Developing Fluent Readers: Teaching Fluency as a Foundational Skill

by Melanie R. Kuhn PhD, Lorell Levy EdD

Overview

Viewing fluency as a bridge between foundational skills and open-ended learning, this book guides teachers through effective instruction and assessment of fluent reading skills in the primary grades. Fluency’s relationship to phonological awareness, phonics, and print concepts is explained, and practical methods are shared for integrating fluency instruction in a literacy curriculum grounded in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Classroom examples, weekly lesson plans, and extensive lists of recommended texts add to the book’s utility for teachers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781462519217
Publisher:	Guilford Publications, Inc.
Publication date:	01/12/2015
Series:	The Essential Library of PreK-2 Literacy
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	148
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Melanie R. Kuhn, PhD, is Professor and Jean Adamson Stanley Faculty Chair in Literacy at the Purdue University College of Education. Her primary focus has been on reading fluency and how best to support its development. In addition, her research interests include literacy instruction for struggling readers and comprehension and vocabulary development. Dr. Kuhn’s instructional experience includes clinic work, directing reading interventions, and teaching in the Boston Public Schools. She served as a member of the Literacy Research Panel for the International Literacy Association and as a board member for the Literacy Research Association. Dr. Kuhn has written or edited several books, along with numerous journal articles and book chapters. She moderates the website https://thereadingforum.com.

Lorell Levy, EdD, is a learning disabilities teacher/consultant in the West Windsor-Plainsboro (New Jersey) School District and Adjunct Professor at The College of New Jersey, where she teaches courses on literacy education. Dr. Levy has presented at both national and regional conferences on topics of literacy education and special education. She is on the board of directors of several nonprofit organizations and has spent time training parents, teachers, and health care professionals in Ghana on how to work with children on the autism spectrum.

Table of Contents

1. Foundational Skills and Open-Ended Learning: When and Why?2. What Is Fluent Reading?3. Assessing Fluent Reading4. Fluency Instruction for Any Setting5. Fluency Instruction for Shared Reading6. Fluency Instruction for Flexible Groups7. Fluency Instruction for Individuals8. Supplemental Fluency InstructionAward-Winning Trade Books for Children, 2000-2014Notable Trade Books for Children, 2013-2014ReferencesIndex

Interviews

PreK-2 classroom teachers, reading specialists and coaches, and special educators; teacher educators and graduate students. May be used in graduate-level courses.

Editorial Reviews

An invaluable resource for beginning and experienced teachers. Drawing on rigorous classroom research, Kuhn and Levy offer numerous ideas and strategies for providing young readers with extensive learning opportunities based on principles of effective fluency instruction. Further, they provide important information for assessing reading and making informed decisions on issues such as book selection and individual and group support. This essential book will help K/-2 teachers understand the role of fluency and how to provide meaningful reading instruction that aligns with the CCSS.”—Barbara A. Bradley, PhD, Department of Curriculum and Teaching, University of Kansas

“As teachers nationwide seek ways to help their students achieve the CCSS, they will find invaluable guidance in this short, comprehensive book on the importance of fluency in the development of reading skills. It is filled with easy-to-use research-based strategies and assessments that will help all students, especially struggling readers, engage with challenging texts. I can’t wait to apply these methods in my classroom!”—Kristina Z. Phelan, MA, EdM, reading specialist, Tinton Falls (New Jersey) Public Schools

“This is unquestionably the most comprehensive volume to support fluency instruction and improve comprehension! Early primary grade teachers will appreciate the clear explanations and many lesson plans that align essential fluency strategies with the CCSS. Preservice teachers will find this resource an invaluable addition to their coursework and their professional libraries—every essential research-based fluency strategy is included. The book provides a great deal of support and ideas for using challenging texts linked to scaffolded instruction, another important way to promote fluency and to make a connection to the CCSS.”—Mary Lee Bass, EdD, Department of Speech Pathology, Educational Counseling, and Leadership, Monmouth University

"This book will be extremely useful in both undergraduate and graduate initial certification programs. Instructors of reading methods courses will value the numerous up-to-date research citations and links to the CCSS, and teacher candidates will welcome the helpful diagrams, lesson plans, and lists of suggested children's books. Readers will appreciate the objective-focused instructional chapters that all follow the same basic outline: 'If you need this fluency outcome for your classroom, then these are the instructional strategies that would be helpful.'"—Gwynne Ellen Ash, PhD, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Texas State University

"This is a great book that I'm glad to add to my professional learning library. Too often, reading assessments and fluency programs focus on speed alone, missing the importance of how the reading sounds. This book provides an in-depth definition of fluency that emphasizes how automaticity and prosody work together."—Lisa Kapp, K-3 reading teacher, Slackwood Elementary School, Lawrence Township, New Jersey

From the Publisher