Final

9.1 Developmental Motivations for Fluency

As we have stressed throughout this text, the key to success in reading is engagement and motivation. Children are not very future-oriented; they need to feel as though reading is something that is both fun and useful for them now rather than seeing it as a means to an end they can't readily envision. Hence the engagement with interesting, meaningful literature that entertains them while it helps them solve problems and answer questions they have about the world is crucial for developing fluency.

Determining the contexts for "meaningful" and "interesting" at this age requires an understanding of development characteristics. Erikson claimed that the school-age years, from ages 6–11, are characterized by a conflict between industry and inferiority. Children at this age are immersed in social and academic environments that put new demands on their ability to perform tasks like everyone else.

Middle childhood is the time when children start developing distinct personality traits because their frontal lobes have developed to the point where this is possible. As they develop these traits, however, they are concerned for the first time about whether their personalities have social "uptake"; that is, their theory of mind, which we have discussed in Chapters 5 and 7, has developed to the point where what other children think of them actually matters. They are not yet as self-conscious about this as they will be as teenagers, but they are still interested in having friends and understanding social relationships. They work hard at keeping up with their friends, and even harder at keeping up with those they perceive as competitors. Classrooms and playgrounds alike can be sites where they succeed or fail to measure up to those around them. Because of their deep concern for how they compare with their peers at this age, books that are focused on characters in similar situations are very appealing and can help them learn strategies for solving everyday problems, especially the problems that arise when trying to manage relationships. Often, these books appear in series so that authors can explore a range of typical problems elementary children face, and readers can feel as though the characters are people that they know.

Motivation continues to be crucial as children work to become fluent readers. When children understand that reading is both pleasurable and useful, they will be motivated to do what it takes to get better at it, even if it's hard. For this reason, it is imperative that children have access to books they like and that they know how to find books on topics that interest them. Internationally known reading specialist Kathy G. Short (2011) argues that too often children are asked to use their reading to find answers to questions predetermined by a teacher or a specific curriculum. A better approach, she argues, is to encourage students to pose the questions that interest them and then assist them in finding the resources they need to help them find their own answers. Literature should be viewed as a site of inquiry into the nature of life and social relationships. In order to get students to conceive of literature in this way, however, they have to have choices as to what they read, and multiple ways to access reading material.

9.2 Achieving Fluency

Fluency grows best out of a solid background in multiliteracies, with audio and linguistic literacies playing the most prominent roles as children work with print text. If students have rich experiences with oral literature, a beginner's knowledge of the connection between written symbols and the sounds they stand for, an understanding of how pictures and gestures convey meaning, and a sure-footed grasp of how space is organized, they are more likely to be able to approach a reading situation with confidence. Why? Because most books for children use language in fairly predictable, conventional patterns. For instance, if young readers hear the words "the big, bad . . ." they will usually be able to fill in the missing word correctly with the noun "wolf." This guess flows from their experiences with oral literature. When they encounter such a phrase in print, then, their previous oral experience will lead them to try wolf as the word following big and bad, even if they have not consciously attended to that particular written word before.

If young readers encounter the unfamiliar word grimace, they can, with elaborative assistance from a teacher as well as a picture, learn that word along with its meaning from the facial expression the picture shows. If they are reading a picture book that includes the phrase, "a lion in his lair" accompanied by a picture of a lion lounging in the shade of a rock formation, they know that the unfamiliar word refers to a place that the lion is "in." Their spatial literacy can eliminate a word like house because they know that a lion doesn't live in a house, but they can use their linguistic literacy to also eliminate cave, because even if the lair looks something like a cave in the picture, cave does not start with the letter "l." In other words, reading for meaning, in a context of a strong multiliteracies background, will enable them to reduce the number of unlikely alternatives.

