Let’s talk about adolescent fluency…

One aspect of adolescent reading that’s commonly skipped over is fluency. When teenagers aren’t scoring well on reading tasks, we jump the gun and assume it’s a comprehension issue. We resolve that by giving them a graphic organizer. If we have data that states a student is way behind, say 4 grade levels or more, we think, “oh, this is beyond my reach.” So the student will most likely be placed in an intervention course, where the one reading specialist for the building of 2,000 students will hunt for resources and find those that are written for primary students and try to make those work.  

It’s not fair to teachers and it’s not fair to students.

In between decoding and comprehension, lies fluency. It’s like the middle child; it’s constantly overlooked. 

But to understand fluency, you should know the elements of automaticity and prosody. 

Automaticity means reading words automatically. There’s no effort involved. It’s like someone throwing a baseball at your face. Your response should be automatic.

Automaticity comes from exposure and at some point, all words will be automatic. Think about your reading experience as an adult. If you’re reading a general news article or a beach novel, most likely 99% of those words do not trip you up or require you to sound them out. And that’s not because you were taught those words as sight words. It’s because of the repeated exposure to print that you’ve had over your life. 

Prosody has to do with how the reading sounds. Does it flow smoothly and sound like a natural conversation? Or, does it sound like a robot and there’s an unnatural pause between words?

Automaticity + Prosody = Fluency

And each component only gets better with practice. 

But there’s a few challenges in giving secondary students the practice they need.

1. Time in the schedule

Sorry, it has to happen. In no world will a reader get better if they are not actually reading. And, this has to happen aloud, at least in the beginning, otherwise, students will fake read. Let’s take a moment to remind ourselves of the purpose of education. If someone leaves high school not reading, what is the point? Basic reading has to take priority over everything else.

2. Books to read

High school and middle school students reading at a first through third grade level, should never have to read a book that was intended for an audience of 7-9 year olds. It’s humiliating and will definitely NOT instill a desire to read more. BUT, resources do exist. Check out Saddleback Publishing. Their HiLo books (high interest, low Lexile) are written specifically for teenagers and are marketed to them, as well. They look like chapter books, so if you were caught reading one, no one would ever guess it’s written at a 2nd grade level.

3. Knowing what fluency practice looks like at the secondary level 

Round-robin reading isn’t effective. Research has proven that. If I think back to my own experience, as someone who was deathly shy and afraid to speak aloud in class, even though I was a great reader, I’d count the paragraphs ahead to when it was my turn and practice in my head until the teacher got to me. I’m pretty sure this was the reader's experience for almost everyone in that situation. So don’t use the round-robin or cold-calling on students to read aloud, especially if you’re in a mixed ability class.

Here’s some strategies to use that are age appropriate for adolescents.

⭐ Choral reading ⭐

This supports struggling readers in a whole group setting by reading aloud in unison. 

Reading aloud together provides students with a low-stakes opportunity to practice reading aloud to improve prosody and fluency while supporting one another. The text should be short and at students’ independent reading level. 

Ideally the text should use familiar terms and vocabulary. Rhyming or structured repeated phrasing is also helpful. If you’re doing a poetry unit, this is a great natural entry point for this strategy. 

Before: 

1. Allow students to preview the text and try to read it silently before beginning a cold read-aloud.
2. Identify any multi-syllable words ahead of time and say them aloud for the class. 
3. Ask the class to repeat words after you say them: “The word is [you say]. What’s the word? [they repeat]” Explain the definition if needed.

During: 

1. Ask students to read aloud following your pace. 
2. Read the text at a slower rate and enunciate multi-syllable words during your first cold reading.
3. Really focus on HOW you are reading, (the expression and the pace)!

After: 

1. Correct or repeat any words where you noticed students struggling.
2. Reread aloud as a group a second time. 
3. Discuss the meaning of the text by asking and answering questions.
4. Summarize the text.

Explaining the Rationale to Students: 

1. Before you begin, ALWAYS give students a rationale and explain to them why you are doing this. It could be something like, 

“Our goal today is to read this poem as the author intended it to be heard. The prosody (yes use the big word) is what makes poetry so beautiful and interesting. We’re going to practice the prosody of this poem together a few times. Listen to me first.”

⭐ Scooping ⭐

Readers who are not yet fluent attend to one word in a text at a time. This impacts comprehension. Scooping is a strategy that enables emerging readers to look at text as a set of phrases rather than looking at individual words. 

This is ideal for shorter passages with unfamiliar or academic vocabulary. Call attention to the unfamiliar vocabulary and have students repeat and practice saying the words aloud. Provide definitions if necessary. 

Before: 

1. Provide students with a printed copy of the text.
2. Identify the connecting words by pre-teaching the coordinating conjunctions: FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so).
3. Underline these connecting words in a text and identify the phrase or clause on either side of these words.
4. Draw a line from the connecting word (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) to the end of the sentence or punctuation mark. This is a “scoop” because your finger should start at the connecting word and move across the paper to the end of the phrase.

During: 

1. Read the passage aloud to students, modeling the scooping and phrasing as you read.
2. Ask students to underline any FANBOYS words they see in the text.
3. Ask students to then go back and identify the phrase the connective word is highlighting and draw a scoop.
4. Students should read the text aloud using their finger on each phrase to scoop.

After: 

1. Once students have had a chance to read through the passage a few times, read together as a class so that their phrasing matches the teacher’s.

Explaining the Rationale to Students: 

1. Before you begin, ALWAYS give students a rationale and explain to them why you are doing this. It could be something like, 

“If we can become a fluent and prosodic reader out loud, then we can also become one in our head. This ability will also help you to read faster, and help you to better understand what you’re reading. I’d like to practice together today. And we may do it a few times this week because it can really help your inside reader voice go faster.” 

If you have the difficult job of teaching struggling readers, many days your task may seem impossible. (Hard - yes. Impossible - no.) I encourage you to try these strategies regularly,  3-4 times a week. The text doesn’t have to be long - it shouldn’t be. The consistent practice will build their automaticity, prosody, fluency, AND their confidence as a reader.

Go get ‘em,

Jenny