Foundational Literacy Skills and Phonics - Fluency Strategies

Fluency Strategies Case Scenario #1: Mary The academic goal for Mary is for her to be able to both accurately and easily decode multi-syllable words. Like many of her classmates, she is struggling with the decoding of multisyllable words. In order to help Mary, reach her academic goal she should be given lessons and taught strategies on decoding. Wilsneach (2019), explains that typically, decoding teaches students to rely on their own knowledge of letter-sound relationships and letter patterns to correctly pronounce words in text. Once students can understand those relationships, they gain the ability to recognize familiar words quickly and can even figure out words they have never seen before. This strategy will be beneficial to Mary because through decoding, she will learn to use context cues, phonetic clues, and other methods to help her identify words that may be hard for her to identify. There are numerous decoding lessons that could help Mary to better decode and read multi syllable words. An example would be magnetic and manipulative letters which can be used to help her learn sound- letter relationships. Writing assignments or activities that require students to apply their prior phonetic knowledge can also be beneficial (Wilson Reading System, 2007). Another decoding lesson that could also help Mary is sorting words according to their pattern. For Mary, decoding lessons should be implemented two to three times a week for 15-20 minutes. Assessments that monitor her progress should be used to determine how long to implement the lessons. Case Scenario #2: Emma The academic goal for Emma is for her to read passages fluently at the fifth-grade level. Like her peer Daniel, Emma is a capable reader who has the skills that she needs in order to reach her academic goal, but she struggles with confidence. A combination of repeated and choral reading may be the best strategies to help Emma reach the desired fluency level. Choral reading will help provide extra support to students who are normally self-conscious when reading aloud alone (Wilson Reading System, 2007). Capin (2019), explains that repeated reading requires the repetitive reading of passages which helps to build fluency and For Emma, the choral reading strategy would be best implemented during whole group instruction. While reading along with the teacher and her classmates, Emma will begin to feel less insecure. Additionally, if Emma does not read aloud with the class, choral reading will still provide a model for fluent reading as she listens (Journal for Learning Disabilities, 2019). Implementing choral reading for Emma should begin with passages or books that are reading level appropriate and increase as her level increases. I have faith that repeated reading will work best for Emma in a small group setting because paired reading can be the focus amongst Emma and her classmates. This will be a time where Emma and her group members can take turns reading to one another and assisting each other as they go along. Both strategies can be implemented about twice a week for around 20 minutes. Weekly assessments can be administered to monitor student progress to determine the length of how long to implement the strategies and based upon the results, implementation of each strategy can be modified accordingly. Case Scenario #3: Daniel The academic goal for Daniel is to have him fluently read passages at the fourth-grade level. Daniel is a very capable reader but has issues with expression and fluency. In order to help Daniel, reach his academic goal, it is important to help model how he should be reading. Choral reading can be used to help Daniel. Choral reading is when the teacher reads aloud with the students, during either small group or whole class instruction, in unison (Wilson Reading System, 2007). This strategy will work best for Daniel because he thrives on structure. Before reading with the class, Daniel’s teacher can read first and model the way that she wants the class to read, and Daniel will have a better understanding of what is expected of him. Choral reading can be implemented during either small or whole group instruction, but the teacher should first read the passage as she wishes the class to read it while having the class follow along. When modeling how to read the passage, the teacher should be mindful to explain to the class when and why their voice or their expression changes. For instance, when reading, bold words, words in quotations or sentences that end in exclamation points (Journal for Learning Disabilities, 2019). By modeling the way stories should be read, Daniel will begin to learn how to read with the right expression and fluency. For this strategy, short passages of no more than 200 words read about 35 times would be sufficient. Daniel should partake in choral reading about twice a week for 15 minutes. Assessments can continue to be used in order to monitor Daniel’s progress to either modify or continue instruction.