Reading ...
Developing fluent readers
Oral Reading Fluency
A fluent reader is reading accurately, at a good pace, and with appropriate expression. Their reading appears effortless and natural. However, fluent reading requires mastering a complex set of interacting skills and knowledge that does not come easily to all children.
When students first begin to read, their efforts at decoding consume most of their attentional resources, and their reading will be tentative rather than smooth. As their familiarity with written words increases, their reading rate increases.
When they are reading fluently, children are better able to understand what they are reading.
Why is fluency so important?
If a child is not fluent (i.e. they still sound out the words they read / read words inaccurately / read like a robot) there is no cognitive energy left to focus on meaning.
Oral reading fluency (ORF) acts as the link or bridge between word reading and reading comprehension, and reading fluency difficulties have been shown to be the single biggest concern of children with under-developed reading comprehension.
At Lockleys North PS teachers and leadership are committed to helping children become successful readers. Readers who are fluent and have sound comprehension of texts read. As part of this commitment, our school has chosen to use a test called Acadience Reading in Years 3-6 to help us examine how your child is doing in learning important reading skills.
What is Acadience?
Acadience Reading is a universal screening and progress monitoring assessment that measures the acquisition of early literacy skills. These measures are used to regularly monitor the development of early literacy skills in order to provide timely instructional support.
- At LNPS students in Reception to year 2 have early literacy skills assessed through the InitiaLit program.
- Acadience Reading tests are only implemented in years 3 to 6.
Acadience Reading tests skills that are necessary for learning to read. Children who learn these skills become fluent readers. The skills that are assessed in years 3 to 6 are:
- Oral Reading Fluency
- Accurate and Fluent Reading: Reading stories and other materials easily and quickly with few mistakes
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding what is read
Each test takes approximately 1 minute because the tests are used only as indicators. Much like using a thermometer to take a child’s temperature is an indicator of overall health, each test is an indicator of how well a child is doing in learning a particular early reading skill. The scores tell us whether a child is likely to be “on track” for learning to read or whether a child may need some help in learning important reading skills.
Acadience Reading is further used to identify children who may need extra help to become good readers, and to check up on those children while they receive the extra help to make sure they are making progress.
Acadience Reading will also be used to make decisions about how well our school’s overall reading programs and instruction is working for all children. Acadience Reading will not be used to grade your child.
Teachers at LNPS use the indicators to:
- identify skills to target for instructional support;
- examine the effectiveness of this instruction, and
- progress monitor students who may be at risk of reading difficulties
We are working hard at school to make sure that every child is on target for success, and we thank you for your efforts at home. Together, we will help your child become a successful reader.