Reducing unlikely alternatives is one strategy that readers use when they approach an unfamiliar word. As we noted in Chapter 7, there is a long-standing controversy over which strategies are absolutely necessary for learning to read, which have resulted in the reading wars between phonics and whole language (McQuillan, 1998). The process described in the preceding paragraph reflects the whole language theory of literacy acquisition proposed by literacy researchers Ken and Yetta Goodman (1979) and Frank Smith (1973, 1994). Surely, another strategy for learning the word lair would simply be to isolate its phonemes and "sound it out." However, is this level of decoding the same thing as being able to read? Does knowing how to pronounce the phonemes /l/ /ee/ /r/ mean that you understand the word? Smith and the Goodmans do not believe that learning words in isolation and being able to decode unfamiliar words using only sound/letter combinations is equivalent to reading. Nor do they believe that testing reading by timing students as they read word lists is an accurate reflection of reading ability. From their perspective, reading is always about meaning-making: If children are not making meaning as they read, they are not reading.

That said, it is hard to make meaning if reading is not fluent. As mentioned in the opening to this chapter, the ability to read with automaticity makes it possible to direct attention from word recognition and decoding tasks and onto tracking the mental pictures the words are creating. This then feeds into fluency, because children can read with appropriate feeling and expression only if they genuinely understand what they read. The Common Core Standards indicate the same three standards for first through third grade with regard to fluency in its Reading: Foundational Skills strand:

Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.

Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.

Read grade-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression.

Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.

So how do we use engaging literature to get children there? There are multiple proven strategies for improving fluency, and while not all children need explicit fluency training, the strategies that will improve fluency for those who do need such training are enjoyable and profitable for all students in middle childhood. Here are the strategies most often cited by reports such as that prepared by the National Reading Panel as useful to improving fluency:

modeled fluent reading

read, reread, repeat

echo, choral, and paired reading

phrased reading

reader's theater (National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, 2000)

Modeled Fluent Reading

As noted in previous chapters, teachers should read aloud with panache. This necessitates practicing what you read before you present it to children. Read picturebooks of high interest to you and your students, and then make sure the books you have read in class are available for students to choose during independent reading time. If you have practiced good dialogic reading skills, students will have been introduced to any unfamiliar vocabulary words in the books, so they will be reinforcing that learning as well as trying to imitate your expressive presentation as they read the book for themselves. It is also e useful to create a vocabulary pack to accompany the book (a set of index cards with the new words and their definitions). When children are confident with their reading of the book, encourage them to perform it for the class or a small group, and take it home to read to family members.

Eric Carle's books are perfect choices for this sort of activity. For instance, "Slowly, Slowly, Slowly," Said the Sloth (2007) begins with simple, repetitive sentences that emphasize the quiet days of a giant sloth in the Amazon rain forest. Vocabulary becomes more challenging with the introduction of other rain forest animals (a howler monkey, a caiman, an anteater, and a jaguar), each of whom asks the sloth about his habits, using a set of words that seem to go together: slow, quiet, boring, and lazy. After much thought, the sloth replies:

It is true that I am slow, quiet and boring. I am lackadaisical, I dawdle and I dillydally. I am also unflappable, languid, stoic, impassive, sluggish, lethargic, placid, calm, mellow, laid-back and, well, slothful! I am relaxed and tranquil, and I like to live in peace. But I am not lazy.

What a delightful vocabulary challenge! Students will relish each synonym, delighting in their ability to read such big words. Because of their meaning, slowly is the properly fluent way to read them, lingering over each luxurious syllable. This could also be done as a group activity, with each word printed on a sentence strip (available at school supply stores and online) and assigned to a particular student to read. With each repeated reading, the strips could be passed on to new students so that everyone has a chance to "own" several of the words while they listen to others reading the rest.

Another site of modeling fluent reading is through making a books-on-tape station in your classroom. Encourage students to listen to books on tape as they read along, and then to read out loud along with the tape. Follow up by having students create their own recordings of favorite books. Have them work in small groups, with students offering each other feedback and encouragement with regard to phrasing, expression, and voices for characters. When these "director's notes" have been considered, have the students practice the book at least three more times before recording it. Have group members listen to and critique the performance, and then have the reader decide whether to make the recording available or rerecord it. Each student should choose a book to read so that everyone gets practice in performing and critiquing the performances of others. This activity is included in the Speaking and Listening (SL) strand of the Common Core Standards for second and third grade. Third graders, according to SL 3.5, should be able to "Create engaging audio recordings of stories or poems that demonstrate fluid reading at an understandable pace."

