Reading Fluency – The Literacy Brain

Why Teach Spelling?

Spelling knowledge is a gateway to higher student achievement in literacy. Individuals begin learning how to spell, as they begin manipulating sounds. Individuals begin to encode words as they begin writing symbols that represent sounds. Individuals are not initially wired to encode words they must be taught how the sounds are represented in print – for any language.

Spelling instruction enables students to become better skilled at decoding and encoding written words, which usually increases student reading fluency. Students also increase their lexicon, building depth and width of knowledge about different subjects. Students also increase their ability to write and use higher level words within their writing. Students also build or strengthen their synthesizing skills and become more self-assured.

Spelling instruction should encompass several different components that are known to increase student retention of how individual words are spelled. These different components assist students in completing “word studies” of how words are encoded. Spelling instruction should increase in complexity as students grow academically—moving in a systematic, sequential manner. Spelling instruction should include the following components:

• Phonology – “the study of spoken sounds (phonemes)—rules of how sounds are encoded, such as why these sounds follow this pattern to form this sound(s). Individuals should have phoneme awareness skills before learning how to read. This is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulated individuals sounds in spoken words. Phoneme awareness is part of phonological awareness. Phonological awareness is the ability to process and manipulate letter sounds, rhyming words, and segmenting of sounds within words. The study of phonology usually increases student ability to spell, pronounce, and comprehend written words” (Ray, 2019).

• Morphology – the study of the smallest units of meaning. Word analysis helps students understand how the smallest units of meaning dictate a word meaning. The word meaning determines spelling pattern. Morphology increases student lexicon and comprehension abilities of both oral and written language.

• Syllabification or syllable knowledge – how words are divided into different chunks or parts. There are six major syllable types in the English language. Understanding how words are divided into syllables usually increases student decoding and encoding skills. Syllable knowledge also increases the accuracy of language pronunciation and comprehension.

Orthography – the rules of how letters form written words. The internal structure of a word in print. Encoding words requires knowledge of how the letters and letter patterns of a word dictate its sound and meaning. In some cases, the same sound within words is generated by different letters, for example the long /ā/ sound is generated using these different letters or combination of letters:

-eigh (weigh)
ai (rain)
a – e (cake)
a
ei (vein)
-ay (stay)

Another example is the letter k that uses different single or combination of letters to create the /k/ sound, for example:

c (cut)
ck (back, chick)
k (kick)
ke (bake)

Orthography Mapping – “the mental process we use to store words for immediate, effortless, retrieval. It requires phoneme proficiency and letter-sound proficiency, as well as the ability to unconsciously or consciously make connections between the oral sound in spoken words and the letters in written words.” (Redding, 2023, slide 6). Instruction in orthography usually leads to faster retrieval of how words are spelled, which typically increases student reading fluency rates. Students memorize the letter layout of words and store them to be retrieved for later use—sight words.

Etymology – the study of word origins. English is deprived of many different languages that may have different rules of how letters are ordered within a word to create the same sounds. For example, words of the German or Latin language use different letters to form the same sounds of different origin. Some languages are more transparent than other languages. English is less transparent than other languages.

Students often resist being taught purposeful lessons about how to accurately encode letters into the “right” word. Students usually show less resistance to spelling instruction when it is embedded within other lessons.

Spelling should be taught systematically and explicitly. Students begin learning how to spelling written words through oral language. Students increase their knowledge of how to spell words when they begin bridging their oral language to written letters or combination of letters.

References

Redding, N. (2023). The importance of spelling instruction. Presentation International Dyslexia Conference (IDA).

Ray, J (2019). Structured literacy teacher, instructional knowledge. The Literacy Brain. https://theliteracybrain.com/category/structure-literacy-instruction/page/2/

Rosenberg, D. (2023). The forgotten skills needed for literacy success: spelling and handwriting. Presentation International Dyslexia Conference (IDA), Wilson Language Training.

What is Partner Reading?

The instructional strategy partner reading looks different depending on the classroom and students. Partner reading provides opportunity for social and academic support. Partner reading also encourages motivation and provides opportunity for practice. This strategy at times becomes the teacher’s extended arms and mouth of instruction. Partner reading usually includes two students reading a book and at times discussing the contents of the book. The benefits are vast. See my post of June 2022.

The biggest challenge to “partner reading” is student collaborative skills. Students bring their individual intrapersonal and interpersonal skills, and knowledge to a group. These skills are combined with their partner’s skills to solve or work through the given task. Some students fall into these skills naturally through observation and participation of social interactions—beginning at birth. Some students will need explicit modeling of what and how these skills are practiced in a group setting. Most students will need to know the “ground rules” of what is excepted and not excepted during partner work in your classroom. The amount of repetition of ground rules will depend on the grade and prior experience of the students participating. Most students like to share and work with a partner.

