Improving Oral Reading Fluency through Readers Theatre.

AbstractIn order for students to learn how to construct meaning from text, teachers must apply instructional strategies that will help readers transition from simple decoding of words to fluent word identification. This article will provide an overview of the literature related to the role of fluency in reading; explain research-based recommendations for fostering fluency with struggling readers; discuss the use of repeated readings, in particular Readers Theatre, as an instructional strategy for developing fluency, and present the findings of a study in which a third-grade teacher applied Readers Theatre to improve the fluency levels of her struggling readers.Improving Oral Reading Fluency through Readers TheatreReading is a process where readers strive to understand and respond to ideas that are expressed in written text. It is a complex, interactive process that consists of multiple interactions between variables such as the reader's background, reading materials, developmental levels, learning context, and learning goals to name a few (Author, 2007). Even with all these complexities, reading can be conceptualized as consisting of two separate, but highly interrelated aspects - word identification and comprehension (Hook & Jones, 2002; Pressley, 2006). As children's reading skills develop, they are expected to read words in print both effortlessly and quickly. Word recognition must become automatic: something that is done both instantly and independently in order to free up cognitive processes for higher level comprehension and connections with texts (LaBerge & Samuels, 1974). They cannot take time to analyze or decode every word they encounter if the goal is higher level thought processes and enjoyment of reading (Richek, Caldwell, Jennings, & Lerner, 2002). With practice, the beginning reader becomes a more fluent reader, learning more and more sight words, so that those words can be recognized at a glance (Unrau, 2004).Struggling with word identification can be a hindrance to constructing meaning. Many struggling readers have difficulty moving to a level of fluency that allows them to easily comprehend what they are reading. If students cannot recognize a substantial number of words encountered while reading texts, then their reading becomes laborious and slow, the comprehension of the text declines (Hoffman & Isaac, 1991; Levine, 2002; National Reading Panel, 2000; Stanovich, 1993/1994). It is well established that a reader's ability to effectively comprehend what they are reading is significantly affected by difficulties in fluent and automatic word recognition (LaBerge & Samuels, 1974; May, 1998; Stanovich, 1993/1994). In fact, mild difficulties in word identification can draw a student's focus away from the underlying meaning, reduce the reading rate, create the need to reread selections in order to grasp meaning, and decrease the overall enjoyment of the experience.When successful readers read aloud, not only do they read fluendy and with adequate speed, they also use appropriate phrasing, intonation; their oral reading mirrors their spoken language. The opposite is true of struggling readers. Their reading tends to be evidenced by a slow, halting, and inconsistent rate; poor phrasing; and deficient intonation patterns that convey a lack of understanding of the text's intent (Dowhower, 1989). Slow reading requires the reader to take more time to complete a reading task than students who are fluent decreasing their exposure to more reading situations.Many teachers provide systematic and synthetic phonics instruction to compensate for initial reading problems experienced by struggling readers. Often, these students become accurate decoders, but fail to reach the level of fluency needed to become efficient readers (Arlington, 1983). Fluency can be viewed as a steppingstone to comprehension, and it has been found to impact comprehension in the primary grades and beyond (Rasinski, Rikli, & Johnson, 2009). …