In addition to reading picturebooks aloud, you will want to start reading longer narratives or chapter books of high interest to this age group, such as books by Roald Dahl and some of Mildred D. Taylor's novellas, such as Song of the Trees (1975) and The Friendship (1987). A novella is longer than a short story or picturebook but shorter than a novel. Because these books have few or no pictures, other than the cover art, your dramatic reading must help students envision the story as they hear it. Encourage children to draw scenes from the stories so that they will develop their capacity to convert words into mental pictures, which increases understanding. It is also useful to have students listen to audiobook versions of these longer books as they follow along with a print text to develop a sense of proper pace and pronunciation of words they see in print. Generally speaking, a read-aloud or a professional audiobook used in this way should be slightly above a student's read-alone level to offer a challenge.

Recommended Books: Great Read-Aloud Chapter Books for Second and Third Graders

Note: A good read-aloud chapter book should have plenty of action, an easy-to-follow plot, and a lively narrative voice. There are thousands of titles that make for suitable and exciting read alouds for this age group: Simply Google "read alouds for second and third graders" for suggestions, and you'll find dozens of lists with many books in common. The following list, however, consists of a few gems that most lists overlook!

Atinuke. No. 1 Car Spotter. (2010). Set in a small African village, this book offers opportunities to compare not only British and American words, such as "bonnet" for hood of a car, but also lifestyles, customs, and common problems faced by kids. For a spirited short reading by the author, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwvi9MqjaLQ.

Couloumbis, Audrey. Jake. (2010). A sweet, sometimes funny story in believable first-person about a boy whose mother breaks her leg. His grandfather, an ex-Marine whom he doesn't know well, comes to stay with him, bringing an unlikable dog. Several scenes would make good adaptations for reader's theater.

Curtis, Christopher Paul. Mr. Chickee's Funny Money. (2007). Dust off your best James Brown imitation for this one. This zany, action-packed mystery features a young boy detective, a quadrillion dollar bill, an inept treasury agent, and a dictionary that constantly writes insults to its readers.

Davies, Nicola. What's Eating You? Parasites: The Inside Story. (2009). Gross but never crude, this nonfiction look at parasites and their hosts (including us!) will interest and entertain budding young scientists.

Finney, Patricia. I, Jack. (2004). This very funny story chronicles how Jack, a rather stupid yellow Labrador, sees the world, how he falls in love with the lovely Samoyed next door, and how he saves his owner. Children will enjoy the challenge of seeing themselves through the eyes of their pets. Features some British English.

Gaiman, Neil. Odd and the Frost Giants. (2009). In this tale inspired by Norse mythology, a young boy named Odd has to save Asgard from the Frost Giants who have invaded it. Exciting introduction to a study of Norse mythology.

Jurmain, Suzanne. The Forbidden Schoolhouse: The True and Dramatic Story of Prudence Crandall and Her Students. (2005). In the early 1800s in Connecticut, Crandall turned her school for White girls into a school for African American girls. The consequences were vandalism, arson, and even a jail sentence.

Krull, Kathleen. Giants of Science: Isaac Newton. (2008). Newton invented calculus, built the first reflecting telescope, and changed the way we understand physics and optics. Krull explores who Newton was as a young boy and as a difficult adult, making him a fascinating character for students who will meet his work over and over again as they advance through school.

Lin, Grace. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. (2011). Minli takes her father's stories about the Old Man on the Moon seriously and sets off to find him so that she can help reverse her poor family's fortunes. This Newbery Honor Book has been compared to The Wizard of Oz, blending Chinese folklore and fantasy with everyday desires for a better life.