Educators use different names and definitions for the instructional strategy of “partner reading”. Some of those names and definitions are noted below.

Partner Reading. I define partner reading “as two students orally reading a teacher chosen passage or book at their independent reading level, taking turns with their teacher chosen partner to read and listen to a book or passage. Students are intentionally paired higher-level readers with lower-level readers. Each student receives a teacher chosen book to read at their current independent instructional reading-level. While one student is reading the other student is listening or assisting their partner to read” (Ray, 2022).
Buddy reading is defined as two students reading a book of their choosing at their independent reading level. This instructional strategy is most often used to pair students of different grades levels, such as Grade 5 students and Kindergarteners reading their independent reading-level book to each other. This strategy may also be used in one classroom. Some buddy reading groups are encouraged to ask questions about the passage read. One student reads while the other student listens. Student are encouraged to sit side-by-side, so that the listener can see the reader’s page. Teachers usually sets a time for students to read—five or ten minutes, or the whole passage. This strategy usually promotes motivation for students to read. Students often scaffold the reading and comprehension process for each other.
Paired reading. Reading Rockets (2022) defines paired reading as a research-based fluency strategy for students who struggling with reading fluency. Students of the same reading level often reread the same passage to build fluency. Students are paired higher-level with lower-level reading ability. Students read books or passages of their choosing.
Cooperative learning is defined “as students working together, helping each other, sharing their ideas, and assisting their group in achieving mastery over the content material” (Ray, 2017, p. 45). Cooperative learning may exist of two or more students working together to accomplish a common goal or task. Cooperative learning usually increases student academic achievement and creative thinking skills. This strategy usually narrows or closes the reading performance gap.
Peer-Assisted Learning Strategy (PALS) is another name type of partner reading. This strategy is more scripted and is often used as an intervention strategy. Peer-assisted involves two students, one of higher-level and one of lower-level working together to accomplish a common task. This strategy calls for one passage or book that is accomplishable by both students (Fuchs, D. & Fuchs, L., 2005). The higher-leveled student reads the passage or book first to model how to read the passage. The lower-leveled student then reads the same passage and retells the passage just read. The PALS instructional strategy also includes paragraph shrinking and prediction relay.

Educators will usually see more growth in students who work in more scripted groups. Scripted group means that students in the group have been given direction as to what they need to accomplish, like reading a passage, discussing the character(s) of a story, orally answer or write questions or come up with a summary.

References

Fuchs, D. & Fuchs, L. (2005). Peer-assisted learning strategies: promoting word recognition, fluency, and reading comprehension in young children. The Journal of Special Education, 39, p 34-44.

Ray. J.S. (2022, June 9). The power of intentional partner reading. The Literacy Brain. https://theliteracybrain.com/2022/06/09/the-benefits-of-intentional-partner-reading/

Reading Rockets (2022). Paired (or partner) reading. https://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/paired_reading

Building a Habit of Deep Reading

Instilling the love of reading or the want to read at leisure may be different for each student. Learning how to read is hard, exhausting for most students. Finding a motivating reason to learn how to read usually eases the fatigue and stress. Some students might develop the intrinsic push to read for pleasure. Some students might develop the intrinsic push to read to research about a particular topic. Some students might develop the intrinsic push to read to be like their friends. Others push themselves to not be embarrassed. In addition, modeling the love for reading usually increases student intrinsic motivation to learn how to read effectively.

Reading is a complex endeavor that includes many components working simultaneously, together. Written words are breathed in, swirled around, and processed using current brain connections to examine, analyze and make conclusions. The process of making meaning out of the written words usually takes fluid, efficient seconds. In these seconds your brain is moving the written words through different parts of the brain to bring coherent meaning. The meaning of the words may have a different twist or meaning for each person—this is dependent on their background knowledge and efficiency of their brain’s written language processing networks. Not all brains are developed equally. Part of the analysis process is student’s lexicon or dictionary. This is their personal reference book or computer catalog for them to use while understanding oral or written language. Student lexicon is constantly changing. Teachers assist in developing brain connections for processing written words through instruction.

Networks for reading efficiently are developed through instruction and practice. One of the ways that teachers assist in the development of brain connections for processing written words with coherency is modeling how to read. Each step of the reading process should be modeled to students, beginning in the pre/primary grades. In some cases, the modeling may need to take place several times. While modeling for students in small groups, invite students to follow along with their book. These are steps that you might use.

