Elfrieda H. HiebertUniversity of California,

Berkeley

Readingto DevelopConceptsand Fluency

Beginning of Grade 2: Average Speed

(Natl. 25th Percentile)

• 23 (correct) words per minute:

The SunLook at the big, yellow sun, said Sis. I

like

Goal for end of Grade 2:50th Percentile (Natl. Sample)

• 95-100 (correct) words per minute:

The SunLook at the big, yellow sun, said Sis. I like to play in

the sun. I like to run in the sun. No, said Jan, I donot like to play in the sun. I do not like to run inthe sun.

Fluency & Vocabulary and EnglishLanguage Learners

• The fluency that underlies proficientcomprehension is a problem for manychildren, particularly for English LanguageLearners

• Evidence is substantial that fluency canbe facilitated, while at the same timesupporting development of concepts.

• Instruction that supports fluency andconcepts has three features: time, texts,and techniques.

Fluency & Vocabulary and EnglishLanguage Learners

• The fluency that underlies proficientcomprehension is a problem for manychildren, especially English LanguageLearners.

Fourth graders’ reading(NAEP, 2002)

Advanced Proficient Basic Below Basic

Nation California

Study of Children’s Oral Reading(NAEP, 1995)

0255075

100125150175

Level 1(7%)

Level 2(37%)

Level 3(42%)

Level 4(13%)

Words per Min. No. Deviations

• Evidence is substantial that fluency canbe facilitated, while at the same timesupporting development of concepts.– 3 sources of evidence:

• National Reading Panel• Hiebert & Fisher review of texts in NRP meta-analysis• Research on fluency/comprehension of first and

second graders

1. National Reading Panel

• Repeated and guided oral reading havea positive effect on reading accuracy,fluency, and comprehension.

• Children who do not develop readingfluency, no matter how bright they are willcontinue to read slowly and with greateffort.

2. Hiebert & Fisher’s (2002) Review ofTexts in NRP Meta-Analysis

• Effects for accuracy and fluency came fromstudies where 1,000 most-frequent wordsaccounted for 70+% of unique words in texts andrare, multisyllabic, single-appearing wordsaccounted for 10% or less of unique words

• Studies that used literature (60% or fewer wordsamong 1,000 most-frequent and 20+% rare,multisyllabic, and single-appearing uniquewords) did NOT show positive effects foraccuracy or fluency

3. TExT Project Research on Fluency(Speed & Accuracy) &

Comprehension with Accessible Texts

• First-Grade Study

• Program of Research on Grade Two

Single-Criterion A

Pets in a TankKate and Jake spot

a big tank. Kateand Jake thinkthey will get a pet.

Kate dunks a net inthe lake. Plunk!Plunk! Frogs hopaway.

Gram's TripGram packed a big

trunk so she couldtake a long planetrip.

This is Gram in a hotplace with lotsand lots of sand.

Single-Criterion B

JAN AND JACKJan packed Jack's

snack.Jan put his snack in

a jug.Jan tossed the jug in

Jack's backpack.Jan jogged up hills.

BRAD'S RAMBrad is a trim man.Brad's trim hat fits

him.Brad has a fat ram.Brad's ram spinsAnd nabs his hat.

Texts are shown by permission of NEARStar/PREL; For information onparticipation in web-based research project—of which texts arepart—during 2003-4 school year, see www.nearstar.org

Multiple-Criterion Text

Texts are shown by permission of NEARStar/PREL; For information onparticipation in web-based research project—of which texts arepart—during 2003-4 school year, see www.nearstar.org

0

1

2

3

4

WCPM Gain per Week

3a. First-Grade StudyWeekly Growth For First Graders (1.5 hours per week):

Words Correct Per Minute

Multiple-Criterion withRepeated/

GuidedReading

Single-Criterion B with

Repeated/GuidedReadingSingle-

Criterion Awithout

Repeated/GuidedReading

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Gr. 1 Gr. 2 Gr. 3 Gr. 4 Gr. 5

Natl Norms:25 Natl Norms: 50P Closing Gap

3b. Second-Grade Line of Research

Goals for Interventions: WCPM

0

0.4

0.8

1.2

1.6

2

Grade 2

Typical Weekly Growth Ambitious Growth

Excerpt from Basal Literature-Based Text

The Mysterious TadpoleUncle McAllister lived in Scotland.

Every year he sent Louis a birthday giftfor his nature collection. “This is the bestone yet!” cried Louis. The next day hetook his entire collection to school forshow-and-tell. “Class, this is a tadpole, “said Mrs. Shelbert. She asked Louis tobring it back often so they could allwatch it become a frog. (Kellogg, 1987)

orange words = hard words for second-graders (multisyllabic and/or rare)

Content Area/”Structured” Text(from QuickReads, 2003)

0

1

2

3

4

WCPM Gain per week

Program of Research on Grade Two:Weekly Growth For 2nd Graders: WCPM

Study 1 Study 2 Study 3

Structured Text

Litera-ture

Statusquo

Structured Text

Misc. Short“Content”

Texts

Statusquo

Litera-ture

Structured Text

WCPM: English Language Learners &Native English Speakers (Study 3)

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

StructuredTexts: NES

ContentTexts: NES

StructuredTexts: ELL

ContentTexts: ELL

Instruction that supports fluencyand concepts has three features:

• time,• texts, and• techniques.