Miller, Norma. Stomping at the Savoy: The Story of Norma Miller. (2006). Miller knew she wanted to be a dancer from the age of 5, and by the time she was 15, she was dancing the Lindy Hop in Europe. Great for units on dance styles, black history, or following your dreams. See Miller dancing the Lindy Hop at http://www.youtube .com/watch?v=-pMDf4ciCRs.

Mills, Claudia. How Oliver Olson Changed the World. (2011). Oliver is excited when his teacher announces a space-themed sleepover at school. But Oliver's overprotective parents are reluctant to let him spend the night at school. Students will find lots to relate to in Oliver's struggles.

Murphy, Jim. Truce: The Day the Soldiers Stopped Fighting (2009). In 1914, during World War I, the soldiers on both sides of the Western Front defied orders and stopped firing on each other in order to celebrate Christmas together. Enough context on the war is given so that young readers can appreciate the Christmas miracle, and the narration makes for a lively read aloud.

Nelson, Kadir. We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball. (2008). Stunning artwork illustrates the history of the Negro Leagues from 1920 to 1947, when Jackie Robinson became the first player to break the color line in baseball. Available through audible.com as an audiobook.

Rhodes, Jewell Parker. Ninth Ward. (2010). Twelve-year-old Lanesha and her grandmother find themselves stranded as the waters rise during Hurricane Katrina. Lanesha has to depend on her special gift for science and math, her ability to see ghosts, and her own bravery in order to survive. Pair with Saint Louis Armstrong Beach (see below) to compare and contrast books that portray the same tragic event.

Taylor, Mildred D. The Friendship (1987); Song of the Trees (1975). Taylor is most famous for her middle-grade historical fiction books featuring the Logan family, including Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. The Friendship and Song of the Trees also feature the Logan family, especially young Cassie, who gives children a first-person account of what it might have felt like to be black in the South in the 1930s.

Umansky, Kaye. Clover Twig and the Magical Cottage. (2009). Clover Twig is a very capable 11-year-old, but she has her hands full when she takes a job as a housekeeper for a very untidy witch. When Mrs. Eckles goes on a trip, Clover must save the cottage from falling into the hands of Mrs. Eckles's evil sister. Lots of humor and clever wordplay make this an engaging read aloud.

Woods, Brenda. Saint Louis Armstrong Beach. (2011). Saint is a budding musician who plays his clarinet for tourists in New Orleans' French Quarter. During Hurricane Katrina, he gets separated from his family when he goes looking for Shadow, a stray dog he wishes was his. He must use all of his ingenuity to save himself, Shadow, and an elderly neighbor as the waters rise. Pair with Ninth Ward, above.

Read, Reread, and Repeat

Embedded in the practices of modeling fluent reading is the practice of rereading. Rereading a text that a teacher has read or that students have heard on tape lowers the risk of approaching a text cold. Students can anticipate what is going to happen and use the memory of having the text read aloud as an aid when they get into trouble. The familiarity of the story can stimulate their desire to want to read it for themselves, to hear it in their own voices. While it is important to move forward to increasingly difficult texts, it is also just as important to revisit old friends. The practice of rereading familiar texts can be thought of as a warm-up exercise and a practice drill for more difficult tasks, just as an accomplished pianist still plays scales or a basketball player runs through layup drills.

Rereading can also restore confidence after a reader has had some frustrating experiences with more difficult texts. Working at the peak of your ability is exhilarating but also mentally exhausting. It's restorative to remind yourself of where you've been and what you've already been able to accomplish even as you are working on pushing through to the next level.

Repeated oral readings will also increase fluency. Poems that rhyme are a good choice for oral readings that will enhance fluency. Because of their meter, rhythm, and end rhymes, poems create a structure of anticipation that makes them easy to read aloud. As noted earlier with the discussion of learning the word lair, there are fewer possible alternatives for pronunciation when the words have to fit into a particular pattern. Additionally, poems feature very carefully chosen words that create word pictures and express emotions, making them sometimes easier to read with expression. However, because many poems that rhyme fall into a sing-song rhythm, students will still require coaching to get the emotional pitch right. For this reason, encourage the oral reading of mildly scary, funny, or suspenseful readings as well so that students get practice modulating their volume and pace to fit the mood of the story.

