Transcript Use Punctuation to Enhance Phrasing and Prosody

Strategy: Use punctuation
and phrasing to read with
fluency.
By Patty Rieple
Fluency is the ability to read :
•expressively
•smoothly
•with appropriate speed
•with accuracy
3 Parts of Fluency
We often use the term E-S-P to stand for 3
aspects of fluency:
 Expression-appropriate voice inflection
and pauses that reflect punctuation.
 Smoothness-reading in phrases not wordby- word.
 Pacing-changes speed to reflect the
meaning of the text.
What Do Less Fluent
Readers Do?
 Read with no expression
 Ignore punctuation
 Read word-by-word not in phrases
 Read at the same speed no matter the meaning.
 Guess at words they can’t sound out
 Have difficulty with sight words and vocabulary.
 Do not think about the meaning of the text.
What Do Fluent Readers Do?
 Changes voice at the end of sentence to match
punctuation.
 Pauses between phrases and for punctuation.
 Groups words in meaningful phrases.
 Adjust reading rate
 Uses spelling patterns to help decode words
 Instantly recognizes sight words and vocabulary
 Attends to meaning as they read
The meaning of what we read is within
the phrases and the punctuation, not
the isolated words!
The way the words are put together,
along with the punctuation, create the
meaning of the sentence.
Watch how punctuation and
phrasing change the meaning
of this sentence:
Woman, without her man, is nothing.
Woman, without her, man is nothing.
Expression !
STRESS makes a difference!.
He broke the glass.
He broke the glass.
He broke the glass.
EXPRESSION !
EMPHASIS makes a difference.
What ARE you doing?
What are YOU doing?
What are you DOING?
WHAT are you doing?
Punctuation makes a difference!
In his book, Yo! Yes?, author
Chris Raschka uses punctuation
to change the meaning of these
one word sentences.
Yo! Yes?
Me? You!
Me! You?
Yo! Yes!
Phrasing !
The frog jumped into the pond.
On Saturday, we went ice skating at the arena.
Fluency is important because
it provides a bridge between:
and
Accuracy and Fluency
Word bits
Fluent readers recognize these instantly
Word
parts
word
Try these things to practice
fluency:
Reader’s Theater
Try these things to practice
fluency:
Listen to good readers:
Pay attention to their fluency
Try these things to practice
fluency:
Reread something familiar to you.
Try these things to practice
fluency:
Read to a friend
Cycle of Success
The more you
read…….
The more fluent
you become…….
The more you
enjoy reading!
The Café Book: Engaging all Students in Daily
Literacy Assessment and Instruction, Gail Boushey
and Joan Moser, Stenhouse Publisher, 2009
Colorado Reading First-Summer 2004
http://www.cde.state.co.us/coloradoliteracy/crf/downloads/resources/presentations/
Fluency.pdf