The Fluent Reader: Oral Reading Strategies for Building Word Recognition, Fluency, and Comprehension [Paperback]

Timothy V. Rasinski (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 23, 2008

Oral reading strategies for building word recognition, fluency and comprehension.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic, Inc. (April 23, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439332087
• ISBN-13: 978-0439332088
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #248,622 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Timothy V. Rasinski is a professor of literacy education in the Department of Teaching, Leadership, and Curriculum Studies. Dr. Rasinski teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in literacy education. His major interests include working with children who find reading difficult, phonics and reading fluency instruction, and teacher development in literacy education. He has published over 200 articles and 20 books on various aspects of reading education. A past editor of THE READING TEACHER, the most widely read journal in reading education in the world, Dr. Rasinski has also served as editor for the JOURNAL OF LITERACY RESEARCH. Rasinski has served as president of the College Reading Association as well as on the Board of Directors of the International Reading Association. Dr. Rasinski was elected to the International Reading Hall of Fame in 2010.

Tim is a frequent presenter at professional meetings and an active consultant and speaker for school districts throughout the U.S. He can be reached at [e-mail]

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

70 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LIFESAVER!, August 1, 2005

By 

Daria Doering (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Fluent Reader: Oral Reading Strategies for Building Word Recognition, Fluency, and Comprehension (Paperback)

This book was a lifesaver for me, when I was thrown in with a class of middle-school students who had very poor reading skills. I used a number of the techniques described in the book, with good results: paired reading for very low readers (which I also encouraged their parents to do with them); Fluency Development Lesson for the whole class (reading poetry aloud, both whole class and in pairs); and much more. This book promotes oral reading, which I think is imperative in boosting reading skills (in contrast to my college professors, who said "never require students to read out loud"), and also gives a good, concise background on how and why oral reading fell out of favor. This book is easy to read, and gets across a lot of information in as painless a way as possible. Each chapter describes a particular technique, and then has a "(that technique) at a glance" box at the end that summarizes the information. I had looked at all the books on fluency I could find, and selected this as the best, and I recommend it without reservation. I used Jack Prelutsky's "Something Big Has Been Here" book of poetry for the Fluency Development Lesson, and it was awesome. Clever, humorous poetry that appeal to kids, but contain very sophisticated vocabulary, which became the basis of our vocabulary study.
The other two books that were part of my "reading instruction triumvirate": "Teaching Phonics and Word Study in the Intermediate Grades" by Wiley Blevins, and "Building Reading Comprehension Habits in Grades 6-12: a Toolkit of Activities" by Jeff Zwiers. Both indispensable.

56 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Anyone who teaches reading must get this book!, September 19, 2004

By 

Teacher who loves books "caringteacher" (AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fluent Reader: Oral Reading Strategies for Building Word Recognition, Fluency, and Comprehension (Paperback)

I was at a workshop where dozens of books were recommended. I asked if I only want to order one book which should I get. I was told to get "The Fluent Reader". I was blown away with the great reading ideas in this book. None of these are difficult to implement, and all are well researched to work. This book is not a "cutesy" book, but great reading ideas that are clearly innovative, well-reasearched, effective, and inspiring for the children. Yes, most appear to be very fun to. The 1st chapter is rather slow, but chapters 2-6 will more than make up for the slow start.

46 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This changed how I teach fluency!, March 12, 2005

By 

Mary Owen "Old dog with new tricks" (Salt Lake City, UT) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Fluent Reader: Oral Reading Strategies for Building Word Recognition, Fluency, and Comprehension (Paperback)

After teaching for many years, I didn't think one book could have the impact this book did. I look at fluency in a new light. I have always used repeated oral readings to increase fluent reading, but with more and more students, the time to listen to individual readers decreased. Mr. Rasinski has given us many new ways to bring oral reading for fluency back into a busy classroom. After using some of his ideas for only a few weeks, I had children reading orally in front of the class. This wouldn't sound so outstanding until you know these are children with very substantial learning disabilities who are reading way below grade level, until they read the poem, book or passage they have practiced many times and then... for a few minutes, they are fluent readers.