In order to keep repeated oral reading from becoming a tedious exercise for students, help students find readings that they want to share with a small group or even the whole class. The best read alouds for young children to perform are the ones that will get strong reactions from their peers. For instance, Alvin Schwartz's In a Dark, Dark Room, a book of scary short stories based on traditional folklore, has been a consistent favorite with second graders since its publication in 1984. The stories mostly follow the traditional form of scary stories, building suspense and tension until the final explosive payoff that makes readers jump, and then dissolve into laughter. Funny stories can be equally compelling, such as Mo Willems's Pigeon books and his Elephant and Piggie series.

Echo, Choral, and Paired Reading

To begin an echo reading session, select a short poem with varied punctuation marks, such as John Ciardi's "About the Teeth of Sharks" (available at http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/179965). Make a copy for each student, and project another copy onto the wall. Begin by discussing the various punctuation marks and what they mean. Also be sure to mention the use of italics to add stress to a word. Then, read the poem aloud, paying attention to what you have just talked about with regard to punctuation. Ask students to tell you what happens in the poem, who it happens to, and how the narrator responds. They may need help visualizing the action in this poem since it is implied rather than directly stated. Ask them if they think the poem is meant to be funny or serious. Then, talk to students about phrasing (where you took a breath and where you didn't), pace (how fast you read certain passages and where and why you paused), and intonation (how you indicated a question and how you changed your tone of voice as you read to coax the friend in the poem to do what you wanted, and then how you responded to what happened when he got too close to the shark's teeth). After you have concluded your discussion, read the poem again. Then, ask the students to echo the poem back to you line by line. Finally, engage in a full-on choral reading of the entire poem from start to finish. This type of explicit instruction in the use of punctuation marks to guide reading, coupled with modeling fluent reading and then asking students to engage in a low-risk choral reading actively engages readers without singling out anyone. Tell students that they should read the poem aloud to their parents when they get home.

In addition to echo and choral reading, students should regularly engage in paired or partner reading , either with an adult volunteer, an instructional assistant, an older student, or a peer. Choose a selection that you have already read in class for a repeated reading experience, or one that you will be using in a future lesson to give students a chance to become familiar with the material ahead of time. Paired reading sessions can consist of echo readings or the simultaneous reading of a passage. Partners should give each other positive feedback as well as elaborative assistance (questions, clues, coaching) when readers run into trouble, always ensuring that readers are making meaning through the text being read.

Mary Ann Hoberman has a series of books called "You Read to Me, I'll Read to You" that features different genres adapted for paired readings, including fairy tales, nursery rhymes, fables, and scary stories. She also has produced sing-along books; singing also increases fluency for the same reasons that rhymed poetry does, that is, by limiting the possibilities to fit particular patterns. Partners could work together to prepare a presentation for the class. For instance, they could do a reading of an Elephant and Piggie book, with one student reading the part of Elephant and the other reading Piggie's lines.

Phrased Reading

Fluent readers focus on phrases rather than individual words, because words take on their particular meaning only in relation to other words. Reading one word at a time will never move a reader to fluency, but learning to chunk text into phrases helps readers read more quickly as well as make meaning along the way. As with echo reading, phrased reading is best accomplished through the use of a poem. "Song of a Shell" by Violet L. Cuslidge is a good poem to practice with (available, with many other ocean poems, here), but any poem that you like will work. Read the poem aloud to yourself, separating it into meaningful phrases. For instance, the first line, "I held a sea shell to my ear" is a complete phrase. Write the phrases separately on sentence strips and have students read them aloud in order. Emphasize how each phrase creates a unit of meaning that relates to what came before it and what comes after. (And try to locate a large conch shell for children to hold up to their ears when the reading is finished.)

