Rev. 01/15/2010
Reading Fluency 16A-R and 18A-R
Intervention Name: REPEATED READING (Fluency Intervention)
LISTENING PASSAGE PREVIEW (Word Acquisition and Fluency)
Recommended Levels: Elementary through High School
Purpose: To improve reading fluency as a bridge between word identification and comprehension. The “Repeated Reading” strategy is used with students evidencing adequate grade level word identification skills, but who have a weakness in reading fluency. Administration involves having a student read and re-read an instructional level passage multiple times until an appropriate level of fluency is achieved.
When a student is also having difficulty reading known words in text (i.e., can read words when provided in isolation, such as on flashcards, but does not read the same word within the context of a sentence), the interventionist may read the passage to the student first. This “Listening Passage Preview” strategy provides the student with a model of accurate reading fluency in a format that stresses correct word identification and pronunciation. See Modifications Section.
Preparation: Identify the student’s general reading grade level based on teacher observation, as well as other group or individual assessments.
o Have assessment reading materials (i.e., Dibels passages) for the student’s grade placement level. If student’s reading level is 2 or more years below grade placement, you will want to have assessment materials at the lower reading level, in addition those at the grade placement level.
o Have intervention materials for the student’s skill level. Have intervention materials for one level above and below the student’s expected performance level in order to be prepared to drop back or skip ahead should student perform differently than expected.
Materials:
· Reading passages: (for assessments and interventions) at a variety of levels ranging from just below to just above the students current anticipated reading fluency level; note: include passages at the student’s current grade placement level regardless of reading level. The passages read by the student are not consumable and should be on individual sheets for student’s use during assessments and intervention sessions.
· Consumables: reduced-printed copies of the reading passages for scoring student’s reading trials and progress monitoring assessment results.
· Stopwatch
· Colored pencils
· Graph to record student progress
· Intervention Documentation Log: to document intervention sessions (time, date, general comments about student response to intervention, etc.), as well as actual assessments results.
Here’s How To Do It
Assessments:
1) Baseline - First Session
It is important to obtain a baseline of student’s reading fluency before starting the intervention.
Instructions for obtaining baseline assessment:
Obtain a reading fluency baseline assessment at the student’s current grade placement.
Hand the student the appropriate reading passage and say: I want to hear you read. Start here (point to first paragraph) and read the very best you can until I tell you to stop. As the student reads, bracket the last word read after each one-minute block. Try to obtain 3 one-minute blocks of reading. When the student has finished the passage or it is judged he/she can stop reading, say to the student “Okay. Thank you. You can stop”.
If you feel the student’s grade level passage is too frustrating for the student, obtain a baseline for reading fluency at the student’s anticipated skill level, also. This means that in some circumstances you will have two different baseline assessments.
For baseline assessments, allow the student to read without interruption or correction. If the student hesitates over a word for more than 3 seconds, simply direct him/her to “Go on”.
As the student reads, score the assessment as described in the “Scoring Procedures” section.
2) Progress Monitoring – Weekly or Bi-Weekly
Once an intervention is implemented, weekly or bi-weekly progress monitoring assessments should be conducted in order to determine the impact of the intervention.
Obtain a weekly or bi-weekly reading fluency assessment at the student’s current grade placement. If your daily intervention is below grade level placement do your weekly or bi-weekly fluency assessment at that level also.
B. Beginning the Intervention
STEP 1: Sit with the student in a quiet location. Except for the student’s copy of the reading passage, the table area between you and the student is to be clear of materials. Position yourself across from or at a right-angle to the student; this will allow you to have the scoring sheet in your lap without the student seeing what you write.
Pointing to the title say: “The title of this story is ______.”
STEP 2: Say to the student:
“Please read this out loud starting at the first paragraph (point). Read across the page (Demonstrate by pointing). Try to read each word. If you get stuck, I will tell you the word so you can keep reading. I may ask you to tell me about what you read, so do your best reading. Do you have any questions?”
When you know the student understands what to do, say “Ready? Begin”.
The one-minute timing starts when the student reads the first word.
If a student hesitates on a word for more than three-seconds, makes a substitution, or mispronounces the word, the correct word/pronunciation is provided to the student. Do not correct omissions.
Circle Omissions.
Slash Words verbalized incorrectly (including hesitations).
All words verbalized incorrectly by the student are to be immediately corrected by the interventionist; do not correct omissions.
After one minute, place a bracket around the last word read. The student can continue reading until the end of the story. Using the same color marker bracket each completed one minute block. Do not bracket sections of less than 1minute, i.e., when the last section of the story is reached in less than 1minute. At the end of the story, simply say to the student “Thank you. You may stop.”
Occasionally, you can say to the student “Please tell me all about what you just read. Try to tell me everything you can.” If the student pauses for more than 3 seconds, encourage them to tell more. You may also prompt the student by asking specific questions. At this point, you can choose to either accept the student’s response or to briefly discuss the passage before continuing with the next reading intervention.
STEP 3: After each reading trial, make a general calculation as to whether or not the student is reading at the target level. This does not have to be exact; you only need to know generally what progress the student is making.
If the recommended standard has not been obtained, have the student re-read the passage by following Step 2, (shorten the directions as appropriate). Mark the Scoring Passage with a new color each time the passage is read by the student.
