Increasing Explicitness in Fluency Instruction

1. Increasing Explicitness in Fluency Instruction Michael C. McKenna University of Virginia Sharon Walpole University of Delaware

2. Speed test . . . ready?

3. The Herdmans were absolutely the

4. worst kids in the history of the

5. world. They lied and stole and

6. smoked cigars (even the girls) and

7. talked dirty and hit little kids and

8. cussed their teachers and took the

9. name of the Lord in vain and set

10. fire to Fred Shoemaker’s old

11. broken-down toolhouse.

12. Rate = 265 words per minute

13. Is speed reading real? Take a minute to read about Mike McKenna’s experience with a speed-reading course.

14. Today’s Goals Review the relationship between decoding, automatic word recognition, and fluency for beginning readers Read about instructional procedures for combining attention to decoding and automaticity

15. Back in School Apply concepts from today’s work to plan needs-based instruction that includes both individual word reading and decodable text reading or reading for accuracy, comprehension, and rate Test your plan for three days Consider strategies to share what you learned with the rest of your instructional team; be prepared to share at our next regional meeting.

16. “In its beginnings, reading fluency is the product of the initial development of accuracy and the subsequent development of automaticity in underlying sublexical processes, lexical processes, and their integration in single word reading and connected text.

17. These include perceptual [letter recognition?] phonological [segmentation and blending?] orthographic [graphemes and spelling patterns?] and morphological [grammatical morphemes? prefixes and suffixes?] Processes at the letter, letter-pattern, and word levels, as well as semantic and syntactic processes at the word level and connected-text level.

18. After it is fully developed, reading fluency refers to a level of accuracy and rate where decoding is relatively effortless; where oral reading is smooth and accurate with correct prosody; and where attention can be allocated to comprehension.” (Wolf & Katzir-Cohen, 2001)

19. Fluency requires the child to use phonics and spelling knowledge automatically

20. Fluency requires the child to automatically integrate phonics and spelling knowledge to recognize entire words

21. Fluency requires the child to link recognized words into natural phases, with appropriate enunciation and emphasis

22. Fluency in Connected Text (textual) Fluency at the Word Level (lexical) Fluency within Words (sublexical)

23. Coaches’ Corner What does that complex definition of fluency actually mean? Can you think of examples of children in your school who get stuck at the first, second, or third level in the pyramid?

24. Some GARF Assumptions • Beginning readers may be able to work with words and sounds in isolation, but have trouble with oral reading fluency • Your core program includes some materials designed to help students apply phonics knowledge in decodable text • Teachers tend to rely on traditional guided reading procedures when they use these texts in small groups • We can use more explicit strategies to direct children to coordinate their early word recognition strategies with their early text reading

25. What about the NRP report that said that guided oral reading procedures were effective? We have noticed that teachers’ guidance is typically limited to choral, echo, and repeated reading procedures. We want to consider word recognition guidance as well.

26. Remember direct instruction? • Tasks, even complex tasks, can be decomposed into specific components. • Each component can be taught and practiced to mastery. • Components can then be coordinated to accomplish higher-order tasks.

27. A Closer Look at Direct Instruction During the 1970s and 80s, researchers worked to identify the characteristics of effective teaching. They asked two key questions: What do more-effective teachers do that less-effective teachers don’t? If less-effective teachers learn and apply these techniques, will the learning of their students increase? In 1986, a now-classic article by Barak Rosenshine appeared in Educational Leadership. In it, he summarized the findings of the huge body of effectiveness research. The result is a teaching model called “explicit instruction,” or sometimes “direct instruction.”

28. The explicit teaching model is sometimes divided into three phases: 1 2 3 Guided Practice Independent Practice Introduction of new material, organized into clear objectives, tied to previous learning, and accom-panied by modeling and monitoring by the teacher

29. Keep in mind that most of the researchers who studied effective teachers were not specifically interested in reading instruction. This is why the model sounds generic. It can be applied to nearly any content subject! When reading researchers, such as the National Reading Panel, say that research favors “explicit, systematic” instruction, this is the model they mean. Now let’s look more closely at the characteristics Rosenshine extracted from the research.

30. For your teaching to be explicit, you should … • Begin the lesson with a short statement of goals. • Begin the lesson with a short review of previous, prerequisite learning. • Present new material in small steps, with student practice after each step. • Give clear and detailed instructions and explanations. • Provide active practice for all students. • Ask many questions, check for student understanding, and obtain responses from all students. • Guide students during initial practice. • Provide systematic feedback and corrections. • Provide explicit instruction and practice for seatwork exercises and, where necessary, monitor students during seatwork. • Continue practice until students are independent and confident. – Rosenshine (1986), pp. 60, 62

31. Direct Explicit Some confusion can occur when the phrase, “direct instruction” is used interchangeably with “explicit instruction.” This is because a publishing company has long used “Direct Instruction” in the name of its commercial products. One way to avoid confusion is to say “Little d-i” when referring to explicit teaching and “Big D-I” when referring to the product. Of course, you can also avoid confusion by using the phrase “explicit instruction.”

32. Our book study today is designed for teachers who want to apply specific procedures from “little d-i” to their own core scope and sequence. Some of the authors have been associated with “Big D-I” curriculum design, and they have written this book specifically for an audience not using DI.

33. Jigsaw Procedure • Break into an even number of groups of 4-5 members • Pair the groups together, with one group assigned to chapter 12 and one to chapter 13 • Plan 45 minutes to read and prepare the chapter presentation and 1 hour to share the summary and demonstrate the lesson • During the share time, the paired groups will be working together to share what they’ve learned

34. Beginning Reading Groups • Read chapter 12, pp. 145-161. • Discuss the main ideas in the chapter, and prepare a chart paper summary to share. • Prepare a teaching demonstration for needs-based instruction including both word reading in isolation and reading of decodable text. You can use procedures in the chapter to make up your own decodable text.

35. Primary Reading Groups • Read chapter 13, pp. 163-179 . • Discuss the main ideas in the chapter, and prepare a chart paper summary to share. • Prepare a teaching demonstration for needs-based instruction that includes reading for accuracy, for comprehension, and for fluency. Consider whether you can accomplish this without round-robin reading.

36. Let’s Plan . . .

37. Back in School Apply concepts from today’s work to plan needs-based instruction that includes both individual word reading and decodable text reading or reading for accuracy, comprehension, and rate Test your plan for three days Consider strategies to share what you learned with the rest of your instructional team; be prepared to share at our next regional meeting.

38. References Carnine, D. W., Silbert, J., Kame’enui, E. J., Tarver, S. G., & Jungjohann, K. (2006). Teaching struggling and at-risk readers: A direct instruction approach. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Rosenshine, B. V. (1986). Synthesis of research on explicit teaching. Educational Leadership, 43(7), 60-69. Wolf, M., & Katzir-Cohen, T. (2001). Reading fluency and its intervention. Scientific Studies of Reading, 5, 211-239.