Reader's Theater

Reader's theater is probably the most effective of all of the tools in a teacher's arsenal for building reader fluency. Unlike other forms of classroom drama, which we will discuss in Chapter 10, reader's theater involves students reading a script adapted from a piece of literature aloud without acting it out. There is no staging or costuming, and the readers do not move their bodies. Instead, listeners picture the action in their minds. Thus it is an exercise in fluent reading rather than acting. During reader's theater performances, children must rely on their audio and linguistic literacies to bring the action to life.

To begin using reader's theater in your curriculum, it is best to start with already prepared scripts. Anthony D. Fredericks, a former elementary school teacher and reading specialist, has several books of scripts available that are suitable for different grade levels and introduce different genres, such as Mother Goose rhymes, fairy tales, fractured fairy tales, and nonfiction, and his books usually include some scripts in Spanish as well. Author and educational consultant Suzanne Barchers has also published a number of books on reader's theater. Most well-stocked libraries have books with prepared scripts, and many scripts are available for free download from the web (see Online Resources for Reader's Theater box). Search your library's catalog with the keyword "reader's theater" because the scripts may be shelved according to their subject. You will need to make photocopies for each student involved in the performance, and have a few extras available in case they get lost or forgotten in transit between home and school. You will also need some sort of "holder" for the scripts for use in the performance. Traditionally, scripts are placed in sturdy black folders to give a professional look to the performance. You can also show students models of both professionals and children their own age doing reader's theater.

Once students have selected or been assigned parts, you will need to show them how scripts work differently than books. For instance, scripts usually have a character list at the beginning, and some may have staging and props notes that are not part of the story. Once the story actually begins, speaking parts are indicated by the character's name followed by a colon. Stage directions are included in brackets and are not to be read aloud. Teach students how to mark their scripts using highlighters and underlining to indicate their parts and which words to emphasize. Students should work in small groups, offering suggestions for how to read certain lines. You could also enlist the help of older students and adult volunteers for initial help in working with their scripts, but once they have done a few short reader's theater performances, allow them to work without such outside assistance so that they learn to depend on each other and sharpen their critique skills. Send scripts home with instructions for parents on how they can help their children practice, and provide time in class for practice as well. Once the performances have been sufficiently practiced for the class, invite other classes and parents to the performances. Encourage students to prepare invitations for relatives, family friends, and favorite community members.

The next step in using reader's theater is to have students prepare their own scripts from favorite books. Look for literature (including nonfiction) that has an interesting storyline and uses or could use lots of dialogue. Start by modeling how to adapt a picturebook. This Is Your Life Cycle (2008) by Heather Lynn Miller is a great one to start with, or Toni Morrison's Remember: The Journey to School Integration (2004). After sharing the book with the class, decide together whether to use the whole book or just an excerpt. Have the children help think about how many characters will be needed and whether a narrator is called for. Break the text up into lines for each character and the narrator. If the narrator seems to have too many lines, consider having more than one narrator, and then divide the lines among the multiple narrators. Once you have produced a script, do a read through, and discuss how to make it better and more interesting. Tell students that this process is called revision, and it is important for all of the writing projects they will do. Once the final script has been created, assign parts and have students start practicing for their performance.

9.3 One More Strategy: Language Play

The research on developing fluency does not address the strategy of encouraging students to play with language. Children between the ages of 6 and 8 are increasingly interested in learning social rules, which include the rules of language use. And as any parent or former child knows, the best thing to do with a rule once you've learned it is to test its limits. As children learn to read, they become increasingly involved in a rule-bound, adult-sanctioned activity that seems to leave little scope for autonomy and freedom.

Think about it this way: When you read a book, you can't make up any words you want, and you can't make the words mean what you want them to. Instead, you submit your personal ideas about the world, at least temporarily, to someone else's perspective and view of the world. You even read the word "I" in a situation where it doesn't apply to you. Meaning-making often requires you to suspend your autonomy and sense of self so that you can understand what the character is thinking and feeling. This is part of developing a theory of mind, and while it is absolutely crucial to growing up that we consider other people's feelings and perspectives, it does entail giving up the idea that everyone thinks like you do. Not only do you have to realize that yours are not the only views on a topic, but you may even have to admit that your views aren't always the best ones. Ouch.

