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that the student has already completed. As mentioned above, independent reading at
home extends a student’s gains made at school and enhances his or her reading
fluency.

An important point to remember: with regard to fluency, if you can’t hear it, you
can’t assess it. Only by having students read aloud will you, mentors, or partners be
able to provide immediate, constructive feedback. Without such feedback, students may
be practicing something other than fluent reading. That said, independent reading can
improve students’ reading fluency, though you won’t be able to assess it.

Question

Which of the following fluency-building instructional strategies is most like lap reading?

A Large-group shared reading of big books

B Readers’ theater to an audience of parents

C Independent, silent reading at home with self-selected texts

D Reading with a mentor

Answer

Choice D is the correct response. You’ll recall that prosody is the inflected and stressed reading that
is reminiscent of actual or dramatic speech. The student must comprehend the meaning of the text
she’s reading in order to stress the right words in the right way

Review

We’ve covered a lot of information in the preceding chapter—from phonemes to fluency. Here’s a
snapshot of the key points:

• The Alphabetic Principle establishes the systematic way in which the sounds we
make with our vocal cord, nasal passages, and mouths are linked to certain letters and letter
combinations.
• Phonological awareness is the recognition of the distinct segments of spoken sound:
words, syllables, and phonemes Under this category of phonological awareness, we
have phonemic awareness, the recognition of phonemes, ability to segment words into
constituent phonemes, ability to blend phonemes, and substitute phonemes to make new
words.
• Research tells us that phonics instruction for young students works best when it is
systematic and explicit. This means that the teacher charts a definite course, carefully
selects which phonemes to introduce, and works with students on producing, recognizing,
and blending them.
• Fluency means reading with accuracy, speed, and expression. Research shows that
rereading aloud with the right amount of feedback and guidance promotes fluency in young
readers.