Activities For Increasing Reading Rate Students Who Would

activities for increasing reading rate -------------------------------------- students who would benefit from methods to increase reading sp

Activities for increasing reading rate
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Students who would benefit from methods to increase reading speed are
often described by their teachers as slow, laborious readers who read
word-by-word with limited expression. These types of techniques are
most useful with students who have acquired some proficiency in
decoding skill but whose level of decoding skill is lower than their
oral language abilities. Methods for increasing reading rate have
several common features: 1) students listen to text as they follow
along with the book, 2) students follow the print using their fingers
as guides, and 3) reading materials are used that students would be
unable to read independently. Chard and Osborn (1999a) suggested that
a beginning reading program should provide opportunities for partner
reading, practice reading difficult words prior to reading the text,
timings for accuracy and rate, opportunities to hear books read, and
opportunities to read to others. The following methods are easy to
use.
Speed drills
For reading lists of words with a speed drill and a 1-minute timing,
Fischer (1999) suggested using the following general guidelines: 30
correct wpm for first- and second-grade children; 40 correct wpm for
third- grade children; 60 correct wpm for mid-third-grade; and 80 wpm
for students in fourth grade and higher. To conduct a speed drill,
have the student read a list of words for 1 minute as you record the
number of errors. You may use a high-frequency word list or the sample
speed drills provided in Fischer's program Concept Phonics (see
Additional Resources). These drills are designed to develop automatic
sight recognition of words.
Rapid word recognition chart
A way to improve speed of recognition for words with an irregular
element is the use of a rapid word recognition chart (Carreker, 1999).
The chart is similar to a rapid serial-naming task. It is a matrix
that contains five rows of six exception words (e.g., who and said),
with each row containing the same six words in a different order.
After a brief review of the words, students are timed for 1 minute as
they read the words in the squares aloud. Students can then count and
record the number of words read correctly. This type of procedure can
help students like Ben who struggle to memorize words with irregular
orthographic patterns.
Choral reading or neurological impress method
The neurological impress method (Heckelman, 1969, 1986) is a method
for choral or concert reading. In this method, you read aloud together
with a student for 10- 15 minutes daily. To begin, select a
high-interest book or a content-area textbook from the classroom. Sit
next to the student and read aloud as you point to the words with your
index finger. Read at a slightly faster pace than the student and
encourage him or her to try and keep up with you. When necessary,
remind the student to keep his or her eyes on the words. Successful
decoding requires the reader to connect the flow of spoken language
with the flow of text (Carreker, 1999). Reading aloud with students
can help them to practice phrasing and intonation.
Repeated readings
The repeated readings technique is designed for children who read
slowly despite adequate word recognition (Samuels, 1979). For this
procedure, the child reads the same passage over and over again. To
begin, select a passage that is 50-100 words long from a book that is
slightly above the student's independent reading level. Have the
student read the selection orally while you time the reading and count
the number of words that are pronounced incorrectly. Record the
reading time and the number of words pronounced incorrectly. If
desired, set a realistic goal for speed and number of errors. Figure
8.8 presents a sample recording form to use for repeated readings. You
may use two different color pencils for recording time and errors, or
you may use a circle to indicate points on the line for time and an X
or a square to indicate points on the line for errors.
Between timings, you may ask the student to look over the selection,
reread it, and practice words that caused difficulty in the initial
reading. When the student is ready, have him or her reread the same
passage. Once again, time the reading, and record the time and number
of errors. Have the student repeatedly practice reading the selection
as you chart progress after each trial until a predetermined goal is
reached or until the student is able to read the passage fluently with
few mistakes. Research on repeated reading suggests that fluency can
be improved as long as students are provided with specific
instructions and procedures are used to monitor their progress
(Mastropieri et al., 1999). An easy way to monitor student performance
using this chart is to keep a log of the dated charts. To control for
a similar readability level, select the passages to read from the same
book. As performance improves, the time to perform the initial reading
should decrease.
Repeated reading has also been used as a component of class-wide peer
tutoring (Mathes & Fuchs, 1993). In a study of this intervention,
pairs of students in one group read continuously over a 10-minute
period, whereas pairs of students in the other group read a passage
together three times before going on to the next passage. Although
both experimental conditions produced higher results than the typical
reading instruction, no difference existed between the procedures,
suggesting that the main benefit of the intervention is the student
reading involvement and the increased time spent in reading
(Mastropieri et al., 1999).
