I have never appreciated the two 1-minute tests we must do every 6 weeks with the fifth grade Open Court program. We now have permission to skip the tests for those students reading 145 wpm or more.
I do have to agree with Tim about the importance of fluency and good intonation for comprehension in reading. I had an English speaking 5th grade student with very low reading comprehension. I taught her all of the skills that a good reader uses for tests and stories. She still only got 2 out of 10 questions correct on an Open Court test. When I analyzed her fluency, I noticed she either skipped or substituted every few words as she read a fluency test. All I can determine is that she has little or no comprehension in 5th grade text due to the fact that she skips or substitutes words. Contextual meaning is lost to her. If there had not been fluency tests, I might not be able to determine that she needs help. Now that I understand the importance of fluency testing, here is what I would do when I have this problem again with students: I have to go back and do a specific miscue test and IRI (any suggestions of books to purchase to help me do this is appreciated). I then would have to re-teach the phonics and other learning that she didn't learn in primary grades. (Any suggestion of books to purchase to help me do this is appreciated.) If I don't do this, who will? These types of students will be lost when they enter middle school and beyond. Fluency practice is like multiplication practice. Students can't access the materials without the basic sight words, just like they struggle in math if they haven't yet memorized their times tables. We test to see who is lacking these primary grade skills, and then have to re-teach, and try to get the family and resource specialists involved to play catch up. What else can be done? Do I have the time to help these students one-on-one? Not really. But I continue to be haunted about this student who didn't succeed and improve in reading with me this year. I found a way to help her and others with math. Therefore, I believe if I can make a connection in math with these "Below Basic" students, then I am determined to make the same connection in language arts. Any help in reaching these upper grade students, and re-teaching, or assessing is greatly appreciated. I am not a reading specialist, but I am willing to use the materials necessary to get these students to grade level comprehension. Feel free to email offline if you want. Thank you! Francie 5th Los Angeles _______________________________________________ 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.
