THought I”d posted this in the fluency thread but it was a quiet moment at work, and they’re often very temporary (which is a good thing :))
ONe thing that I do with painfully disfluent readers is teach phrasing — aha! I didn’t post it because it wasn’t there!
… pause while Sue uploads that folder to the new host for her site — any webmastresses out there, *dump* INterland now, Crystaltech.com is great :-)) —
http://www.resourceroom.net/beyond_decoding/phrasing_dec2001.asp (or go to www.resourceroom.net, click on “comprehension” and then scroll down to “understanding phrases”)
will tell you all about it.
THe other article about fluency on the comprehension page also has some excellent activities that work well with the kids that aren’t helped with our “regular” recipes (the ones that the folks who find THE ANSWER generally have never met :))
Thanks Sue! I’ll check it out. Interestingly enough, I did see a tiny bit of improvement with repeated readings. The RAN test I wanted to give had an advisement not to give it to those with fluency issues (okay…) but I did ask him to i.d. letters quickly (26 letters—17 seconds) and sounds (to give one sound for each of the letters—57 seconds, with much confusion over letter name/sound, though all sounds were correct). I don’t know if it was the confusion of the task, but he’s not as automatic as he should be here. Also gave the LAC test; he got a 68 (just below the minimum 71 for his grade). Previously, he scored at 84th percentile for word attack (nonsense words, fairly fluently!), read 75% of names on the Names test correctly (less fluent). He can id words in lists with ease up until the 4th-grade level (he’s in 2nd), and had little trouble manipulating sounds in words. Adding the task of comprehending text along with id’ing words definitely seems to slow him down. This is in text at his high instructional-independent level (for word id). Listening comp is weak, too, as is vocab. and self-monitoring. Lots to teach him!