A practicum addressed the problem of lack of fluency of learning-disabled and low-achieving students (N=24) retained in the first grade by using predictable books written in a natural manner emphasizing the children's natural language. Two evaluation procedures from the Reading Miscue Inventory were used to determine the degree to which students reduced miscues that altered the meaning of the text. Retelling of the story gave the reader an opportunity to enhance the construction of meaning. Strategies based upon a holistic view of the reading were implemented to provide students with the ability to sample, predict, and confirm as they made use of the knowledge, within a pragmatic context, of the syntactic, semantic, and graphophonic cueing systems, each interacting in order to process print. Results indicated decreased levels of miscues, taken individually and in sentence context, and a shift in attitude from a subskills or skills view of reading to a more holistic and personal view of reading. Fluency was increased as measured by the goals set for the study. (Two tables of data are included, and 47 references are attached. Appendixes include an analysis of miscues, book selection evaluation, and parental involvement forms.) (Author/MG)