Praxis

Continuing along with the theme of my own growth, guidance, and intention, along with what really makes a difference in the fluency improvement among students, I can highlight and cite some pivotal changes I've incorporated into my classroom this year and plan to use next year.
Here is what the research says, according the BIG WIGS...and a small bit on what I've done because of it...

1. Types of materials to choose could be Reader's Theaters, poems, leveled books, audio books, songs, plays or song lyrics, which all lend themselves most fittingly to fluency instruction (Rasinski, 2005). 

Towards the final portion of my school year, I have incorporated numerous poems, listening activities, and plays which have been intended to give my students an opportunity to delve into effective, enjoyable and relative reading materials that are fun to read! 

2. Regardless of a student’s age, fluent oral reading to the students, coupled with discussion of a response to the reading, should be a regular part of any instructional package for children who are struggling with reading (Opitz and Rasinski, 1998). Modeling various readings can give teachers a chance to reflect before, during and after a story, giving insight to emergent readers on how they use various reading skills and how to process the information read.

Even I get excited about reading aloud to my students. Partly, because I love getting into character and performing, but also because nothing compares to the engagement and excitement in each students eyes when you have a read aloud that comes to life. When the students see, hear, and watch you model an effective, fluent, expressive read aloud, they want to be like you! That is what they take with them. 

3. Listening centers also provide additional, effective fluency practice. At listening centers, students can listen to an audio story, poem or play read through a reading curriculum CD, read by a teacher or even a student. Listening centers and assisted reading have a positive impact on fluency (Rasinski, 2005). 

One of the biggest questions among the teachers I worked with this year was, "What do we do with all of our new iPads?" A listening center gave me a wonderful opportunity to showcase how this technology can be used. With an idea from a fellow master's colleague, and the app "WavePad" for the iPhone, I set out a few iPads and our monthly poems at a listening center, and had student's record themselves reading the poems. Students were in groups of 2-4. When I first discussed the center, you would have thought it was Christmas morning! They were so excited. Soon after the centers began, you could hear the voice inflection, and variation; the students became different characters, and soon I began to hear character parts evolve...remember, all I asked them to do was record themselves! They took this center to a whole new level and they had FUN with it!

4. For independent reading routines to succeed, students need support, excellent materials to read, ample and consistent amounts of time, and opportunities to share their responses while reading with others (Padak and Potenza-Radis 2010). As students are surrounded by caring, knowledgeable, enthusiastic teachers, their chance of succeeding with fluency will be greatly enhanced. 

One last area that was truly a "game" changer in my classroom was the implementation of STAR time (Stop, Take a Book, and Read). We began this experiment by challenging ourselves to 10 minutes of silent reading. Students chose appropriate leveled books from our Guided Reading selection, and I had to sit down and read as well. Nothing is worse than having to be a student watch their teacher cruise around the room trying to get something besides reading done. A big piece of fluency success is modeling. After our first bout with 10 minutes, the students asked for 2 more minutes! Soon after the first, second, and third day of this procedure, I found that after they had read, most students wanted to share something about their books, so we added another "quick" time period to share 1 interesting item about their books with a neighbor. I felt as if we truly fostered a "love" of reading. I plan on using this time as soon as possible next year, and might include a day to read with a buddy (fellow student) or two.