Synopses & Reviews
Reading fluency is far more than reading letters and symbols smoothly out loud, it is the bedrock of comprehension. Fluent readers combine all their literacy know-how about orthography, phrasing, intonation, and context to make meaning as they move through a text. But how can teachers help emerging readers become fluent ones?
In Fluency in Focus, you will find all the tools you need to create a strong, fluency-based foundation that supports comprehension in all children, including English language learners. Backed by a thorough summation of the latest research and theory, Prescott-Griffin and Witherell offer you a multitude of classroom-tested, well-organized minilessons that cement good fluency habits in your students. These easy-to-use lessons include:
- step-by-step teaching techniques
- forms, reproducibles, and diagnostic tools that support instruction
- tips, checklists, and rubrics for assessment
- lists of resources that support the lesson
- vignettes from classes where the lesson has been used
- ideas for teaching ESL/ELL students
- extensions and variations on the lesson for further exploration.
No other resource offers you a more comprehensive, practical, and professional approach to fluency instruction.
Synopsis
This book provides all the tools you need to create a strong, fluency-based foundation that supports comprehension in all children, including English language learners.
About the Author
Mary Lee Prescott-Griffin is the author or coauthor of the Heinemann books Writer to Writer (2007), Reader to Reader (2005), and Fluency in Focus (2004). She is an associate professor at Wheaton College, teaching language, literacy, and education foundations courses. Mary Lee began her career as an early childhood educator and has twenty-eight years of teaching experience as a reading specialist and teacher of preschool through sixth grade. In addition to her full-time undergraduate teaching, Mary Lee teaches graduate courses in early literacy in the U.S. and abroad for Wheelock College. She presents regularly at state and national literacy conferences and continues to work closely with teachers and children through consulting and research activities.A former classroom teacher, Nancy L. Witherell is a professor at Bridgewater State College in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate reading courses. She has presented at numerous state and national conferences and remains active in teaching children through numerous consultancies.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Section One: Theory and Explanation
Chapter 1: Fluent Reading
Chapter 2: Oral Reading
Chapter 3: Reading Rate
Chapter 4: Independent Reading
Chapter 5: Coaching for Fluency
Chapter 6: Assessing Fluency
Section Two: Collaborating Strategies
Chapter 7: Collaborative Reading
Chapter 8: Shared Reading
Chapter 9: Choral Reading
Chapter 10: Echo Reading
Section Three: Performance Strategies
Chapter 11: Fluency Flexors
Chapter 12: Radio Reading
Chapter 13: Getting into Character
Chapter 14: Reading Poetry
Chapter 15: Readers Theatre
Chapter 16: Performing a Play
Section Four: Practicing and Applying Skills and Strategies Independently
Chapter 17: Environmental Print
Chapter 18: Repeated Readings
Chapter 19: Attending to Text Signals
Chapter 20: Writing for Fluency
Chapter 21: Humorous Texts
Chapter 22: Series Books
Section Four Working with Words
Chapter 23: Sorting Words
Chapter 24: Chunking Words
Chapter 25: Chunking Phrases
Appendices
Bibliography of Children's Literature
References