Tim said, " ...Repeated readings with an emphasis on practice to make meaning with your voice..."
Again, we're back to comprehension whether that "voice" is in your head or in your mouth.....Fluency is an aid to comprehension. Learning to read selections PROPERLY (prosody) aids comprehension. Learning to group words into meaningful clumps instead of one-word-at-a-time aids comprehension. IT ISN"T ABOUT THE SPEED. I do have some kids who feel as if they can never finish a book, but when we discuss reading faster and reading efficiently, they find that they can often finish a book FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER. But it isn't just speed, it's also the genre or author, the writing level of the book, the motivation of the student, etc. But as they get accustomed to reading faster and their comfort levels rise, so does the comprehension. That is not the case for all students, but like anything, you differentiate instruction based on ability. Many of my kids read 600 wpm or more (mentally) and fully comprehend whatever they read. Others read at 150 wpm. As long as they comprehend what they are reading, it doesn't matter, but anyone who reads at less than 100 wpm is NOT going have comprehension...by the time they finish the last word of the sentence, they will have forgotten the first words! I live in Florida, and the state likes SPEED because they can measure it, document it, and puff out their chests and say "we're collecting data," but what the state wants, it gets.....but I have to preface the final reading by reminding them about prosody, but the state benchmarks aren't about prosody and only about speed. The kids understand the difference....Just like when I teach them about varying reading speed for different circumstances, they understand the purpose of the state's ORF's. Bill _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