STEP 4: When the reader has read and reread the passage a total of six times or has attained a specified level of competency, a new passage is introduced. At this point, the judgment of the interventionist is important and modifications may be needed.
Modifications:
If the student appears to be getting frustrated by reading the same passage over and over, find a way to make it more interesting. Similarly, if the student’s expression is poor or the student misses words in text that he or she actually knows in isolation (e.g., with flashcards), modifications may be needed.
Modifications may include:
Listening Passage Preview (or Pre-reading Passage):
The interventionist reads aloud to the student short segments of the
passage before the student reads the passage. Read each word slowly
using expression, paying attention to punctuation and word pronunciation.
Modeling: At any time during an intervention, the interventionist may
model good oral reading and then have student read the same passage
several times, striving for improvement each time.
Choral Reading: Reading aloud together.
Easier Passage: proceed to an easier passage to reduce frustration.
Extend the Re-reading of a Passage Over Two Sessions:
If student is getting frustrated over reading a passage, it is okay to change passages even if it has not been repeated 6 times. You can re-read a passage during the next intervention session; this will allow you to see if there is any carryover from the previous session.
Interventionist Reads: Sometimes, to maintain interest, the interventionist may read part of a passage or book to the student, stopping frequently to have the student read the next part.
Advanced Organizing: Before reading, ask the student what he/she thinks the story may be about. Talk about the title or pictures. Identify the author, etc. Ask the student what questions he/she might have about the story, answers can be looked for as the story is read. Focus on the skills of anticipating and/or predicting certain information or events that might be presented; then read to find out.
This is sometimes referred to as K-W-L:
Knows - Prior to reading ask the student what he/she already knows about the subject or elements of the story/text.
Wants to Know - Prior to reading or during the reading of a story or text, discuss what the student wants to learn or know.
Learned - What did the student learn from the story or text.
Be sure to note modifications in your “Comment” section on the Documentation Log.
Try the same modification several times over several sessions before determining its effectiveness
Scoring Procedures:
For each assessment, the student is asked to read a new passage “cold”, i.e., without any exposure or “preview reading” by the interventionist. Do not correct errors during assessments. If a student hesitates, simply ask him/her to “Go on”.
MARKING and SCORING PASSAGES:
As the student reads, circle word omissions and slash mispronunciations. It is also helpful to mark other important reading behaviors, such as Insertions
(i.e., adding words – no error), Self-Corrections - must be made within 3 seconds to avoid error, and Hesitations - more than 3 second delay before saying word, counts as an error.
See separate page entitled Marking Fluency Protocols for a summary of colors and codes to use when marking reading passages.
For each of the one minute stopping points, calculate and record Total Words reached, calculate the Errors and Omissions. The total amount of Errors and Omissions will be subtracted from the Total Words reached. This will give you the Words Correct Per Minute (WCPM) i.e., the number of words actually read correctly during the each one minute period). Record all calculations/information on the scoring page of the story read.
Total Words Read (TWR)
- Errors and Omitted Words
Words Correct Per Minute (WCPM)
This level of detailed scoring may be helpful to understand if the student’s score is low because he/she is: 1) skipping words or lines, or 2) mispronouncing words attempted.
TARGET:
The recommended WCPM target criteria is Hasbrouck & Tindal’s grade level score for the 50th percentile for Fall, Winter, and Spring.
See separate sheet of competency target scores.
REPORTING:
· The student’s fluency score is to be reported along with the target performance level, i.e., the expected level of fluency based on the student’s grade placement or age-appropriate grade placement if retained.
· For intervention passages below a student’s grade level, have the student read close to the target performance level before advancing to a more difficult passage.
· If the student is reading well below the 25th percentile on target grade level, it may be helpful to drop back to an easier passage.
· NOTE: The overall Target skill level for the student would be the WCPM at the 50th percentile for the student’s age appropriate grade placement.
For final assessments score recorded on the Documentation Log: Use the median/middle score if multiple passages are used, or use the WCPM for the first one minute period of a single administered probe.
Record fluency results as a fraction, writing grade level in parentheses. Make note of the type of material read (e.g., Dibels) and the grade level norms being used.
Example: The student is now in 4th grade, but due to retention should be in 5th grade. The assessments were based on a Dibels passage given in the Fall of the school year. The intervention passages are 3rd grade level. Two different grade level passages were given for assessment since the student was two grade levels below the target grade level.
Dibels – Fall:
45 (5th) / 110 (5th)… This means, based on an assessment with a Dibels passage, using Fall norms, the student read 45 WCPM using a 5th grade level passage and is being compared to the target for a beginning 5th grader.
90 (3rd) / 110 (5th)… This means, based on Fall norms, the student read 90 WCPM on a 3rd grade passage compared to the target of 110 WCPM for a 5th grade student.
Intervention Documentation Log:
Using the Intervention/Assessment Log, record each intended intervention date and the number of minutes spent with the student actually doing the intervention. If no intervention was conducted, you must write the reason under “Comments”, e.g., student absent, no show, scheduling conflicts, etc. At the end of each week, conduct a re-assessment of the student’s fluency level as indicated in
Assessments section.