Click to see Figure 8.8. Sample repeated readings graph. (Attached)
In a review of the effectiveness of repeated reading, Meyer and Felton
(1999) concluded that the method of repeated readings improves reading
speed for a wide variety of readers. They make the following
recommendations for helping students to improve fluency:
1.
have students engage in multiple readings (three to four times);
2.
use instructional level text or independent level text
3.
use decodable text with struggling readers;
4.
provide short, frequent periods of fluency practice; and
5.
provide concrete measures of progress. Base the amount of teacher
guidance on each individual's characteristics. With students with
poor reading skills, modeling and practicing of words between
readings improve student performance and reduce frustration.
Previewing is a technique similar to repeated reading, involving
pre-exposure to materials before they are formally read (Rose, 1984).
For this type of procedure, a student can preview the material
silently, or you may read the passage aloud as the student follows
along, or the student may first listen to the recorded passage on
tape. Rose and Sherry (1984) found that both silent previewing and
teacher-directed previewing were more effective than no previewing.
Maria found that, by hearing the passage before she was asked to read
it, she made fewer errors and was more successful reading the text.
Taped books
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Another way to help students practice reading is to use taped books.
Have the student listen to the reading while he or she follows along
with an unabridged copy of the book. Most public libraries provide a
wide selection of recorded books for loan. When Maria. was in fifth
grade, she was interested in horses. Her mother would take her to the
library, and they would check out books and the corresponding book
tapes. Each evening, she would listen to classic stories about horses
as she followed along with the text.
If a student has been identified as having LD or dyslexia, taped books
are available from Recordings for the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D). This
national, nonprofit organization provides textbooks for individuals
who are unable to read standard print because of visual, physical, or
perceptual disabilities. The extensive tape library has educational
books that range from upper-elementary to postgraduate level. If a
book is unavailable, an individual may request that it be recorded,
and, if it fits within the scope of the collection, the book will be
recorded.
Unabridged audio books are also available for rent from either Books
on Tape or Recorded Books. Selections include bestsellers, classics,
history, biographies, and science fiction. Books may be rented for 1
month and then returned by mail. Prices vary according to the length
of the books. Sources for obtaining books on tape are listed in
Additional Resources.
Some commercial recordings, such as those obtained at the public
library; go too fast for individuals with reading disabilities. In
addition, because younger and struggling readers lose their place
quite frequently, it is important to have a procedure for relocating
the place at the top of each page. Many teachers prefer to make their
own recordings of books so that they can select materials that are of
high interest to students and control the rate of delivery.
Carbo Method (1989) developed procedures for recording books to
achieve maximum gains in fluency. A brief description of how to record
books using this method is described:
1.
Decide which pages you will record on each cassette side.
2.
Because every tape cassette has about 5-8 seconds of lead time,
let the tape run for that amount of time before starting to
record.
3.
Speak into the microphone from a distance of approximately 6-8
inches.
4.
Convey your interest in the book through your voice.
5.
Begin by reading the story title, providing a brief introduction,
pausing, and then telling the student which page to turn to. Pause
long enough so that the reader has enough time to turn pages and
look at pictures.
6.
Tell the student when to turn the page. In order not to distract
from the content, soften your voice slightly when stating a. page
number.
7.
Read the story in logical phrases, slowly enough so that most
students can follow along but not so slowly that they become
bored.
8.
End each tape with, "Please rewind the tape for the next listener.
That ends this recording." This prevents students from continuing
to listen to the blank tape.
As general guidelines, record 5-15 minutes at a typical pace for
instructional level material and have the student listen to the tape
once. For difficult material, record no more than 2 minutes at a slow
pace with good expression and have the student listen to the passage
two or three times. After listening, have the student read the passage
aloud.
Read Naturally Another program designed to build fluency in students
from mid-first through
sixth grade (see Additional Resources). Instruction is individualized
and involves three main steps:
1.
reading along with an audiotape of a story that provides a model
of fluent reading;
2.
intensive, repeated practice to build speed and accuracy; and
3.
monitoring and evaluating performance through graphing.
To use the program, students are placed into an appropriate level on
the basis of their oral reading fluency. The sequenced reading levels
range from beginning reading to sixth-grade level with 24 stories
available for each level. In addition, the lower level materials have
been translated into Spanish.
Fluency methods are designed to increase rate and automaticity. They
are particularly beneficial for students like Maria and Ben who have
strong conceptual abilities but poor automaticity because of
weaknesses within phonological or orthographic abilities. These
repeated readings provide repeated exposures that facilitate word
mastery and automaticity. They help a student move from Ehri's (1998)
full alphabetic stage to the consolidated alphabetic stage, in which
word learning is accomplished more easily.