Fluency and Reader’s TheaterKelly Garrick

LAE 6616

Try Reading this Aloud:• “Spinocerebellar ataxia type 31 (SCA31) is an adult-

onset autosomal-dominant neurodegenerative disorder showing progressive cerebellar ataxia mainly affecting Purkinje cells. The SCA31 critical region was tracked down to a 900 kb interval in chromosome 16q22.1, where the disease shows a strong founder effect. By performing comprehensive Southern blot analysis and BAC- and fosmid-based sequencing, we isolated two genetic changes segregating with SCA31. One was a single-nucleotide change in an intron of the thymidine kinase 2 gene (TK2). However, this did not appear to affect splicing or expression patterns” (Ishikawa & Toru, 2005).

How’d you do?

• Unless you are a medical professional, your answer is probably, “I struggled and I have no clue what I just read.”

• Now ask yourself this, if you read this same excerpt from the American Medical Association Journal again, do you think you might be able to read it a little more fluently.

• If you read it a third or fourth time you may not even have to focus so much on the decoding of unfamiliar words and instead focus on the meaning of the text.

Fluency is…

• Fluency is… the ability to read most words in context quickly and accurately with appropriate expression.

• Fluency is… critcal to reading comprehension. (Cunningham & Allington, 2011)

• Fluency is…comprised of three components; accuracy, rate, and prosody. (Deeney, 2010)

Accuracy

• Accuracy is the ability to read with freedom from word identification problems.

• If students read texts that are independent reading level appropriate, they will be able to read with more accuracy and fluency, consequently improving their comprehension (Cunningham & Allington, 2011).

Rate

• Reading rate includes both automaticity and speed of reading.

• Automaticity is a student’s ability to get words off the page effortlessly (Deeney, 2010).

• although having a good reading rate does not always ensure good comprehension, the two do generally go hand-in-hand.

• One-minute fluency measures often focus solely on reading rate and accuracy. This does not give a complete picture of a student’s reading fluency (Deeney, 2010).

Prosody

• Prosody refers to the readers’ ability to read smoothly and with appropriate expression. The reader has the ability to render a text with appropriate expression and phrasing to reflect the semantic and syntactic content of the passage (Deeney, 2010; Young & Rasinski, 2009).

• Research has shown that there is a relationship between the presence of fewer pausal interruptions during oral reading in younger grades and subsequent development of later fluency eventually leading to better comprehension (Miller & Schwanenflugel, 2008).

So what can we do to improve fluency in the classroom?

• Most common suggestions include:-repeated readings-easy, wide reading-modeling fluent, expressive reading-echo and choral reading

And my favorite…READER’S THEATER!(Cunningham & Allington, 2010; Deeney, 2010; Miller &

Schwanenflugel, 2008; Young & Rasinski, 2009)

Introducing…Reader’s Theater

• Reader’s Theater is a performance of a written script that demands repeated and assisted reading that is focused on delivering meaning to an audience (Rasinski & Young, 2009)

• By leveling scripts and allowing students to practice reading them throughout the week, teachers are providing practice in all four ways that were mentioned for improving fluency.

Research in support of RT:• Research has shown that repeated reading,

especially authentic in nature, can lead to an improvement in over reading fluency and comprehension (Rasinski & Young, 2009; Cunningham and Allington 2011).

• In a recent study conducted by Rasinski and Young (2009), the use of Reader’s theater was shown to assist students in doubling the normal gains for the school year.

• RT helps struggling readers gain confidence because they are not required to read the whole script by themsleves (Weisenbuger, 2009).

Research Cont.:• Using RT scripts in content area subjects can

offer extension and integration opportunities (Kinniburgh & Shaw, 2007).

• When students write and perform their own scripts, they not only improve their reading skills but also enhance their literary appreciation, thereby increasing their chances for developing a life-long love of reading (Poe, 2010)

• The results of a study conducted by Corcoran (2005) indicated that reader’s theater programs have a positive impact on reading attitudes and confidence level.

How Does Reader’s Theater Work?

Implementing Reader’s Theater into your classroom routine is quite simple and very rewarding. There are 4 steps to follow when getting started:

1. Assign ability groups (I always chose 4 groups)2. Gather your leveled reader’s theater scripts

(Can be downloaded from Reading A-Z)3. Post Instructions and review them often4. Gather costumes from yard sales, second hand

stores, even your own closet!

Day One Instructions:• Greet your group with a smile• Everyone pick up a script and read

it silently (DO NOT discuss parts yet)

• Once everyone is finished, choose your parts (I will assist if problems arise)

• Read your scripts aloud, practicing your part.

Day Two Instructions:

• Greet your group with a smile.• Pick up your script and read it

silently (reading ALL parts).• Practice your reader’s theater with

your group. Try to use more expression than yesterday.

• Discuss the kinds of costumes your characters should wear.

Day Three Instructions:

• Greet your group with a smile.• Pick up your script and read it

silently (reading ALL parts).• Once everyone is finished, work as

a group to choose costumes.• Do a dress rehearsal of your play.

Days Four and Five:

• These are the performance days. • Two groups perform on Thursday

and the other two perform on Friday.

• The two groups that are performing have 5 minutes to practice their scripts, without costumes, while the other two groups get ready to evaluate their performances.

Days Four and Five cont.:• Each group takes a turn getting

dressed up in costumes and performing for the class.

• While they do so, the rest of the class is evaluating their performance using the following rubric:

Pictures of Reader’s Theater in Action

ReferencesCassidy, J., Garrett S. D., & Valadez, C. M., (2010). Literacy trends and issues: A look at the five pillars and the cement

that supports them. The Reading Teacher, 63(8), 644-655

Corcoran, C. A., et. al., (2005). A study of the effects of readers' theater on second and third grade special education students' fluency growth. Reading Improvement, (42)2, 105-111.

Cunningham, C., & Allington, R. (2011). Classrooms That Work, They Call All Read and Write. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Deeney, T., (2010). one-minute fluency measures: mixed messages in assessment and instruction. The Reading Teacher, 63(6), 440-450.

Ishikawa, K., & Toru, S. (2005). An autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxia linked to chromosome 16q22.1. The American Journal of Human Genetics, 77. doi: 10.1086/432518

Kinniburgh, L., & Shaw, E., (2007). Building reading fluency in elementary science through readers’ theatre. Science Activities, (44)1, 16-22.

Miller, J., & Schwanflugel, P. J., (2008). A longitudinal study of the development of reading prosody as a dimension of oral reading fluency in early elementary school children. Reading Research Quarterly, 42(4), 336-354.

Poe, E., (2010). From children’s literature to readers theatre. American Libraries, (41)5, 28-31

Rasinski, T., & Young, C., (2009). Implementing readers theatre as an approach to classroom fluency instruction. The Reading Teacher, 63(1), 4-13.

Weisenburger, S., (2009). Using readers’ theater with multicultural literature. Education Digest, 74(5), 55-57.