The Hows and Whys of Fluency Instruction

Incorporating the strategies that matter most to develop fluency for all readers, Melanie presents teachers with research-based best-practices to implement with a range of readers - from students who are making the transition to fluency in the second and third grades to struggling readers in the fourth grade and beyond-who have experienced difficulty with this transition. Drawing on her years as a classroom teacher and reading specialist, Melanie presents explicit instruction, scaffolding tips, and examples of gradual release of responsibility model to guide teachers and literacy coaches in the integration of oral reading into the shared reading curriculum or one-on-one work with a struggling reader. Her friendly advice, suggestions for various reading materials, and instructional strategies fit into every classroom where readers struggle. Melanie thoughtfully outlines specific approaches for curriculum-based assessments of learners' reading fluency to help teachers determine whether students are making appropriate progress and to identify which students need to focus on fluency development. Every teacher and reading coach will find there is a place for fluency within their literacy curriculum! Transition your struggling students to fluent and confident readers with "Fluency Development in the Classroom"!
Organizes the approaches in an easy-to-follow format according to the type of student grouping that it being implemented in a given instructional setting, whether working with small groups, whole class, or individual learners.
Presents both the theoretical framework behind fluent reading as well as the role of oral reading in the history of U.S. schools.
Incorporates a wide range of texts to expose students to a greater number of concepts and a larger vocabulary.

Melanie Kuhn is an associate professor in Literacy and Language at Boston University. She began her teaching career in the Boston Public Schools, has worked as a literacy coordinator for an adult education program, spent three years as a clinician at an International School in England, and, most recently, was a professor in Reading Education at Rutgers Graduate School of Education. She received her Ed. M. in Reading and Language at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, her M.Phil. in the Psychological Investigation of Intellectual Development at Cambridge University, and her Ph.D. in Reading Education from the University of Georgia. She has authored several articles and chapters, including Fluency: A Review of Developmental and Remedial Practices with Steven Stahl, as well as two books The Hows and Whys of Fluency Instruction with Allyn & Bacon and Fluency in the Classroom with the Guilford Press. She currently teaches courses on content area reading, early literacy, and assessing and correcting reading difficulties. Her research interests include literacy instruction for struggling readers, fluency and comprehension development, and vocabulary instruction.