Dr. Tim Rasinski and Dr. Lynne Kulich talk about their new book, The Fluency Development Lesson: Closing the Reading Gap: An Interview with Dr. Sam Bommarito

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It was an honor to talk to Dr. Tim Rasinski and Dr. Lynne Kulich about their new book, The Fluency Development Lesson: Closing the Reading Gap Professional Development Book. The book is a real game-changer. It is research-based. It includes several support materials written specifically for the book. Those support materials are comprised of Word Ladders created by Tim Rasinski and poems written by their co-author, David Harrison. The poems are designed to support fluency, build background knowledge and improve comprehension. As the interview progressed, Tim and Lynn explained how the book evolved from a one-day lesson plan format created by Tim many years ago into a resource with a complete scope and sequence designed to work for younger and older students. It is meant to be a supplemental program. It is built on the premise that fluency can and should be taught directly and explicitly. It is rooted in Tim Rasinski’s research, which demonstrates the power of repeated readings. It overcomes the potential problems of repeated reading becoming boring or meaningless by using the concept of reading to perform. During the interview, Tim stresses the importance of reading to perform. He points out that the goal of repeated reading is not to read faster but rather to read better in a way that encourages the reader and listeners to make sense of what is being read.

The book is designed in a way that empowers teachers. The Fluency Development Lesson (FDL) format is clear and simple to use. As Lynn explains, it evolved from a one-day lesson plan first proposed by Tim into a full five-day set of lessons. The lessons are short (15-20 minutes or so). Teachers are given specific examples of materials that would fit into the lessons. Teachers can find things that best fit the age and stage of their particular students. The materials also lend themselves to helping the students read and master different content areas. As you will learn next week when I interview David Harrison and Georgia Heard, the ink wasn’t dry on this book before David and others began creating even more support materials for developing fluency and comprehension that can easily be used within FDL lessons.

Both Tim and Lynn are well known for their research. Stanford University’s 2023 study named Dr. Timothy Rasinski as one of the top 2% of scientists in the world. Lynn Kulich also has strong credentials as both an author, educator and researcher. I’ll have more to say about the FDL at the conclusion of this blog. Now, let’s look at Tim and Lynne’s biographies and hear what they say in the video interview.

BIOGRAPHIES

Here is the YouTube VIDEO

LINK

My thoughts about this interview:

First, I’d like to thank Tim and Lynn for taking the time to do this interview and for the wonderful contributions they have both made to the literacy field. I think the Fluency Development Lesson (FDL) is a real game changer. As they both indicated during the interview, for an investment of 15-20 minutes of daily lesson time, teachers and students can reap the benefits of what research demonstrates (LINK, LINK) is one of the most effective evidence-based interventions. The FDL can be used with virtually any literacy curriculum. Teachers are free to use the materials given in the book or to find similar materials on their own. I feel fluency can be taught and should be taught explicitly and directly. Fluency is not about reading fast. Fluency is about reading well, reading with prosody, reading for meaning. Fluency instruction can improve students’ knowledge of sound-symbol relations and the use of sound-symbol relations to solve unknown words. My next blog will continue this topic. I’ll be talking to David Harrison (the other co-author of this book) and Georgia Heard about their views on fluency instruction and about the many materials they have developed that help teachers implement fluency instruction. So, stay tuned- there’s more to come next week!

In the meantime- Happy Reading and Writing

Dr. Sam Bommarito (aka, the guy in the middle taking flak from all sides)

Copyright 2024 by Dr. Sam Bommarito. Views/interpretations expressed here are solely this author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other person or organization.