Word Wizard

Name: _Chelsea Meyer_________________________________________________Date_9-17-14_____________

Chapter: 10 Fluency_______________________________________________________________________________
Your job: Find 5-8 new or important words in the reading. These should deal with the
topic you are reading about. Use context clues, the glossary (if available), the dictionary, or
the Internet to locate the meaning of the words. Write the page number/paragraph, word,
definition, and why you feel it is important to know in the boxes below.

Page/Par
259/5

Word
Fluency

Definition

Importance

Fluency is the ease or naturalness of

-It is important for students to

reading. It includes: grouping or

become fluent readers because it

phrasing of words as revealed through

increases interest in reading. In order

the intonation, stress, and pauses

to teach fluency, it is necessary that

exhibited by readers. It also includes

teachers understand the word

the adherence to authors syntax and

fluency and understand how to teach

the expressiveness of the oral reading-

fluency.

interjecting a sense of feeling,

anticipation, or characterization.
260/ 1

260/6

Rate

Rate is simply the speed that students

Rate allows teachers to measure

read. It is determined by the number

reading improvement, observe

of words read times 60 divided by the

possible frustrations, and determine

number of seconds to read. This

what needs to be done to improve a

calculates the words per minutes.

students speed.

Automaticity/

Automaticity is the ability to engage

Automaticity is a necessary word to

Accuracy

and coordinate a number of complex

learn because it is the goal for all

sub-skills and strategies with little

readers. A reading teachers goal is to

cognitive effort. It is basically a

ease the reading process for students

students ability to read a text with

and to make reading enjoyable.

ease.
262/6

Phrasing/

This is the recognition of phrases. This

It is important for students

Prosody

means that a student may recognize

phrasing/prosody to improve

phrases as opposed to reading each

because it aids in the reading process.

word individually. Improved prosody

If a student reads each word

greatly improves a readers fluency.

individually, then the comprehension

of the text will be lacking.

268/3

Informal

Assessment done through observation

It is important to know what informal

Assessment

and anecdotal notes. This can be easily

assessment are because they will be

done using checklists, running

used daily in the classroom. Informal

records, retrospective miscue analysis,

assessments can be a great way to

rubric, and informal commercial

drive instruction.

assessments.
269/3

Formal

Formal tests are norm-referenced,

It is important for teachers to know

Assessment

diagnostic tests. They are given to

that the term formal assessment

students who show signs of reading

only refers to official tests that are

difficulty. A few examples of

norm-referenced. Because of this,

diagnostic tests that measure fluency

informal assessment may be a

by calculating rate and/or accuracy

better/more feasible option for

are: Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test,

frequent classroom use.

Gray Oral Reading Tests, Gilmore Oral

Reading Test, The Durrel Analysis of
Reading Difficulty, Diagnostic Reading
Scales, Woodcock Reading Mastery
Test, Test of Reading Fluency, and
AIMS Stanford Reading Assessment
Passages (RAPs).

Summary
This chapter was about Fluency. Fluency is a readers ability to read quickly, efficiently, and with ease. Fluency is
something that readers will need to continue to work on as long as they are learning new words. It is important
for teachers to use informal assessments to determine a students fluency. There are many small groups
strategies that will improve students fluency. These strategies are: Speech Reading, Telling Jokes, SupportedReading Strategy, DYAD Reading, Repeated Readings, Poetry Party, Readers Theater, Choral Reading, and
Rhythm Walks.