Fluency in reading

Following an observation of a team member and the discussion around fluency and the view that the person seemed to have in relation to fluency eg that it was about reading faster. This lead on to was the student capable of doing this based on how they had read a supposedly familiar text?  In this case the answer was no the student was having issues recognising and decoding the words so the chances of him reading fluently were slim  Why was this?   Because "Reading fluency is composed of 3 main components: speed, accuracy, and prosody. Let’s take a look at each of these: Speed – Fluent readers read at an appropriate rate of speed for their age or grade level (usually measured in words per minute or wpm). They visually scan 3+ words ahead when reading aloud, and maintain smooth visual tracking line to line. Accuracy – Fluent readers have highly automatic word recognition, and the skills to sound out unfamiliar words; dysfluent readers make frequent mistakes, have poor word recognition, skip words, substitute similar-appearing words, and struggle with unfamiliar words. Prosody – Fluent readers use prosody (pitch, stress, and timing) to convey meaning when they read aloud; dysfluent readers typically use less expression, read word by word instead of in phrases or chunks, and fail to use intonation or pauses to “mark” punctuation (e.g. periods, commas, and question marks)". Reading Fluency What is it and Why is it Important? By Linda Balsiger, M.S., CCC-SLP  http://www.bendlanguageandlearning.com/Reading%20Fluency.pdf

This discussion also brought into focus the importance of knowing where your students are at, what they are capable, the challenges they are facing and with this the need for us to be able to prioroites when we are visting a child only once a week.  We need to have good communication with the class teacher so that we are on the same page as to what the priority needs of the student are.
What this meant in my feedback to the team member was that I felt they needed to look back at the reading they had done around fluency and think about what it meant in relation to the student they were working with. It also meant that I was suggesting to them that they need to look at what they are focusing on with the student eg 'th' being omitted  of words at the end and planning and teaching an activity when the child didn't have hearing aids on. But also where were the links between what he saw as the students needs and the student being able to practice these new skills to embed the learning.
What it meant for me was that I went back and double checked my own understanding around fluency and also the perspective of top down or bottom up approach for this student as the team member said he was using the bottom up approach with the student but I couldn't see evidence of this.
My readings on both approaches made me think in this students case he would benefit from an integrated approach especailly as the team member was only seeing him once a week
The where to from here: want to see evidence that the team member has gone back to the articles on fluency that he has read and reflected on how this would work with the particular student mentioned above.  Would like to see evidence of discussions with class teacher where an agreement is made about the priority needs of the student.

Further readings on fluency:
http://www.education.com/pdf/fluency-contributes-comprehension/

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar04/vol61/num06/Creating-Fluent-Readers.aspx

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/common-questions-about-fluency

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