Reading fluently

[IndigoBell]

Has anyone here got a child who has taken an exceedingly long time to go from being able to blend CVC words, to being able to read them fluently? ( say more than 6 months )

And if so what helped or what was the reason they took so long to be able to read fluently?

My DD seems absolutely unable to make this leap, so any and all advice will be much appreciated.

I have had some pupils who take a very long time to get to the fluent stage, but they have got there.

Some things that helped were

• once they were confident with blending the words aloud, asking them to whisper them and then eventually do the blending in their heads (still saying c-a-t to themselves, if needed, but silently, and trying to blend it internally). That still took time initially, but they seemed to speed up more quickly than if they always said the sounds aloud

• blending with onset and rime rather than all three sounds, so playing a lot of games with rhyming words c-at, r-at, m-at, etc. First orally, so asking - can you think of a rhyming word for 'cat' that starts with m? Or can you think of a word that ends with 'at' that starts with 'm'. Then on paper, sounding out and blending the 'at' first if needed, then perhaps looking through a list of words and finding that they all end in 'at', and then using that to identify that they will all rhyme and then changing the initial sounds as in the oral work, etc. Might need very small steps, and the idea made quite explicit, like looking for the end rhyme, sounding it out once, explaining it will make the same sound the next time, deliberately trying to use that to help, etc.

• once changing the beginning sound is established, looking at changing the ending sound, or the middle

• segmenting words, into onset-rime and then into phonemes; if she can gradually see how words are broken down into sounds, it can be easier and faster to put them back together as needed. I sometimes use the idea of 'batteries running down' - asking a child to say a word as if it's a talking toy whose batteries are dying. That gives them an idea of how to say the word slowly, but without actually making it into totally separate sounds (and adding the 'uh' that often happens). You can do it at various speeds, from just a little slower than normal, to really slow, and go back and forth, guessing what each other's words are, speeding up and slowing down, etc.

• timed practice, if done in a non-stressed way. Timing how long it takes to read and blend 10 words, then trying to speed up next time, etc. Or how many words in a minute. If there is a reward or motivation, she might be more willing to try some of the strategies like doing it in her head or looking for rhyming words, if she can see that in increases her speed. Sometimes, with some children, it was just a habit they'd got into, of saying the sounds and then blending it. They didn't need to, but they were so used to it, and afraid to do otherwise.

CloudsAway - thanks! Lots of practical ideas here. I'll try them...

I'm very nervous about trying the timed exercises though, because she won't improve, and then it'll be demotivating. ( I have tried timed exercises before)

But encouraging her to blend in her head does sound like a good place to start.

Regarding timed exercises. There are way to do this so success is quite readily seen. The standard celeration chart is a tool used by many precision teachers to chart progress. Children can be taught to chart their own progress. You can decrease or increase the length of the timings. You can time number of words (or sounds) read per timing, or chart length of time per x number of words. If the child is not improving then the task is to difficult and you need to slice back unitl you get a task the child can do and get better at. It is generally motivating if done correctly although I can believe you have both had negative and unrewarding experiences.

precisionteaching.pbworks.com/w/page/18240978/FrontPage

Yes, mrz, I could/can see that and I stand by my comments. I know what KS2 means (as I said, ex-primary teacher.) If you think about what's happening in the context of her whole life, I think it's OK to relax a bit. And, yes, it's just an opinion, but a relatively well informed one. Even IF Indigo's DD is - in the long term - 'diagnosed' with something, it will change very little about the presenting 'symptoms' or how to address them. (Ugh to this approach, IMHO.)

I know I'd feel a bit worried too in Indigo's shoes, but actually I think less of the reading schemes and 'sit down and read' approach at home might actually be far more valuable in the long term. It sounds like school and home are monitoring and supporting as much as is practical and possible. You can't make someone do something. It probably just needs time now.

And with a view to the original question, the things that DID actually create fluidity in my DDs reading in the end was

a. not being pressurised to read aloud;
b. having the hunger to do it on her own, wanting independence and having to work through the frustration through self-imposed practice;
c. needing to read for a practical reason, beginning with a few words here and there (lists/place names/captions) and then finally more and more;
d. having some truly funny jokes/poems/short stories/picture books read to her, and the longing to read them again so she got to laugh at it as many times as she wanted to - all on her own;
e. reading some of those funny things out to friends or younger children and making them laugh (involved some improvisation on the text, but it didn't matter);
f. familiarity with the text and
g. recognising the link with writing, and becoming proactive with language instead of a 'passive pre-reader' (bookmaking, writing captions/speech bubbles, etc.)

Ultimately all of these took the adult-imposed pressure away, and boosted her confidence. (And I know all this because I asked her opinion about it.)
I'm not for one second assuming 'if you follow what I did, then her reading will be perfect'. I'm not that naive, I'm just doing my best to respond to the original question and support what's already there.

