[MOSAIC] Reading Fluency

[Lee Brazell]

I was very happy to read Tim Rasinski's comments about Martin Luther King's
speech and oral reading fluency.  I was trying to decide if I should use 6
Minute Solution with my struggling readers who read slowly (a program that
uses repeated reading of same passage to improve fluency).  However, I timed
myself reading one of the passages to get a sense of how many words per
minute expressive, fluent reading takes and realized that I was reading much
slower than the program allowed. I decided not to use it.  I felt it would
be counter productive to teach kids who struggle with comprehension to 'read
it fast'.  Instead I opted for 'reader's theater' and poetry...authentic
reasons to read and reread aloud with expression.


On 5/26/07 10:29 AM, "mosaic-request at literacyworkshop.org"
<mosaic-request at literacyworkshop.org> wrote:

> But let me close with a brief case study I did back in January.  I love the
> work of Dr. Martin Luther King, admire his principals, but also his ability
> to communicate.  I think most people would agree that he is one of the most
> fluent speakers/readers of all time.   Yet, in January I printed out his I
> Have a Dream Speech and listened to his delivery of the speech from
> 1963.    On impulse, I decided to subject his reading of the speech to the
> DIBELS oral reading fluency test.   As you might expect he did not do
> well.  I calculated his reading rate at 102 words correct per minute, the
> level of a primary grade student.  It's hard to believe that if his speech
> was a test, it might have landed him in a remedial reading setting.

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Lee Brazell, Literacy Specialist
Mountain View Middle School
Goffstown, NH  03045