Fluent readers read with accuracy, automaticity and prosody. It relates to comprehension because usually as readers deep comprehension comes with fluency. However, like mentioned in the articles fast readers do not always have high comprehension, they simply can decode and recognize sight words. It is important to ask readers comprehension questions as they are reading in order to make sure they are not just fast readers. Teachers should not focus simply on how fast students can read through material. So it is important to understand that fluency and comprehension lead to one another, it is a continuum. They are both of equal importance and can vary in value from grade level to grade level.
In my 4th grade classroom at Walled Lake Elementary we use Reader’s Workshop. We also assess students by using the DRA’s (Developmental Reading Assessment) that are issued in the beginning of the school year. Also, by looking at their scores from the previous school year help to see if maybe scores reflect whether or not students read at all over the summer time. It was amazing to see the difference in reading levels between students that said they read over the summer and those that admitted they didn’t read a single book.
Based on the assessment results, students are at various reading levels. Based on these reading levels, students are put into groups. After the MEAP is over next week I will actually have a group that I will meet with everyday during reader’s workshop and I really look forward to seeing their progress throughout the school year. Other ways to assess students on their fluency and comprehension is by conferencing with them in both readers and writers. Also keeping running records and visiting model classrooms once each semester. I have never heard of a model classroom but in our school there is a classroom which happens to be a 5th grade room and teachers sit in on a literacy lesson once each semester. I really look forward to doing this next month.
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