Choose a book that may be of interest to most students in the group. You will need to model all different types of written words, such as non-fiction, fiction, poetry, etc.
Take the time to review the contents of the book. This may not look the same each time. This is often referred to as a prereading or a book-walk-through. Look at the structure of the book. Look at the pictures. Look at the front and back covers. Look at the how the words are written in the book. Look for a table of contents. Look for gems in the back of the book, like index or definitions. Ask questions (wonder) about things you have found. Make predictions about the story based on the title or pictures. Make connections between this book and other books. Make connections between the book and student life experiences.
Read the book taking time to breathe in the words. You might read a sentence and take a moment before reading the next to analyze what you have read. You might ask a question. You might think about what might happen next or how this is connected to the previous sentence or paragraph. You might go back and reread a previous sentence to better understand the one you just read. This may take several smaller lessons to emphasize and develop the natural connections for comprehension. Breathing words develops and strengthens brain connections to process for written words for meaning. Many students need modeling, remodeling, and many opportunities to practice.
After reading the book or passage, model how to analyze or make the connections to form further conclusion(s). The following are some ideas of how you might analyze the words read: a) think aloud about what you read- ask questions like, what color is a bumble bee? What kinds clothes should you wear outside on a cold day? Should the dog be driving a car? Why does the character stay on the path? Why is there a title on this page? Does this make sense? What do you think the car looks like? Or what does it look when it’s raining? b) discuss your conclusion with friends, c) analyze individual words of the passage, d) analyze sentences read, e) analyze sentences with other sentences of the same passage, f) make connections between self and the passage, or g) write a written summary.

More students have the ability to take in and process oral language to understand what is read aloud to them than when they read the words silently. Encouraging students (especially struggling comprehension readers) to whisper-read the passage aloud usually increases their comprehension of the passage and assists in the development of the necessary brain connections to fluidly comprehend the written passage.

Developing An Elementary Classroom Book Club

Most of us understand that a book club is a group of individuals that meet to discuss the passages of a common book. There are different types of book clubs depending on who began the book club, when and the book club meets, and why the book club began. How you develop your book club will depend on your current students and instructional program. Students will bring to the table different social and academic abilities that will need to be brought into the process of designing the structure and flow of your book club. Each year your book club may have a different configuration. Elementary students usually begin learning about book clubs beginning in Grades 2-5.

An effective classroom book club will have the following components: a) reading, b) written response, c) observation, d) planning, e) coaching, f) digital tools, and g) assessment (Cherry-Paul, Johansen, 2019). Students will need some assistance and scaffolding to get started and maintain effective function. You may need more patience to implement book clubs this school year, as most students will need more teacher modeling and coaching to function effectively in book clubs. Most students have not had the opportunity to develop the social interaction skills necessary for smooth function in a book club, as they were glued to electronic devices without much “natural” social interaction over last two plus years. This will be especially true for students in the primary grades, as these students haven’t had the “normal” opportunities to socialize in or out of the classroom.

I use the following steps and considerations to development a book club.

