Learning to Read can be hard work:
For most kids, learning to read is a challenging task. Think about how many school days are spent going over letters, popcorn words, spelling, and so on. But you have one thing at home that the school seldom can offer - special one-on-one time with a caring adult.
The importance of reading fluently – with speed, ease, and putting the pauses in the right places (expression):
- To understand the reading, one must put the pauses in the right places.
- To remember what you are reading, there needs to be some speed and automaticity.
How do you do this?
My favorite, research-proven strategy to improve fluency is called “Paired Reading.” Read at the same time, side by side with your student with one of you pointing to each word. Part of slowness and hesitation in reading is caused by fear of getting the words wrong. Reading side-by-side at the same time takes the fear out of the reading. If the student hesitates, then they can listen to your voice and pick up the word without error – helping with errorless learning.
In fact, research says that, when students do paired reading with a better reader for as little as10 minutes per day, the result is an increase in their reading level and comprehension in a matter of weeks. This is a temporary intervention that may be needed for a short time, until student becomes more independent.
Repeated Readings: Another way to help with fluency is to have student practice reading faster. Time the student reading the first time (# of words correct in one minute). Point out the mistakes so they can work on the mistakes for the next readings. Maybe do paired reading (have the student read with a better reader). Have students practice reading the words to themselves or to a partner, who is listening for accuracy. Time the student’s reading again after a few days of practice.
I do Paired Reading and Repeated Reading with my English Language Learners. My goal for Level One learners is to gain about 100 words per minute. Why? Reading more fluently leads to students being able to remember what they learned while taking some of the work out of the task.
Reading leads to further learning.
More ideas to help with reading from Intervention Central: http://www.interventioncentral.org/index.php/reading-comp/236-reading-com-fix-up-skills
