The Five Components:

http://www.timrasinski.com/

Timothy Rasinski, Ph.D.

This is the website of Tim Rasinski, noted author and national speaker on reading fluency in today’s classrooms.  This website contains links to Dr. Rasinski’s presentation materials, articles he has authored, and resource links that he mentions in his lectures.

http://www.nrcld.org/symposium2003/vellutino/bio.html

The National Research Center on Learning Disabilities sponsored this two-day symposium focusing on responsiveness-to-intervention (RTI) issues. The speakers, discussants, and participants assembled represented the wide diversity of individuals with a vested interest in LD determination issues. Advocates, instructional staff, researchers, and state-level education officials brought their collective and considerable expertise to the discussions.

Frank R. Vellutino of the University at Albany presented this invited paper during the symposium.

Frank Vellutino is professor of psychology, the University at Albany, the State University of New York. He is also director of the University’s Child Research and Study Center. Most of his research has focused on reading development, the cognitive underpinnings of reading, and the relationship between reading difficulties and various aspects of language, and other cognitive functions. This research has generated numerous articles in refereed journals, in addition to a book and numerous book chapters addressing the causes and correlates of reading difficulties in young children. His most recent studies have addressed the development of predictive, assessment, and remedial procedures for correcting and preventing long term reading difficulties in children at risk for early reading difficulties.

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3785/is_200404/ai_n9398880

Phonics: A Large Phoneme-Grapheme Frequency Count Revised

Journal of Literacy Research, Spring 2004 by Fry, Edward

This study is a summary and simplification of a very large phoneme-grapheme frequency count done by Hanna et al. (1966). Although the results and data from the original study have implications for teaching phonics and spelling, they were presented in a complicated and unwieldy manner. Moreover, the original study is out of print. This study, then, presents a succinct and simplified summary of the Hanna et al. results for researchers and teachers of reading and spelling.

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3785/is_200504/ai_n13638848

Fluency-Oriented Reading Instruction

Stahl, Steven A

This paper reports the results of a two-year project designed to reorganize basal reading instruction to stress fluent reading and automatic word recognition. The reorganized reading program had three components: a redesigned basal reading lesson that included repeated reading and partner reading, a choice reading period during the day, and a home reading program. Over two years of program implementation, students made significantly greater than expected growth in reading achievement in all 14 classes. All but two children who entered second grade reading at a primer level or higher (and half of those who did not) were reading at grade level or higher by the end of the year. Growth in fluency and accuracy appeared to be consistent over the whole year. Students’ and teachers’ attitudes toward the program were positive. In evaluating individual components, we found that self-selected partnerings seemed to work best and that children chose partners primarily out of friendship. Children tended to choose books that were at or slightly below their instructional level. In addition, children seemed to benefit instructionally from more difficult materials than generally assumed, with the greater amount of scaffolding provided in this program.

http://www.readingcenter.buffalo.edu/center/research/tmgrr.html

CENTER FOR LITERACY AND READING INSTRUCTION
University at Buffalo

Supporting Theory, Research, and Rationale for TMgRR. A theory underlying the process of reading is that a reader has only so much attention that can be focused on gaining meaning while reading a specific text. If part of that attention is diverted from comprehension and understanding, the result is limited reading fluency and comprehension. For beginning readers and children with reading problems, the factors most likely to detract from fluency and meaning are the reader’s (a) inability to identify quickly most of the words of the text, (b) reading in stilted, word-by-word, or otherwise unnatural language, and (c) lack of attention to meaning. Teacher Modeling with Guided Repeated Readings (TMgRR) helps children develop fluency in reading. Fluency is reading smoothly, without hesitation, and with comprehension (The Literacy Dictionary, IRA: 1995). A requirement for fluent reading is automaticity in word recognition. Automaticity comes from the word automatic, and means the recognition of individual words in text with little effort or attention: i.e., sight vocabulary.

http://www.ldonline.org/article/6254

Phonological Awareness: Instructional and Assessment Guidelines

By: David J. Chard and Shirley V. Dickson (1999)

No area of reading research has gained as much attention over the past two decades as phonological awareness. Perhaps the most exciting finding
emanating from research on phonological awareness is that critical levels of phonological awareness can be developed through carefully planned
instruction, and this development has a significant influence on children’s reading and spelling achievement (Ball & Blachman, 1991; Bradley & Bryant,
1985; Byrne & Fielding-Barnsley, 1989, 1991; O’Connor, Jenkins, Leicester, & Slocum, 1993).

http://www.reading.org/resources/issues/positions_phonemic.html

The position statement of the International Reading Association.

Research has shown that a child’s awareness of the sounds of spoken words is a strong predictor of his or her later success in learning to read. Teachers
of young children can encourage play with spoken language as part of a broader literacy program. Nursery rhymes, riddles, songs, poems, and
read-aloud books that manipulate sounds are all effective vehicles.

http://www.readingrockets.org/articles/408

By: Marilyn J. Adams, Barbara Foorman, Ingvar Lundberg, and Terri Beeler
(1998)

Research shows that the very notion that spoken language is made up of sequences of little sounds does not come naturally or easily to human
beings. The small units of speech that correspond to letters of an alphabetic writing system are called phonemes. Thus, the awareness that
language is composed of these small sounds is termed phonemic awareness.

http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content2/phoemic.p.k12.4.html

Author: Roger Sensenbaugh

Kidsource Online has a wonderful selection of information regarding research and practice on phonological and phonemic awareness and learning to read. Educators are always looking for valid and reliable predictors of educational achievement. One reason why educators are so interested in phonemic awareness is that research indicates that it is the best predictor of the ease of early reading acquisition (Stanovich, 1993-94), better even than IQ, vocabulary, and listening comprehension.

http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/units/fluency.htm

This website designed by Busy Teachers Cafe, is a treasure trove of information about the aspects of fluency (accuracy, rate, and prosody), a
discussion of when, how and where to teach fluency, and links for more information and sites for material.  This link is for teachers!