Form groups. This is usually accomplished by using student data, as students are usually group by reading ability. Student groups should consist of 4-6 students. There may be some students that need to participate in book-clubs differently, like in a smaller or more differentiated group with only the teacher to accommodate their ability level. You may need to get creative so that they do not feel left out. Another consideration should be student personalities. You may group students of higher-reading ability with students of lower-reading ability, if the book their reading is accomplishable by the lower-readers. I caution putting higher-readers in the mix that will not be engaged at the lower-readers ability. This will also depend on how nourishing the higher-level students may be.
Set-up a tentative schedule of when book clubs will meet. In the beginning you might plan to meet with each group, while the other students are engaged in a different activity. In time all book clubs might be able to meet at the same time. Each classroom will have a different mix of students, so there may be years that the whole class can meet for book clubs at the same time and other years when it will be impossible. I typically will meet with a group of students twice a week—flexibility is key.
Choose a book. Books should be chosen based on student ability. Book topics and genre should be considered to encourage natural student engagement. If possible, allow the students to choose the book. Books chosen at student’s highest instructional level or zone of proximal development will usually yield the most literacy growth.
Decide what types of activities will be completed in relation to the chosen book. This may include writing a chapter or book summary. This might also include interactive discussions about the plot or characters. This might also include a review of vocabulary words before you read. This might also include reflective or recall questions. Engaging students in the passage that they have read usually promotes deeper comprehension.
Develop a way to keep written response activities. Many times, related activities are not completed in one group time. To accommodate unfinished assignments, students might have their own “book club” folder. Students might keep their responses in their classroom “to be completed or must do” folder. Teachers might keep all of their responses in a group folder. I like to use different colors for each group.
Meet with students. Let students know what will be expected of them during “book clubs” or small group time. Never assume that they know how to function during “your” small group time. Each educator usually has similar, but different expectations. Typically, students each take turns to read aloud, moving around the circle or group. Decide ahead of time if they should each read a sentence, a paragraph, or a page before allowing the next student to read. Students should be engaged or following along. Giving students a role during book club usually increases the engagement, like highlighter or pencil person or folder person.
Model how to read. Not all student groups will need this, but most will enjoy you taking a turn to read. They are hearing your voice model how to read a passage. This also gives you a natural pause to ask questions about the passage or model metacognitive thinking. If students are losing their place as they read, have them use their finger or small piece of paper to keep their place. I often use my finger on their book to help them focus, keep their place, and decode words. In time they will not need the scaffold.
Ask questions. Ask students questions about what they have just read or about unfamiliar words. This will assist them to bring clarity and dive deeper into the meaning of the passage. Often students need to clarify their current understanding of a word or passage. Encourage students to take a breath or raise their hand to discuss or clarify a word or passage.
Model how to complete assignments. Are students expected to write their responses in complete sentences? Do students need to use a separate piece of paper? When do they need to answer questions? What types of questions might students ask? How might students respond to other student questions? I often write students’ verbal answer(s) in a central location for those struggling to write the answer, after giving most students time to produce their own written answer. This allows students to begin the process of moving from a verbal to written response. This scaffold is removed as all students become more fluid in writing the answer.

Reference

Cherry-Paul, S. & Johansen, D. (2019). Breathing New Life Into Book Clubs. Heinemann.

The Benefits of Intentional Partner Reading

I discovered the power of intentional student partner reading by accident, while completing my student teaching in the early 2000s. During my student teaching in a Grade 1/2 combination classroom, part of my role was to observe and assist students. My mentor’s classroom featured student reading centers. There were four reading centers/tasks and five student reading groups. Students were grouped by ability and rotated to a new center each day. One group received explicit instruction from the teacher, while the other groups completed literacy related tasks at their center for the day. Reading groups usually lasted 30 minutes. Students seemed to be finished with the task of their reading center earlier than the time allowed for small groups. The students became squirmy and tended to need more attention during the last 10 minutes of small group time. I began to contemplate possible changes to the intended instructional schedule during that time of the school day to possibly avoid the necessary teacher attention.

When it came time for me to “take the wheel” or teach solo for two weeks, I (with the blessing of my mentor teacher) altered her classroom schedule by subtracting 10 minutes from reading group time and adding 10 minutes of intentional peer/partner reading. I paired students and gave each student a curriculum-based book to read at their current independent reading level. Students took turns to orally read their teacher provided book. Each student read for approximately five minutes. Towards the end of my solo teaching, my mentor teacher mentioned that many students grew faster than they had so far this school year—this was early Spring. At the time I didn’t think much about the extra growth. I have since used this strategy for various reasons, like building social emotional skills or reading fluency, during full-time teaching positions. Each time I have used this strategy, the reading achievement growth has been similar or greater to the first results.

I define “intentional” partner reading as two students orally reading a teacher chosen passage or book at their independent reading level, taking turns with their teacher chosen partner to read and listen to a book or passage. Students are intentionally paired higher-level readers with lower-level readers. Each student receives a teacher chosen book to read at their current independent instructional reading-level. While one student is reading the other student is listening or assisting their partner to read. I choose the student partners, putting higher-level readers with lower-level readers. The higher-level students are usually able to assist their partner should they stumble. This also allows the lower students to hear grade-level or higher vocabulary words and writing structures. At times I have paired students who are at same independent reading-level, giving them each a different book to read. These students are usually at or above grade-level. Student personalities may have a factor in how you group students and the intended effectiveness of the process. I do not tell students why they are being partnered with that student, as the point is not to create a dominate and inferior partnership. I will usually change student partners. This is dependent on the group of students and how long I use the strategy.

