[MOSAIC] Re-replies to my fluency v. comprehension

[Joy]

I haven't been posting much lately, I caught the flu, then got caught up in the EOY testing mania going on at my school ( the mania is something new for us ). I think I've been in a similar place as Bill these past few weeks. Testing will be over next Friday, so I'm seeing a light at the end of this seemingly endless dark tunnel of direct instruction, test taking strategies, and practicing taking the test.
   
  After reading so many of the posts about fluency and comprehension, I agree with what Laura and others have said about fluency and comprehension. I consider a child to be fluent when they can read with all the good qualities a fluent reader has. I think Elaine called it prosody. The reader uses their voice to communicate their understanding of the words and ideas as they read. You can hear the punctuation, the pace matches the plot (faster or slower depending on what is happening), their inflection translates the emotion the character is feeling, or the mood the author has written into the story. These are among the things I listen for and document when I use DIBELS in my classroom.
   
  I use DIBELS as a tool to check how my kids are doing. I use it as a way to demonstrate to parents specific things their child is doing well, or can do to improve their reading. I use it as a way for me to reflect on how my instruction is going, what I need to address with each individual child. I do not use it to determine whether or not a child is retained, but I do use it as part of the documentation when I refer a child for special services. Most importantly, I use it to PROVE to a child that they have improved! 
   
  Case in point, I have a boy this year who has made dramatic improvement, and will probably exit from his IEP next year. He did not see that he was improving, he thought I was just saying it to make him feel better. So I DIBELed him. He was astounded to see the numbers (which I generally don't show them). I will never forget that day; right now a trail of goosebumps crawl up my arms to the top of my head while I think about this.
   
  I also agree with the statement that it's TEACHERS, NOT programs that make the difference. And I'm one teacher who is glad that there are resources available that help me do my job at a school that has no reading program, and no school wide structure to cling to. It's exhausting to reinvent the wheel every day.




                Joy/NC/4
  jwidmann at rocketmail.com
  How children learn is as important as what they learn: process and content go hand in hand. http://www.responsiveclassroom.org
   









 
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