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Fluency is complex, especially for older students.

In this episode, Janee' Butler shares:

• how fluency instruction looks from early grades to secondary
• about challenges students and teachers face,
• practical strategies for improving fluency,
• a reminder not to forget about student motivation, especially for older students struggling with reading fluently.

The Big Takeway: Reading fluency is essential for older students to be able to comprehend what they read. Teachers need the knowledge of how to help each student!

Want to Learn More?

• Janee's presentation at PaTTAN Symposium 2024: Achieving Adolescent Literacy Proficiency: The Importance of Fluency
• Teaching Oral Reading Fluency to Older Students by Tim Shanahan
• Phonics and Spelling through Phoneme-Grapheme Mapping by Catherine Grace
• Really Great Reading assessments (free)
• DIBELS assessments- 8th Edition (free)
• Plain Talk About Literacy & Learning Conference 2025
• email Janee': janee@mycll.org

We wrote a book! The Literacy 50-A Q&A Handbook for Teachers: Real-World Answers to Questions About Reading That Keep You Up at Night

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Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.

We would love to hear from you! Send us a message (if you'd like a reply, email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org)

From June 3, 2022

Today middle school educators from Baltimore City Public Schools join us to discuss their focus on fluency through Continuous Improvement work with fluency using HQC. What is Continuous Improvement? Why is this a useful framework? “Possibly wrong, definitely incomplete” is a mantra that resonates. The educators share their approach, impact, and outcomes for students. Secondary teachers… this one’s for you.

Related Episodes

• Ep. 98: Improving Student Reading Growth in Months with Fluency Instruction and Practice
• Ep. 62: Effective Fluency Instruction with Tim Rasinski

Resources

• Carnegie Foundation Continuous Improvement in Education Resources such as videos, tools, and publications

We wrote a book! The Literacy 50-A Q&A Handbook for Teachers: Real-World Answers to Questions About Reading That Keep You Up at Night

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• Twitter
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Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.

We would love to hear from you! Send us a message (if you'd like a reply, email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org)

Chase Young discusses the implementation of Reader's Theater in the classroom, providing a detailed framework for the process. He emphasizes the importance of structured practice, fluency, and expression, as well as the benefits of engaging students in dramatic reading. Reader's Theater can be implemented in ELA and other subject areas with grade-level texts. Reader's Theatre improves reading skills and transfers skills to other texts.

Takeaways

• Structured practice is essential for achieving fluency and expression in Reader's Theater.
• Reader's Theater can be integrated with other subjects, providing opportunities for vocabulary and morphology instruction.
• Choosing challenging, grade-level texts is important for meeting grade-level expectations and supporting students' fluency and comprehension.
• Repetition plays a significant role in scaffolding and supporting students' fluency and expression in Reader's Theater. Reader's Theatre is an effective tool for improving reading skills and fluency.

Resources

• Meta analysis - super duper effect size 1.23
• Readers Theatre Plus Comprehension and Word Study 2017
• Free Readers’ Theater Scripts at The Best Class - Chase Young’s website
• Rumpelstiltskin Readers’ Theater Script
• The Methods of Repeated Readings - J. Samuels The Reading Teacher
• More Readers' Theater Scripts at JustTwoTeachers

We wrote a book! The Literacy 50-A Q&A Handbook for Teachers: Real-World Answers to Questions About Reading That Keep You Up at Night

• Facebook and join our Facebook Group
• Twitter
• Instagram

Don't miss an episode! Sign up for FREE bonus resources and episode alerts at LiteracyPodcast.com

Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.