Great leaps and Reading rate - what's appropriate goal

He should be reading 80 or more wpm. In Great Leaps they are supposed to read the page in 60 seconds or less. I have two students who are so severe they can spend WEEKS on a single page of phonics or phrases and NOT achieve this. So, I set the rate somewhere more reasonable and tell them we are going for accuracy over speed.

I’ve been pleasently surprised with his work so far. He’s reguarly in the hi-50 to 70 wpm with good accuracy. (He even hit 103 one day!) I’m sure he doesn’t read this quickly on a regular basis - knowing he’s trying to beat the timer is a big incentive. But I am hopeful that it will improve his fluency over time. Thanks!

Please keep us informed on his progress!

I’m very interested since my son also has fluency problems.
Best of luck to you!!! :-)

You are welcome. It sounds like he is progressing well.

Some of the fluency research indicates optimum gains when the passages are read 4-6 times. In using Great Leaps with students, I begin their work at different points in the passages but start all at the beginning of phrases section. Not sure what Ken Campbell would have to say about this, it’s just what I do.

I have had some wonderful success in using Great Leaps with slow visual processors. Some students enjoy reading the poems, etc. for dramatic flair and we do some as a small-group Reader’s Theater kind of thing; sometimes in two voices if I can make the piece fit.

Thanks for the tips. I am very hopeful this will work for him!

That’s pretty good advice. The phrases piece is the part of which I am most proud - except perhaps some of the sillier poems. For years those of us in precision teaching have tried to have what we called “sight words” generalize. Our speed tactics didn’t work. It appeared even though the child knew the word in isolation - when reading time came - the high error rates maintained.

By having these words mixed in phrases - with requirements getting progressively difficult and even configuratively confusing (how’s that for alliteration??) students who completed the word greatly lowered their error rates with these words. Others across the country have achieved the same results - though (unfortunately for business) there have been no formal studies of which I am aware.

If I conducted such a study - would my personal interest bias my work?? If not in reality, certainly in the minds of many readers.

I’ll be training at East Carolina in August. I’ll be at Illinois’ Branch IDA in October. I’ll be at NY’s Branch IDA in the spring. Mostly, I’ll be at home working at Advanced Fluency Building and putting the finishing touches on a complimentary writing program. I’ll be enjoying my two boys and my young one-year old granddaughter who recently had neuro-surgery and has healed wonderfully - thanks in part to the prayers and good wishes of the education community across the country.

Ken Campbell

Susan,

Very interesting….I use phrases first, too. My reasoning is, if the child has decoding problems we need to get that straightened out first, and I use other things for that. I prefer using words (phrases and stories) over phonemes for fluency practice.

I do like Great Leaps, though, Ken, and find it very easy to use and very motivating for the children.

Janis

Ken - I just wanted to give you direct feedback. Its too soon to tell what the impact will be for my son, but so far so good! he is enjoying it, and what the program has revealed to me about his reading is very interesting and helpful!

Last night he hit 110 wpm reading a story he has read maybe 6 times before. It only took a few days, but after his intial timing he wanted to practice a few times which I understand is allowed.( His error rate is 0-1 from the beginning, he just had to increase his speed .) Am I right? Does it sound like we are using the materials correctly? When you are working with a student do you ever skip stories, or do you just proceed page by page? Do you do anything to help children carry over the skills they develop while using Great Leaps to their every day reading? I ask that question b/c my son is an anxious reader, and has performed much better with Great Leaps than I expected .

Karen,

I do the pages in order in Great Leaps. It sounds like your son is motivated by the program and is doing quite well!

The best thing you can have him do is read other things of his choice to you everyday (untimed, of course). Hopefully the success with GL will carry over into his other reading. That’s why I’d have him read other things aloud as well.

Janis

What I like about the phrases are the attention that the child must give to those high frequency words my students are prone to confusing: of, for, from and others.

Hi Ken—

I’ve been considering a fluency study—but always have trouble assigning kids to a control group when I know they need treatment! I haven’t done a thorough lit search yet, but hope to do this in the fall. Then perhaps…

I do have some anecdotal evidence with 6th grade students: Students with LD in my classes who received repeated readings fluency intervention (n=34) grew in their grade-level reading ability at twice the rate as those that received only word recognition and comprehension interventions (n=21). This data appeared because I didn’t have help some hours from a paraprofessional or parent volunteer to do fluency intervention. This which created an accidental control group.

Personally, I don’t think it would be biased for you to plan a study and have others implement it. I think middle-school age would be a great place to do it since lots of kids have 3rd and 4th grade reading levels but read too slowly.

