Assessing Fluency

What is Fluency?

• "The ability to read text with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression." - National Reading Panel

Assessing Fluency

• The ability to read fluently is a huge part of the switch from learning to read, to reading to learn that students progress through.
• Therefore, it is important to assess developmentally appropriate fluency as accurately as possible.

Listening

• Listening- Simply listening to our students read aloud can provide insight to their level of reading fluency.
• Checklists can be used. (see example)

Reader's Theater

• Teachers can observe students while they perform a reader's theater piece.
• Checklists can also be created for this type of fluency assessment.

Reading Sticks

• Reading Sticks- When working with students individually or in a small group reading sticks can be used. Each reading stick has a different character or emotion in which the students will have to use to read a passage aloud. This gives the teacher insight to their reading expression, accuracy, and rate in a less stressful way.

Whisper Read Telephones

• These can be used as a self-assessment tool for students.
• Students can hear themselves read when using these. A self assessment checklist can be used for students to assess their own rate, expression, and accuracy.

DIBELS

• Dynamic Indicator of Basic Early Literacy Skills
• ORF- Oral Reading Fluency (Often followed by Retelling Fluency)
• This is a timed reading assessment. It provides insight about specific error patterns as well as a words per minute rating that is often used as a benchmark.
• See Example

DIBELS CONT.

• A good tip is marking errors and a student's place after the timer goes off and then allow them to continue to read the passage and mark these errors with a different color. This allows the student to continue reading the story, and takes some of the anxiety away from the assessment.

Checklists/Rubrics

• Peer review checklists, self-checks, and checklists or rubrics for teacher observations are an essential part of assessing fluency.
• See examples

In Conclusion...

• Fluency assessment can be stressful for students. It is important for them to feel comfortable with fluency assessment. Therefore, developmentally appropriate fluency should be expected from students.

Sources

• http://www.readingrockets.org/article/understanding-and-assessing-fluency
• http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/assessing-reading-and-reading-fl...
• http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1598/RT.58.8.1/abstract
• https://dibels.org/dibels.html
• https://www.pinterest.com/jenaheishman/fluency/
• https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Fluency-Checklist-800126