PS And while I like lots of what CloudsAway is saying with regards to the nitty gritty, I think this is stuff school should be doing. Learning new skills is usually most successful in tiny bites, very regularly. Once or twice a day in school time is probably enough.

What's suggested won't create fluent oral reading delivery at all. It's still treating words as things to be named/recognised individually rather than tools for communication when grouped.

It won't address the original question at all.

missmehalia I only mentioned it because Indigo hadn't said on this thread how old her daughter is or which class/key stage she is in and as you are new and weren't aware of other things I thought it might help.

She mentioned she's in year 3 here somewhere, so has been in KS2 for a few months.

I honestly would like to give Indigo a big hug and tell her I think she's an amazingly supportive mum who can afford to relax! Really..

Yes you do have to be careful with timed tasks to make sure that there is progress, and breaking it down into smallest chunks is important; you also know your daughter and will be able to introduce these only when you think she is ready.

It's also worth noting that reading by blending individual sounds c-a-t = cat is, to some extent, a habit, and children who are used to doing it will have got quite practised at it. Therefore, introducing new strategies - even those that will ultimately speed up fluency - might well be slower and require more mental effort to start with. Having to start thinking about using rhyming words as a strategy involves several new skills, and if a child knows that they can go c-a-t = cat, m-a-t = mat and will eventually get the right word that way, even if slow, there is something safe and comforting in that. So new strategies might take time to produce results, and be initially discouraging. It can be worth explaining that to children, and getting them on side about increasing their fluency so that they see the benefits of perhaps changing their strategy to something that might initially seem harder or slower. It can also be helpful to make the rhyming type activities into a separate sort of game that has little to do with 'reading', but just some other activity that can be done with words, to practise the skills without the mindset of "this is reading; I have to decode these words as fast as possible because everyone else reads fast and I can't".

And no, reading isolated words fluently is not the same as general oral reading fluency at all, but it is still one of the steps that is needed for that eventually to be possible. There are many other aspects of that sort of fluency, but I suspect the question here is not about that, but about how to increase blending skills to make decoding individual words faster and easier.

Tiny steps and frequent short practice sessions are certainly helpful. It's great if a school can do this, but if they aren't and a child is struggling greatly with this, then parents or tutors can help. It doesn't have to be done in a pressured way.

Indigo has tried Pression teaching at my suggestion but didn't find it at all helpful for her daughter Clouds

Precision even

There are 2 problems with precision teaching,

1 - is obviously finding the time to do it. As I work full time I can't be working with DD 5 times a day. But even on the weekend when I can do it, I find it very hard to keep it light and stress free.

2 - is I couldn't work out how to break reading CVC words into an easier task. She can only read them at 15 words per minute. I want her to be able to read at 30 wpm. She can't do this, so I need to make an easier task that she can do and get faster it.

So I gave her just the cat, sat, mat rhyming words and she could read them at almost 30 wpm. So then I mixed them in with the had, bad, sad rhyming words - and I realised she was just guessing not reading, or rather she was only reading the first letter.

If the task requires actual blending she cannot do it fast, and I cannot work out what an easier task would be.

I would love school to do PT with her, and will be suggesting 'they do lots of short busts of work with her' at the IEP meeting, but I don't think it's going to work me doing it with her.

I really need school to 'own' the problem. And me suggesting what they should do won't work, because there's no manual to follow. They need to think on their feet and adapt, so they need to really want to do PT and know how to do it.

My main goal for the IEP meeting is to get school to admit that she is not making adequate progress and needs more support. Then what form the support takes can be adapted until it is something that works....

The task of reading a mixed list could be broken into smaller stages though. If she can read the 'cat, sat, mat' list, then instead of then increasing it to a mixed list with the 'ad' words, perhaps putting only one of them in, and ask if she can spot it. Then increase the number and have her circle all the 'ad' words and underline the 'at' words - directing her attention to the part that is different is one of the skills that she needs. You could even get rid of the initial consonants and then just do the same thing with the 'ad' and 'at' parts, etc, and practice switching between saying them, until she gets faster at that. Then maybe introducing initial consonants. Or adding another ending to the mix. Eventually swapping vowels etc. But doing it all gradually.

And not trying to be too fast yet, but just trying to slowly increase the speed. She might also need to be told explicitly what she is doing - for example, pointing it out to her that she is guessing based on the first letter, and whilst that is a sensible strategy at times, right now you need her to make sure they are right based on all the letters - making sure she understands what the problem is and what the goals are and why you are giving her these strategies.

But it does take time, that's for sure, and I can well imagine how hard that is for someone working full time, and also when it's a parent who is emotionally involved as well. I find it easier to get children to do things for me that they won't or can't do with their parents, simply by being a third party.

good luck.