Early+Years+Readers

=//**Early Years Readers**//=

**Reading Fluency:**
=== This is one's "ability to "read accurately, quickly, effortlessly, and with appropriate expression and meaning" (Rasinski, 2003). Reading fluency is important as it "frees the child to concentrate on the meaning of the text" (Hill, 2006, p168). Those who are less fluent readers tend to focus more time decoding and reading each single word, leaving little attention to understanding the text as a whole. Fluencyallows readers to comprehend the text as a whole, rather than a string of words put together (Hill, 2006, p170). ===

Reading Fluency is assessed through a Reading Fluency Rubric. The child is asked to read a book out loud during which they are assessed on; **Rate: their ability to read at an appropriate rate ** **Phrasing:** ability to read in meaningful chunks **Pausing:** awareness and attention to punctuation **Stress:** emphasis on appropriate words and **Intonation:** varies voice in tone, pitch and volume

When it comes to picking a book for a student the most important things to be considered are their reading fluency and interests. It is important for the child to be engaged in the book that they are reading so that they concentrate on the text and are able to absorb the contents, therefore gaining comprehension of the text. More so it is important that the child is able to read the text. There is no point in giving a reader with a level fluency of 1 a chapter book as they will not be able to read the words let alone understand the contents. So it is important to consider their reading fluency and pick the appropriate books to their ability.
 * Reading Fluency Summary Table**
 * || **Rate** || **Phrasing** || **Pausing** || **Stress** || **Expression** || **Fluency Level** ||
 * **Child A** || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 2 ||
 * **Child B** || 3 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 ||
 * **Child C** || 2 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 ||
 * **Child D** || 2 || 1 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 2 ||
 * **Child E** || 2 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 ||
 * Choosing the right book: **

Reading Comprehension is "the act of simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning from the text" (Hill, 2006, p170). It is the ability to read the text and construct meaning out of it. There are three types of reading comprehension questions which are used in order to understand a child's reading comprehension ability.
 * Reading Comprehension: **

**Literal Questions**: Those that "prompt the reader to recall literal information that is written on the text" (Hill, 2006, p193). They show the most basic comprehension questions as the child only has to look in the text to find the answer. For example: What was the second pigs house made out of? **Interpretive Questions:** These questions require the child to interpret the information and look between the lines in order to find the answer (Hill, 2006, p193). Example: Which of the pigs house was the strongest? **Inferential Questions**: These are the most complex comprehension questions. The questions prompt the reader to look beyond the text and create their own meaning from their own experiences. Example: What did you learn from this story?


 * Comprehension Question Summary Table**
 * ** Child ** || ** Literal Question ** || ** Response ** || ** Interpretive Question ** || ** Response ** || ** Inferential Questions ** || ** Response ** || ** Discussion ** ||
 * ** A ** || What did Isabella turn into? || A fairy || Why do you think she was happy being a fairy? || Because she liked playing with them. || Do you think Isabella will go back to play with the fairies again? || Yes, because they are very pretty, happy and magical. || Child A demonstrated high reading comprehension, answering all questions easily. The child was able to answer inferential questions with ease showing she was using her imagination as well as thinking through the answer. ||
 * ** B ** || What was thrown at the science teachers head? || Egg || What item was the smelliest? || The dead rat. || What do you think the ending would have been like if the teacher found out who put the rat in his hat? || He probably would have gotten a detention. || Child B answered all questions easily demonstrating extensive knowledge of the text. ||
 * ** C ** || What type of animal is Edwina? || Emu. || Is Edwina a boy or girl? How can you tell? || A girl because she has a ponytail. || Could this story happen in real life? || Yes because an emu can lay eggs but they can’t get a job. || Child C was able to recall information from the story correctly. Inferential questions demonstrated that they did not have a complete understanding of the book as they could only identify some events that could not happen. ||
 * ** D ** || Where did Mr McGee live? || Under a tree || What happened when Mr McGee ate the apple? || He got fat and flew away. || Why do you think Mr McGee grew so big? || Because it was a big apple and he was already fat. || Child D was able to answer all questions showing his understanding of the text and high reading comprehension. ||
 * ** E ** || Who’s birthday party was it? || Spot || What animal had the best hiding spot and why? || The gorilla because you couldn’t see his toes. || What do you think Spot and his friends did after playing hide and seek? || They played again and then played more games like tiggy. || Child E was able to demonstrate high reading comprehension through his answers. However the interpretive response we were looking for was the turtle as no body part could be seen, yet neither did the gorilla but he did leave a banana peel outside the cupboard. ||