National Youth-At-Risk Journal Volume 3 Article 3 Issue 1 Fall 2018 Five Oral Reading Fluency Strategies for Supporting Struggling Adolescent Readers Kavin M. Ming Winthrop University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/nyar Recommended Citation Ming, K. M. (2018). Five Oral Reading Fluency Strategies for Supporting Struggling Adolescent Readers. National Youth-At-Risk Journal, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.20429/nyarj.2018.030103 This literature synthesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. It has been accepted for inclusion in National Youth-At-Risk Journal by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Five Oral Reading Fluency Strategies for Supporting Struggling Adolescent Readers Abstract By the time students enter the fourth grade, it is expected that they possess the basic literacy skills needed to read and learn content. It is the general belief that in the early grades, students are taught foundational literacy skills that make them proficient readers by the time they become adolescent learners. For many, this assumption is true. However, for a large majority of students between Grades 4 and 12, basic literacy skills are not in place, leading them to struggle to acquire information. Oral reading fluency, one of the basic literacy skills that adolescents must possess, can be explicitly taught beyond the early years. In this article, the author discusses who are struggling adolescent readers, what is oral reading fluency and why it is significant for this group, and how five specific strategies can be used with this population. Keywords oral reading fluency, struggling readers, adolescent learners, strategy instruction This literature synthesis is available in National Youth-At-Risk Journal: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/nyar/vol3/iss1/ 3 Ming: Five Oral Reading Fluency Strategies for Adolescent Readers Five Oral Reading Fluency Strategies for Supporting Struggling Adolescent Readers Kavin M. Ming Winthrop University hen students enter the fourth grade, becomes a laborious, dreaded, and unsatisfying Wthey are considered to be adolescent experience, with many of these students giving learners (Biancarosa & Snow, 2004). This occurs up and dropping out of school simply because because fourth grade signifies the point at which what is being asked of them is more than they students transition from learning to read to can do (Hernandez, 2011). using reading to acquire content knowledge (Chall, 1983). Large numbers of students in ORAL READING FLUENCY Grades 4–12 are lacking foundational reading The National Institute of Child Health and Human skills, which causes them to be two or more Development (2000), in its Report of the National years below grade level. These students are Reading Panel, identified reading fluency as one categorized as adolescent struggling readers of the five critical components necessary for (Torgesen, 2005). According to the 2015 report proficient reading. Oral reading fluency refers by the National Center for Education Statistics, to the ability to read quickly and accurately, 31% of fourth-grade students and 24% of eighth- with smoothness, phrasing, and expression grade students scored below the basic level in (Miller & Schwanenflugel, 2008; Rasinski, 2003). overall reading skills, and 33% of fourth-grade It is of particular significance to adolescent students and 42% of fourth-grade students struggling readers because the emphasis on scored at the basic level. Collectively, almost developing fluent reading often occurs during two-thirds of fourth- and eighth-grade students the earlier years when students are learning are at or below grade level in their overall to read. The assumption is often made that by reading performance. the time students enter the fourth grade, this Students at this age struggle for a variety of foundational skill is in place and teaching fluent reasons, and one cause is a lack of adequately reading is no longer a priority (Joseph & Schisler, developed word level reading proficiency. 2009). However, this assumption does not hold In this case, students are unable to fluently true for many adolescent struggling readers who decode words to allow them to read with ease have not mastered foundational reading skills (Hock et al., 2009). One of the reasons why this (Sedita, 2011). For students to improve their occurs is because some students have not fully fluency skills, they must continue to receive internalized the alphabetic code. That is, they explicit instruction in oral reading fluency have deficits in their ability to automatically (Rasinski et al., 2005). Dudley and Mather (2005) interact with the written symbols on the page provided the AIMSweb measures that indicate to meaningfully read connected text (Moats, where students should be reading at specific 2001). This deficit occurs because of a lack grade levels. By the end of elementary school of explicit instruction in word identification (fifth grade), students performing at the 50th techniques and/or the innate challenges that percentile should be reading approximately some students possess (Rupley, Blair, & Nichols, 140 words correct per minute (wcpm), and this 2009; Shaywitz & Shaywitz, 2008). Reading thus number increases to 156 wcpm by the end of Published by Digital Commons@Georgia Southern, 2018 13 National Youth-At-Risk Journal, Vol. 3, Iss. 1 [2018], Art. 3 the eighth grade. These numbers support the recognition, and prosody, which ultimately helps idea that in order for students to continue to to improve comprehension. progress in their reading development, they must be explicitly taught and must receive ORAL READING FLUENCY STRATEGIES opportunities to practice their reading. This Read Non-controlled Decodable Texts is especially crucial for adolescent struggling What is this strategy? Non-controlled readers. decodable texts are texts that students can Accurate and fast reading of connected read with at least 95% accuracy (Wilson, 2011). text has been shown to increase reading These books make use of highly decodable comprehension. This kind of reading supports basic phonetic patterns and sounds that make working memory as it processes large chunks them manageable for older struggling readers. of text (Chard, Pikulski, & McDonagh, 2006). As While non-controlled means that students adolescent learners move through the grades, have not explicitly learned all of the patterns the academic demands that they are expected that are presented in the text, because of its to meet increase. During these years, older high emphasis on the use of decodable words, students are required to read new and dense students are able to apply both context clues material, make connections across concepts, and sounding out procedures to determine interpret ideas, and solve abstract problems unfamiliar words. High interest-low level readers (Wehby & Falk, 2016). To be successful, are one kind of non-controlled decodable text they must actively keep track of super and that is appropriate for this population. As the subordinate ideas, follow the authors’ line of name indicates, these books are highly relevant thinking, monitor their own understanding, and to adolescent readers as their content and realize when a breakdown in comprehension appearance are age appropriate. However, they occurs (Garnett, 2011). All of these literacy are written at lower reading levels that provide skills require students to focus on the task of support to struggling readers. High interest- processing the information with which they low level readers can be found at the following are interacting. If they struggle to read text websites: quickly and accurately, they will not be able to attend to the content as their focus will be on High Noon Books identifying the words on the page. According High Interest Publishing (HIP) Books to LaBerge and Samuels (1974), students need automatic word recognition if their attention Orca Book Publishers and processing skills are to be devoted to the comprehension of text. Remedia Publications According to Joseph and Schisler (2009), little Start-to-Finish Library direction is provided to teachers of adolescent learners about how to use effective instructional Wieser Educational tools to develop the basic reading skills of struggling adolescent readers. However, there Why does it support adolescent struggling are several research-based recommendations readers? Non-controlled decodable texts for how to provide reading instruction to build benefit adolescent struggling readers because oral reading fluency to support this group’s they provide students with the opportunity to reading development. These strategies can meaningfully engage with text at their reading assist struggling adolescent readers in achieving levels. In order for students to become better proficiency in the areas of reading rate, word readers, they must have lots of practice reading https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/nyar/vol3/iss1/3 14 DOI: 10.20429/nyarj.2018.030103 Ming: Five Oral Reading Fluency Strategies for Adolescent Readers books at their independent reading levels (at of an audience and read their lines. Instead of least 95% accuracy), and non-controlled texts using costumes, props, or other visuals, the provide this opportunity (Schmitt, Jiang, & readers must effectively communicate the Grabe, 2011). These books are motivational as story’s