Alternative Teaching Techniques for Low Achieving Students: Repeated Reading Exercises for the Student with Limited

Reading Fluency
The Psycho-Educational Teacher
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Low reading fluency is a very common problem in the low achieving student. To be considered a fluent reader, a student should be able to read: By first grade: 40-60 words per minute By second grade: 50-95 words per minute By third grade: 80-115 words per minute By grades fourth and fifth: 120-150 words per minute In addition, by grades sixth and up: 150-180 words per minute From grades nine to twelve, a student is fluent if he or she can read between 180 and 200 words per minute. Fluency divides into speed and accuracy. A fluent reader of any grade level should be able to pronounce words with at least 95% accuracy, or no more than five errors in every 100 words pronounced. To improve word reading rate and accuracy in the struggling reader, here are some alternative teaching techniques that we can use:

Use Repeated Readings of Paragraphs and Passages Have the student reread the article or passage until the words in the passage are committed to sight memory. A sight memory word is any word that the student can pronounce accurately within one second of presentation. Repeated readings of passages slightly above the students current reading level is important in increasing the childs sight vocabulary. Once the student masters passages at a particular reading level (e.g. at the upper second grade reading level), we move the child to repeated readings of passages at the next reading level (e.g. at the low third grade reading level). We repeat this process until the child reads passages that are closer to his age level. Do echo reading or imitative reading exercises. Either you or a fluent reader can be the leader, and the child follows (repeats). When doing echo reading, read one sentence at a time and start with reading material that is slightly above the students current reading level. Always begin with smaller segments of easier text and gradually progress the student in length and difficulty. Use assisted reading; that is, the leader supplies any words in the passage that the student does not recognize or mispronounces. Some reading fluency methods recommend that you do no more than three repeated readings of the same passage or article, and then you move the child to a different passage of the same level of difficulty. This is to expose the student to as many words as possible (word exposure). However, other reading fluency methods accept that you keep the student reading the same passage until the child masters the pronunciation of the reading material. You can read the same passage together, but alternating lines. For example, you read all the first lines and the student follows you reading each second line (1-2 order). Finish the passage, and then reread switching lines; that is, the child reads first and you second (2-1 order). Do this for several minutes, and finally have the student reread the whole paragraph by himself. In another adaptation of repeated readings of passages, the teacher reads aloud one sentence or line in the passage, and then the student with the teacher read aloud the same sentence. Finally, the student alone reads aloud the sentence. In the paired reading method, the leader and the student read in unison (synchronized voices).

Use Repeated Readings of Sentences In echo reading, the teacher reads a target phrase or sentence while pointing to each word and the student repeats the phrase or sentence. Echo reading gives the student the opportunity to hear how the phrases or sentences should sound using the right intonation and phrasing. To develop the right intonation and phrasing, use the scooping technique; that is, read sentences in natural linguistic units or phrases. For example, you read, Sylvia was next (scoop) bat (scoop). Use Word Drills If the student has difficulty reading words with a particular pattern; for example, ish words like selfish or brownish, prepare word lists or word cards of about twenty words with the same visual pattern and have the student read all twenty words within three minutes, then two minutes, and finally in one minute or less. If you use word cards, with each trial, shuffle the word cards to avoid that the child memorizes the order of the words. Teach the student that she can read new or unknown words by orthographic analogy; that is, making an analogy between rime patterns, e.g. m eat, reading these words fast. Teach the student to recognize morpheme patterns in words, e.g. ance in ap pli ance and in de liv er ance. Prepare word drills using the same morpheme pattern, and have the student read each word first by syllables or chunks and then fast (whole word). Remember that pronunciation is an anchor for the word; saying the word aloud several times and fast will help the student automatize (cement) the words pronunciation. Always do drills on error words; that is, words that the student mispronounces. This is more effective than doing drills in unknown words, or words that the child never studies or uses. st eal, s eal. Then drill the student in up at

About the Author

Carmen Y. Reyes, The Psycho-Educational Teacher, has more than twenty years of experience as a self-contained special education teacher, resource room teacher, and educational diagnostician. Carmen has taught at all grade levels, from kindergarten to post secondary. Carmen is an expert in the application of behavior management strategies, and in teaching students with learning or behavior problems. Her classroom background, in New York City and her native Puerto Rico, includes ten years teaching emotionally disturbed/behaviorally disordered children and four years teaching students with a learning disability or low cognitive functioning. Carmen has a bachelors degree in psychology (University of Puerto Rico) and a masters degree in special education with a specialization in emotional disorders (Long Island University, Brooklyn: NY). She also has extensive graduate training in psychology (30+ credits). Carmen is the author of 60+ books and articles in child guidance and in alternative teaching techniques for low-achieving students. You can read the complete collection of articles on Scribd or her blog, The Psycho-Educational Teacher. To download free the eGuide, Persuasive Discipline: Using Power Messages and Suggestions to Influence Children Toward Positive Behavior, visit Carmens blog.