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Chapter 6: Developing Fluent Readers and Writers
1: Overview
Fluency has been defined as the ability to read quickly, accurately, and with expression. Fluency
is an important component of reading instruction because researchers have found that reading
fluency leads to improved comprehension. At the same time that children are becoming fluent
readers, they’re also becoming fluent writers. Developing fluency is just as important for writers
because both readers and writers must be able to focus their attention on meaning, not on
decoding and spelling words. Chapter 6 explains the relationship between fluency and
comprehension and offers instructional techniques to help children become more fluent readers
and writers.
Chapter 6 Objectives
After reading this chapter, students should be able to:
1 Discuss the components of reading fluency and describe ways to assess reading fluency.
Chapter 6 Outline
Vignette: Ms. Williams’ Students Learn High-Frequency Words
Introduction
READING FLUENCY
• Automatic Reading
WRITING FLUENCY
• Automatic Writing
INTERVENING WITH DYSFLUENT STUDENTS
• Older Dysfluent Readers
• Older Dysfluent Writers
• Obstacles to Fluency
o Obstacle 1: Lack of Automaticity
Assessing Dysfluent Students’ Progress
Review
II. Teaching Suggestions
Preview Questions
Chapter 6 addresses the importance of reading and writing fluency and suggests effective
instructional techniques. As the class begins a study of chapter 6, invite the students to discuss
the questions which follow.
Focus Questions
Pre-service teachers should consider the following questions as they read chapter 6.
1 What is meant by reading and writing fluency?
Class Activities
1 Introduce a topic and then ask the pre-service teachers in your class to do a quickwrite. After
the quickwrite, ask your students to discuss the ways in which quickwrites can lead to
After Class Activities
1. The best way to improve children’s reading speed is to encourage them to participate in
2. Ask your college students to select an appropriate text for a child in grades 4 to 6 and identify
four key words in that text. They should then develop a lesson plan in which they would
introduce the key words before children read the text.
III. Resources
Related Reading
Encourage students to explore chapter 6 topics in more depth by reading the journal articles
and books listed below.
Cunningham, P.M. & Allington, R. L. (2007). Classrooms that work: They can all read and
Online Resources
A to Z Teacher Stuff
Writing a Movie: Summarizing and Rereading a Film Script
Rereading is an effective way to help students become more fluent readers. This lesson plan,
