. Either way, you need some quality digital materials that will work both in your classroom and outside of it! More Digital Resources You may only be seeing your students part-time, whether through a computer screen or in-person every other day. ![]() One common thread that ties us all together right now, however, is the need for more digital resources! In my opinion, digital resources can help us bridge the instructional gap that could be created with all of the transition and uncertainty. It may look very different, actually, depending on where you live. Other districts have opted to send everyone back full-time! Back to school season does not mean the same thing for everyone. Some districts have announced a hybrid model of part-time instruction online, and the rest in-person. We’re coming up on back to school season right now, and many districts around the country have announced their plans for the coming school year…some are going complete remote for at least half of the year, while others are going remote for only the first few weeks. I can hardly believe that it’s already the beginning of August! This summer has somehow flown by, after a very long, very tedious spring! I can’t believe we’re already talking about going digital with so many resources, including my Fluency passages.
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