Seminar 6 Post, Fluency and Comprehension- Kendall Philip

Reading comprehension and reading fluency go hand in hand in literacy development. The ultimate goal is to provide students with opportunities to develop as a proficient reader, who understands what they are reading too. According to the Rasinski (2006) article, oftentimes teachers focus on developing fluency more than comprehension, which results in “faster reading with little improvement on comprehension.” There needs to be a balance in teaching and learning how to read. Approaches which are used to assess fluency in my classroom are short paragraphs. Depending on students’ reading level, they will take home a paragraph for the week. They are directed to read this paragraph three times each night, as a way to develop their reading fluency. Students were all tested, using the DRA, as a way to assess their reading level, including reading fluency and reading comprehension. Due to the MEAP schedule, I have not seen fluency exclusively being taught in the classroom yet. Beginning this week, my CT is going to get all of the guided reading groups started. I will then observe the ways in which she teaches fluency to students, depending on their reading level. In order to fully understand my students’ reading development, I think I need to participate in more one on one conferencing, as well as observe some reading groups. In order to truly understand each of my students’ development as a reader, I need to take the time to do activities which promote and teach comprehension skills. Fluency can be increased through practice and reading strategies, such as decoding words and developing sight words through vocabulary practice. In the upcoming weeks, I plan to get to know my students even more as readers by sitting down with reading groups and leading some one on one conferencing; conferencing is a great opportunity to hear students read and then ask questions about what was read on an individual basis.