Caribbean Academy for Reading Intervention and Development

What Is Fluency? Fluency is characterized as the capacity to read quickly, accurately, and clearly. Children must be able to read clearly, whether loudly or quietly, in order to comprehend what they read. Fluent readers use proper tone while reading aloud.  Why Is Fluency Important? Fluency in reading is vital because it connects word recognition and understanding. Children who are unable to read fluently have a jerky and uncomfortable tone to their voice. Those pupils may struggle with decoding skills or just need more experience with reading speed and smoothness. Fluency is also vital for motivation; children who find reading difficult are less likely to desire to do so! Fluency becomes increasingly crucial as readers progress. In the upper primary level, the amount of reading required increases considerably. Students who read slowly or laboriously will struggle to satisfy the reading requirements of their grade level. How To Help While lack of reading fluency may be a struggle, ...

  The capability of hearing and managing the simplest units of sound (phonemes) in words can be described as phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness is a problem for many kids with learning disabilities. Since phonemic awareness is such an important literacy ability, pupils who struggle with phonemic awareness tend to encounter difficulty when reading as well. Reading is a skill that has to be taught using structure. You start at the simplest level and gradually increase based on the student’s progress and readiness.  So, how do you approach this? Start simple!  Of course, where you begin depends on the level and abilities of your students/children, however once letter recognition and letter sounds are complete, you can begin with two letter two-sound words. Example: in, it, at, no. Students should be reminded that words are made up of sounds. Tell  them that  they'll be practising hearing all of the sounds in a word. Make it clear that they should concentrate on...

This Or That: Structured Literacy vs Balanced Literacy  Structured literacy, which is highly endorsed by research and is an evidence-based practice, is frequently suggested for kids with dyslexia and unique learning difficulties. Using explicit and systematic training, structured literacy includes phonological awareness, reading (decoding), spelling (encoding), sight words, fluency, and comprehension. We’ve gone into great detail about the various components of the Structured Literacy Approach, but what makes it different? Let’s compare two major aspects of the Structured Literacy Approach vs Balanced Literacy. Decodable Texts vs Three-Cueing  Readers are taught to use the "three cueing system" in balanced literacy, which encourages guessing based on semantics (context clues, pictures, background knowledge), syntax (language patterns), or sounding out words. While this may provide some guidance, it isn’t actually teaching students to read as it is simply having them rely on a...