1. Time

•Typical amount in reading/language arts: –Gr. 1 9,908 (anthology + decodables)–Gr. 2 23,000 (anthology + decodables)–Gr. 3 37,449 (anthology)–Current Total (Grs. 1-3) in HM Nation’s

Choice: 70, 357 words (approximately130 words a day)

1. Time

•New Goal:-Tripling the amount of reading as part of

reading/language arts: 250,000 words overgrades 1-3 or approximately 500 words of a “newbatch” of text daily from mid-Gr 2 to end of Gr. 3

-In addition: If some texts are repeatedlyread, 250,000 words become substantially more.

2. Text: At what do students needto become fluent?

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Entire Word Corpus

1354731388829801676620310

21

34

5

5586 most-frequent words =2741 semantic roots

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Semantic Families

75000*68001233840397271

21

34

5

Texts for Fluency

• Accessible Texts: Texts whereapproximately 2 words per 100 are“hard”—i.e., have a frequency beyondthe 1,000 most-frequent words and havephonics or syllabic patterns that are notcommon or consistent.

• Difficult text for fluency (use for otherpurposes): Texts that have more than 4hard words per 100.

Difficult Texts:For Uses Other than Fluency

Officer Buckle and GloriaOfficer Buckle knew moresafety tips than anyone else inNapville. Every time hethought of a new one, hethumbtacked it to his bulletinboard Safety Tip #77 NEVERstand on a SWIVEL CHAIR.Officer Buckle shared his safetytips with the students atNapville School. Nobody everlistened. Sometimes there wassnoring. Afterward it wasbusiness as usual.

Julius Maya's granddaddy livedin Alabama, but winteredin Alaska. He told Mayathat was the reason heliked ice cubes in hiscoffee.On one of Granddaddy'svisits from Alaska, hebrought a crate. A surprisefor Maya! "Something thatwill teach you fun andsharing." Granddaddysmiled.

Examples of Accessible TextScience

HOW BIRDS GROWAND CHANGE

Birds lay eggs. First, amother bird lays her eggsin a nest. Next, the motheror father sits on the eggs tokeep them warm.A chick grows inside eachegg until it gets too big forit. Then the chick breaksthe eggshell and hatches.As the chicks grow andchange, they get newfeathers. They will grow upto look like their parents.

DecodablesWATCH OUT FOR

THICK MUDThings were slow that dayat Rain Forest 911. Mitchand Beth were not doingmuch of anything. Justthen, a call came in. Richpicked up the line. "This isRain Forest 911. Who is it?Do you need help?" Richasked. "This is Josh. Sashaneeds help.

Summary of Available, AcessibleText

TimePeriod

Houghton MifflinDecodable

Harcourt Science

1 (1st

Trimester:12 weeks)

13.33selections@216(2, 879)

94 pages,each with 70words(6,580 words)

2 (2nd

Trimester:12 weeks)

13.33selections@255(3,399words)

94 pages,each with 70words(6,580 words)

3 (3rd

Trimester:12 weeks)

13.33selections@239(3, 186words)

94 pages,each with 70words(6,580 words)

Averageavailabletext perweek

1 selectionper week:

275wordsperweek

approximately8 pages perweek

550wordsper week

Other Sources for Fluency:(Some) Leveled Books

DIVE IN! (ModernCurriculum Press’sReady Readers)

Rosa slid down the hill."Come on, Mike," she

said. "Slide!"Mike did not slide. He

did not want to slide."You slide," he said.” Iwill sit here andwatch."

So Rosa slid down thehill. And Mike sat.

AND I MEAN IT, STANLEY(I-can-read)

Listen, Stanley. I knowyou are there. I knowyou are in back of thefence.

But I don’t care, Stanley.I don’t want to playwith you. I don’t wantto talk to you.

You stay there, Stanley.Stay in back of thefence. I don’t care.

All effective repeated reading procedures have two features in

common: (1) they provide students with many opportunities to

practice reading, and (2) they provide students with guidance

in how fluent readers read and with feedback to help them

become aware of and correct their mistakes.

Techniques for Fluency

Repeated and Guided Reading

Teacher-student assisted reading. In a typical assisted readingintervention, the teacher provides the model of fluent reading.The teacher reads the text, as the students follow along. Thenthe students read the same text. The student re-reads thepassage until the reading is fluent. This usually takes three orfour re-readings.

Partner (or buddy) reading. In paired reading, students taketurns reading aloud to each other. In a typical informal partner-reading procedure, students who are better readers are pairedwith students who are less able readers. After a choral readingin which the teacher reads along with students, pairs ofstudents take turns reading a passage from the story to eachother.From: Osborn, J., & Lehr, F. with Hiebert, E.H. (2003). A Focus on Fluency.Honolulu, HI: Pacific Resources for Education & Learning. Copies can berequested (free of charge) by writing: askprel.org or by downloading thedocument at: www.prel.org/programs/rel/rel.asp

Second-Grade Fluency/ConceptCurriculum

HISTORYChildren’s GamesTransportation Thenand NowLife in ColonialAmerica

GEOGRAPHY/ECONOMICSMapsMoneyJobs Around Us

CIVICSNational SymbolsBeing a CitizenBrave Americans

PHYSICAL SCIENCEMagnetsForces Around UsThinking Like aScientist

EARTH SCIENCEWeatherWater and UsRocks

LIFE SCIENCEDo Animals Talk?InsectsTrees

Fluency & Vocabulary and EnglishLanguage Learners

• The fluency that underlies proficientcomprehension is a problem for many children,particularly for English Language Learners

• Evidence is substantial that fluency can befacilitated, while at the same time supportingdevelopment of concepts.

• Instruction that supports fluency and conceptshas three features: time, texts, and techniques.

www.textproject.org

Papers fromprogram of

research areposted at: