English Language Arts and Reading.8.3

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The student is expected to adjust fluency when reading grade-level text based on the reading purpose.

fluency and self-sustained reading TEKS talk image

Knowledge and Skills Statement

Developing and sustaining foundational language skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking--fluency. The student reads grade-level text with fluency and comprehension.

Have students choose texts that are of personal interest to them and are at their reading levels. Task students with reading the text aloud. The goal is for students to read fluently. Text complexity and length may differ based on students’ reading levels. For example, reader’s theater parts may be shorter or longer for different students. For informational text, a teacher may wish to assign simpler or more complex texts based on students’ reading abilities.

Further Explanation

For this assessment, students should be able to demonstrate fluency while reading a text. Students should read the text with appropriate speed, accuracy, and prosody. The speed with which students read should make the text easily understood by themselves and listeners. The decoding of words should be accurate enough that it does not impede comprehension. Prosody is important to properly convey the tone or message of a text. Students should not sound robotic. Fluency should be practiced with a variety of text types at the students’ reading levels.

Students should understand how and when to purposely adjust the elements of fluency depending on what information they need to draw from the text. For example, if students are scanning a page for a specific piece of information, they can read with a faster rate and less emphasis on decoding complex words than if they are reading new information and need to ensure they are connecting unfamiliar words with concepts to enhance comprehension.
Students should have the skills necessary to move through a text at a pace that matches the speed at which they can mentally process information. They should be able to connect words and the ideas they represent without significant interruption when they encounter new or complex information.
Students should have frequent and recurrent opportunities to read a wide variety of texts that are challenging but not overwhelming. The structure and content of the text should reflect the concepts students are expected to understand at their grade level. For example, eighth-grade students should be challenged but not overwhelmed when reading texts that include passive voice as a stylistic choice or references to Manifest Destiny because both appear in the curriculum for the grade level. However, texts with sentences that incorporate the frequent use of dashes or that include highly academic discussions of advanced concepts related to Manifest Destiny would likely not be appropriate for most eighth graders.

Research

1. Garan, E. M., & DeVoogd, G. (2008). The benefits of sustained silent reading: Scientific research and common sense converge. The Reading Teacher, 62(4), 336–344. doi:10.1598/RT.62.4.6

Summary: Garan and DeVoogd offer an overview of the benefits that sustained silent reading (SSR) brings to the classroom. The article includes a brief discussion related to the debate on the use of SSR and provides creative ideas for its full implementation in the classroom. Teachers learn how to use SSR as common practice.   

2. Kim, Y. S. (2015). Developmental, component-based model of reading fluency: An investigation of predictors of word-reading fluency, text reading fluency, and reading comprehension. Reading Research Quarterly, 50(4), 459–481. doi:10.1002/rrq.107

Summary: The primary goal of this study is to explain the difference between text reading fluency, word reading fluency, and reading comprehension. The study also explores the relationship between each construct. The study includes listening comprehension, emergent literacy predictors, and language and cognitive predictors. The study investigated the relationship and differences over time (longitudinal scale). The results of the study reveal how each construct interrelates to the development of text reading fluency, word read fluency, and reading comprehension.