ELM-305 T5 Case Studies Focusing on Fluency PDF

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Case Studies: Focusing on Fluency Strategies Case Scenario 1 Student: Mary Age: 8.6 Grade: 3rd Mary is a third grader at a small private school. It is the beginning of the second semester of the school year and assessment data show that Mary is still having difficulty with decoding multi-syllable words, as are many of her classmates. The students are struggling with an important reading skill that will be assessed at the end of the school year and will be important for success in the following years. Mr. Bounds, Mary’s teacher, has decided to implement strategies each day that will assist all of his students, Mary included, in reaching the following goal: Given multi-syllable words, students will decode them accurately and with ease. Case Scenario 2 Student: Emma Age: 8.4 Grade: 3rd Emma is a shy third grader who is struggling in all academic subjects that require significant reading. Assessment data show that Emma is able to read all sight words and decode most of the multi-syllable words she encounters. However, Emma’s fluency is not at the level of most third graders. This might be because Emma appears to have a low self-concept. Emma reads aloud very softly and slowly, often waiting to speak a word until she is sure she can pronounce it correctly. Because Mr. Haywood, her teacher, believes that Emma has the needed skills to improve her fluency, he has decided to implement a strategy that will help Emma reach her goal, which is: Given reading passages at the third-grade level, Emma will read fluently. Case Scenario 3 Student: Daniel Age: 8.8 Grade: 3rd Daniel is a quiet third grader who is naturally organized and thrives on structure. Daniel’s mother reports that he tends to be focused on tasks, even in play. He is diligent with academic tasks, and especially enjoys hands-on science activities. When reading aloud in class, Daniel is able to read all sight words and decode most multi-syllable words he encounters. However, Daniel’s fluency is not at the level of most third graders. He is a word-by-word reader and does not read with proper tone or expression, but has the skills needed to become a fluent, expressive reader. Daniel’s teacher has decided to implement strategies that will help him reach his goal, which is: Given readings at the third-grade level, Daniel will read fluently.

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Adapted from: Paulsen, K. & the IRIS Center. (2004). Fluency and word identification: Grades 3-5. http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/pdf_case_studies/ics_flu.pdf

Case Scenario 1: The goal for Mary is to be able to accurately decode multi-syllable words with more ease. Mary and the rest of her classmates are struggling with decoding skills, and so with this in mind, the teacher should be putting some decoding methods in place to help with this problem. The teacher needs to ensure that the students have good phonological awareness (Literacy Nest) so that they can use those skills to help with the process word decoding. If she has a good foundation, I would begin with talking about a technique called chunking. I would have the students place a line every 3 letters or so and sound the word out in chunks to try and get them to put it together into one sound. To aid with this, I can have sheets available that look like the one here for when students come across words. Students using this method are able to focus on the word in smaller bite size pieces with this method rather than looking at the big word itself. This can make the word look less intimidating to the student. I think that this is something that will be used over time. I taught this with a third grade class and it took me about 20 minutes (we talked about other methods as well). The method is then brought up/reviewed when the student struggles with a word. Another method we could do is to practice reading similar words, like kind/behind/mind, and grouping them by the sound they make. This can help students make connections between words that they may already know and new words they are stuck on. This could be something this is given weekly in the student’s spelling packet. Having students group words that make the same sound. We can then review this as a class and make sure the students are correct. Again, this could be a weekly spelling packet that the students complete during their free work time. From experience, the students did an average of two pages per day of the week, and this was completed during their literacy time. It took them anywhere from 15-30 minutes per day. Case Scenario 2: The goal that is set in place for Emma is to read a given third grade passage fluently. Emma struggles with being able to read a text without pausing or getting stuck. Emma needs to be given exercises to help put a stop to her “pausing”. For my first suggestion, Emma can repeat a passage several times. Each time reading, the text should get easier to read as she has already been exposed to the words (Cicerchia). I could take 20-30 minutes, have her read the text, and if she struggles with a word, she can sound out the word, finish out the sentence, and then reread the sentence without the pause. We can meet weekly and do this exercise to help with her fluency. This can also be done with her read aloud book so that she is interested in the topic. We can also do partner reading where I read a section of the text demonstrating fluency, and she reads the same passage after me. This can help broaden the number of words that Emma can read by sight, rather than stopping to sound them out. By reading the same text a few times, Emma’s comprehension can also see benefits as she may notice different things. Another method we could try is introducing difficult words before reading a passage as a class. We can then list the words together and talk about their pronunciation and the meaning. This can help students recognize a word in the text and know how to pronounce it, to help prevent pauses. Case Scenario 3: The goal that is set in place for Daniel is to be able to read third grade readings fluently (specifically, with expression.) Daniel is able to read and decode words well, but reads “like a robot”. First thing I would put in place is reminding students to read with emotion, to avoid robot reading. We could go over examples of reading with expression in a 15 minute lesson before a free reading time. The kids know that robots don’t have expression and talk in one For Daniel specifically, we could do an echo read. The teacher could partner with him or a peer could partner with him. The partner reads a sentence with expression, then Daniel repeats after his partner reading in the same manner. This could be a 20-25 minute activity with a passage of text given to the students. This models how/when to use certain expressions for Daniel (Taylor). Another method that I will set in place with © 2019. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved.

Daniel is to do a class script reading. This would take the place of our reading time, approximately 30 minutes, and will have students taking the role of someone in the text. Since this is purely dialogue based, students will be expected to read as if they are talking. Daniel will also hear students around him reading with expression and may have a good chance at following suite and reading with expression too. This can be something that we do monthly or every other month to help practice our reading expression.

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References Cicerchia, M. (n.d.). 10 Fluency strategies for struggling readers. Touch-type Read and Spell (TTRS). https://www.readandspell.com/us/fluency-strategies-for-struggling-readers. Gibbons, E. (n.d.). Effective Decoding Strategies To Improve Reading. The Literacy Nest. https://www.theliteracynest.com/2018/10/decoding-strategies-to-improve-reading.html. Taylor, M. (n.d.). Stop Robot Reading: How to Help Kids Read with Expression. Brightly. https://www.readbrightly.com/how-to-help-kids-read-with-expression/.

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