Methods shown to be effective in helping less fluent readers develop fluency suggest a set of principles that teachers may find helpful in designing regular classroom activities for fluency development. These principles include: (1) repeated reading of one text or meeting target words repeatedly in a variety of texts; (2) teacher modeling of…

Investigates whether improved fluency and comprehension across different stories in repeated reading depend on the degree of word overlap among passages and whether repeated reading is more effective than an equivalent amount of nonrepetitive reading. (HOD)

Introduces middle and secondary school teachers to wordless picture books and discusses how such books can be used to alleviate students' lack of reading fluency. Provides a list of wordless picture books that appeal to older students. (FL)

This action research project describes a program for improving reading fluency in order to increase reading rate and raise comprehension. The targeted population consisted of second and third graders in a middle class community, located in a suburb of a large metropolitan area. The problems of lack of reading fluency and low comprehension were…

The goal of this study was to describe and measure the effects of continuous, as-needed intervention in reading for 92 children in Grades 1-2, to determine whether the severity of reading disability (RD) could be significantly reduced in the catchment schools. The authors hoped that this kind of professional development would help to discriminate…

This manual presents information on designing and delivering a summer learning program whose goal is to provide an opportunity for students to experience academic success and positive self-esteem through reading fluency and comprehension. Sections of the manual address background and policies (on student and teacher selection, student promotion,…

This report describes a program for improving students' reading fluency in order to become more proficient readers. The targeted population consists of first and second grade students in a growing middle class community located in the Midwest. The lack of fluent reading was documented through teacher observation and the calculation of how many…

This study examined the effectiveness of repeated reading and assisted nonrepetitive strategies such as echo reading, cloze reading, and unison reading on reading and error rate, comprehension, and fluency with sixth-grade Chapter 1 students. Findings indicated equivalent benefits for both methods, with significant comprehension improvement over…

The outcome of a training study attempting to increase German speaking poor readers' reading fluency is reported. The aim of the training was to help children establish orthographic representations for a limited set of training words as well as for high-frequency onset clusters. A sample of 20 dysfluent readers (8 to 11 years) received a …

Studied for its effects on the reading fluency of elementary school students, R. C. Heckleman's Neurological Impress Method has proved an inexpensive but effective method for motivating low achievement readers. Twenty-six subjects from grades 2 to 6 practiced reading in unison with a tutor during four 15-minute sessions a week. During the sessions…

Providing a summary of the psychological research on children's reading comprehension, this book explores the psychology of the reading process by concentrating on the development of reading comprehension skills. The book analyzes both the skills of fluent adult readers and the development of children's language from the age of five, when most…

This report describes a program for increasing reading fluency through the implementation of leveled books. The elementary students of the three targeted regular education classes exhibit low fluency rates which impedes them from becoming independent readers. Evidence for the existence of the problem includes words read per minute on a grade level…

This study describes a program designed to increase student achievement in reading. The targeted population consisted of two first grade classes and one second grade class in a small central Illinois community. The median household income was in the lower range. Evidence of the existence of the problem included the April 2000 standard testing…

The importance of all children achieving adequate reading outcomes by the end of third grade cannot be overstated. Awareness is growing nationwide of the dividends of early reading success and the dire consequences of early reading failure. Schools need a prevention-oriented assessment and intervention system to prevent reading difficulties from…

Presents a review of the literature on oral reading fluency. Offers a comprehensive picture of factors associated with fluency development by clarifying and refining the variant ways researchers have interpreted the fluency construct. Recommends research-based instructional principles that foster fluency development; examines approaches used to…