Some of the benefits of using the intentional partner reading strategy are noted below. This strategy typically builds:

Vocabulary or Lexicon – students hear new words and possible meaning(s) of the new word. Familiar words are revisited, reinforcing the meaning and usage of word.
Comprehension – Students typically know the meaning of more spoken words and sentences than written words and sentences. This is especially true if they haven’t connected the written graphemes of a word with its oral spoken phoneme(s). Oral language ability often dictates student latter comprehension ability. In addition, students often voluntarily ask their partner questions about the text.
Brain Connections – develops brain connections of what they see (graphemes) with what they have heard (phonemes).
Writing Ability usually increases – students hear different structures of sentences and genres of writing. Students also see the spelling of words and correct structures of sentences.
Oral Reading Fluency – students practice decoding and encoding words. Students are more likely to hear their mistakes and try to correct their reading accuracy.
Collaboration Skills – usually gain a sense of support, partnership, togetherness, motivation, accomplishment and purpose for reading the passage or story.
Listening Skills – students practice/build their listening skills, as tend to listen more attentively to their peers.

Many primary and elementary school campuses have curriculum or books closets that house non-fiction and fiction books at various reading-levels. Some libraries or classrooms may also feature leveled non-fiction and fiction reading books. Students usually love the tasks of reading together. This strategy is usually more effective for reading-fluency in the lower reading-levels, K-5.

I have observed, over the years, many educators use the term “partner reading” to mean different formats of two students reading to each other. I will discuss this further in a later blog.

Teaching Word Syllabication

Dividing written words into syllables can be a complex, dauting journey. Teach the skill in baby steps or small pieces at a time. There are many different ways to teach students about dividing words into syllables. Teaching them in a manner that builds upon prior teaching or knowledge will increase student accusation of the skill.

Learning syllabication usually begins in pre-school through orally instruction. Educators teach students how to verbally separate words into syllables, using a clapping, tapping or stomping action to indicate each syllable. Typically, students learn how to divide written words into syllables as they begin to learn how to decode and encode written words. Students learn the more complex “rules” to divide written words into syllables as the words become more complex.

There are six major or more common word syllables in the English language. I have found the task of teaching students easier if the syllables types are taught in the following order: a) closed-CVC, b) final e, c) open, d) vowel diagraph, e) r-controlled, f) constant -le. Students tend to first learn about closed syllables through instruction of CVC words. These syllables have a short vowel sound and are always closed in by a consonant, like bat or sit. Instruction in the final e syllable usually follows instruction of closed syllables. The syllabication rules of closed and final e syllables are more stable, recognizable, and easier to retain. The third syllable type to be taught is the open syllable. Open syllables always have a long vowel sound and are not closed in by a constant, like the first syllable of mu/sic. Instruction of closed and open syllables will cover 70% of written words in the English language (Hennesy, 2022; White, 2022).

There are other stable syllable norms or rules that may help students in dividing written words into syllables. The first norm is compound words that may be divided between the two words, like camp/fire. The second norm is words with double constants of the same letter can be divided between the two double consonants, like bb (rab/bit). The third norm that may be followed is a syllable break may occur in a word that contains two different constants side-by-side, like nc (con/cept). This rule may be tricky to learn, as some double constants are letter blends or diagraphs that should not be separated, such as ch, th, fl, or str (constriction, authoritative, sunflower). The fourth norm is diphthongs or vowel teams that cannot be separated, like oa, ea in boatman or teacher. The fifth norm of syllabication is putting a syllable break just before or after an affix in a word, like pre/sort or read/ed. Affixes are morphemes that may be easier for students to spot. The sixth norm is that each syllable must include a vowel phoneme.

The following steps usually increase the retention of syllabication skills and decrease possible student anxiety in learning how to read.

Find and underline all vowel phonemes of a word. Explain that words may have a single vowel or vowel teams that are pronounced with only one phoneme.
Count the underlined vowel phonemes of the word. This is the number of syllables present in the word.
Look for double constants. Are the double constants a constant diagraph or letter blend (spr, fl, sh) that cannot be separated? If not place a separation line through the two constants to show a syllable break.
Look at the current syllables and what syllable breaks should still be made? Are there parts of the word that still have more than one vowel phoneme? Are there affixes that may help with where the next syllable break may need to be placed?
Pronounce/encode the word – sound out each syllable, then blend the syllables together, and then fluently pronounce the word.
Allow time for student(s) to practice and model the process.

Syllable breaks may be confirmed by reviewing the six syllable types and other general syllable break norms, such as compound words and affixes.

References

Hennesy, N. (2021). Making meaning of text: a structured framework for informed instruction. 2021 Annual IDA Reading, Literacy & Learning Conference.

White, N. (2021). Continuum of decoding strategies: explicit__systematic—cumulative. 2021 Annual IDA Reading, Literacy & Learning Conference.

Category: Reading Fluency