How did you decide what to chunk for phrases? (How many words/types of phrases)

Susan LongKen wrote:
>
> That’s pretty good advice. The phrases piece is the part of
> which I am most proud - except perhaps some of the sillier
> poems. For years those of us in precision teaching have
> tried to have what we called “sight words” generalize. Our
> speed tactics didn’t work. It appeared even though the child
> knew the word in isolation - when reading time came - the
> high error rates maintained.
>
> By having these words mixed in phrases - with requirements
> getting progressively difficult and even configuratively
> confusing (how’s that for alliteration??) students who
> completed the word greatly lowered their error rates with
> these words. Others across the country have achieved the
> same results - though (unfortunately for business) there have
> been no formal studies of which I am aware.
>
> If I conducted such a study - would my personal interest bias
> my work?? If not in reality, certainly in the minds of many
> readers.
>
> I’ll be training at East Carolina in August. I’ll be at
> Illinois’ Branch IDA in October. I’ll be at NY’s Branch IDA
> in the spring. Mostly, I’ll be at home working at Advanced
> Fluency Building and putting the finishing touches on a
> complimentary writing program. I’ll be enjoying my two boys
> and my young one-year old granddaughter who recently had
> neuro-surgery and has healed wonderfully - thanks in part to
> the prayers and good wishes of the education community across
> the country.
>
> Ken Campbell

No offense, Ken, but I don’t use the phonics part. I use decodable text with most of the kids and the Great Leaps scope and sequence on the phonics section doesn’t match mine.

I do use, though, both stories and phrases.

I went to your website, but I did not see any samples of the reading program. I am very interested in this program, but hate to buy something sight unseen. Thanks,
Jan P.

P.S. My dd has auditory and visual processing disorders. She has very slow rapid naming skills. She also skips small words such as of, a, on. She also has problem with sciatic skills — she jumps back in her reading from left to right.

I do skip stories with children. Some boys don’t wish to read some stories about girls and vice versa. Some things are such tongue twisters to some children that they get very frustrated.

I let the individual student be my guide.

I’m not sure that research evidences positive affect for more than 6-7 trials on repeated readings (Reference: National Reading Panel—can get page/section if desired. This is just off-the-cuff.) I usually move on after about a week unless the child is close and enjoying the competition with him/herself. Ken?

Anitya and Susan,

As I sat here and reread some of these posts, I realize that I am speaking of using the GL 3-5 gr. books. Have either of you used the K-2?

Janis

Ken –

I have been teaching for 4+ years (special education - LD/EBD)— absolutely love great leaps! I learned about through my college professor — Adory Buetel. Anyways, it’s definately a piece to the puzzle when working with reading fluency. I use Lindamood first and then use Great Leaps as a working an transfering. Kids can’t get enough of it. This past year, small groups used this in the 3rd grade as a supplement. The general ed teacher was impressed. Thanks for a great program. Tell me more about the writing program you are working on when you get a chance.

Thanks again!

Angela

Yes, call or e-mail me (numbers from the website - send e-mail at contact us), I’ll send articles and samples. My job in creating the program was to simplify extant research so lay people could help their children w/o mortgaging their homes - so that large amounts of children could get remediated in a nation not intent on helping those behind. Ken

Susan,
The Great Leaps Phonics piece is simple, designed so someone with limited background in teaching and phonics can teach a child just enough to make a logical guess based on contextual clues in a given passage. Most special educators are well-trained in more sophisticated approaches. The Orton-Gillingham people have long used only Parts 2 and 3 of Great Leaps as a supplement to their work.

Earlier someone said decoding had to be a high rates before reading phrases or passages could begin. With non-reading older children I strongly urge a coordinated approach. The behavioral consequences of not reading are too deleterious to motivation (among other things) to not try to move them as fast as humanly possible. Many working sophisticated interventions with dyslexics go to phrases and simple stories when phonemic awareness is reached.

Ken

Ken,

Is the K-2 version set up like 3-5? I have used 3-5 and am just wondering about the actual content of K-2.

Thanks,
Janis

I have a great admiration for all you who care about our children and have found ways to help them. I will certainly be in touch.

Blessings,
Jan P.

According to DIBELS Benchmark Levels for Oral Reading Fluency:
40 or more Words Read Correctly/ Minute by Spring of First Grade.
50 Words Read Correctly in Fall of 2nd Grade.
70 Words Read Correctly in Winter of 2nd.
90 Words Read Correctly in Spring of 2nd.
110 Words Read Correctly by Spring of 3rd Grade.