Some children move seamlessly into this new stage of limited freedom and opening vistas. Others are more resistant. Whether they can express their feelings or not, they understand at some level that reading involves a loss of personal power. They are like Humpty Dumpty in Alice Through the Looking Glass (Carroll, 1871):

"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less."

"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."

"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master—that's all."

Becoming a master of language, rather than its enslaved and unhappy subject, is a live issue with many children, especially those who struggle with learning the rules of reading. Introducing language play into the mix can help, because it reminds children that language itself has rules and limits as well as great possibilities for freedom. As with other kinds of play, children can place themselves in positions of power, experience success and failure with lower stakes than in the real world, and bridge the gap between their ideal world where they are the masters and the world they find themselves in.

Playing with language can take many forms:

Traditional games such as word scrambles, word search puzzles, and simple crosswords are one form of play.

Another is riddles that ask children to consider the multiple meanings of a word or how it sounds similar to another word.

Getting the joke and then sharing it with someone who hasn't yet heard it is a way of asserting one's superior power.

Another technique that brings out what children already know is word webbing, where a single word with multiple meanings is opened up by children providing related words and phrases, as is demonstrated in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XkbCn5npq0.

Books that play with certain kinds of word relationships, such as antonyms and homophones, will likely have already been part of a child's early reading experiences, but some language play is more sophisticated and requires careful thought along with the fun of play, such as Gene Barretta's Dear Deer: A Book of Homophones (2010), Brian Cleary's Words Are Categorical series (humorous books on parts of speech and figurative language; interactive website at www.brianpcleary.com), and Laura Vaccarro Seeger's Black? White! Day? Night! (2006).

Then there are books that create puzzles, such as George Shannon's Tomorrow's Alphabet, Mary Elting and Michael Folsom's Q Is for Duck (2005), Ruth Krauss's classic kid-friendly dictionary of possibilities, A Hole Is to Dig (1952), and Amy Krouse Rosenthal's This Plus That: Life's Little Equations (2011) and Wumbers (2012). Each of these books requires students to play with what they already know by seeing their knowledge and categories in a fresh new light. They also offer curricular possibilities for students to create their own puzzles based on the models in the books.

Language play in the form of figurative language abounds of course in all poetry, but also in books, like Michael Hall's My Heart Is Like a Zoo (2009), which offer a multimodal approach to playful similes through the use of shapes. Finally, books that feature tongue twisters—such as John Agee's Orangutan Tongs (2009), Dr. Seuss's Oh Say Can You Say? (1979), and Shel Silverstein's Runny Babbit (2005)—offer opportunities for readers to play on the edge of sense with words that don't behave themselves properly.

9.4 Developing Fluency Through Familiarity: Series Books

Series books are very popular choices for independent reading at this age. The opportunity to follow a character through multiple adventures allows students to hone their skills of prediction, description of character traits and motivations, and making inferences. Series books are thus useful for developing literary understanding of longer narratives. They are also quite appealing to developing readers, precisely because they offer familiarity in language use and plot structure; readers get to know a character, plot structure, or a fictional world, and thus feel more comfortable reentering that world rather than having to constantly start from scratch in constructing and getting to know someone new. In fact, the Common Core Standards for the Literature strand in third grade explicitly validate the reading of books in series. Standard Reading: Literature (RL) 3.9 requires that students be able to "Compare and contrast the themes, settings, and plots of stories written by the same author about the same or similar characters (e.g., in books from a series)."

Explore and Reflect: The Pleasures of Series Fiction

Do you enjoy reading series books or watching serial narratives on television (such as soap operas, telenovellas, sitcoms, etc.)? Why do you like them? How does reading or watching these serial narratives make you feel? What can you conclude from your own experiences about why children might enjoy series fiction?

So what's good about books in series? First, as already noted, series books are popular. The popularity of a series quickly becomes playground currency; that is, students often become competitive about who has read an entire series. The language, characters, and plots of series books translate into playground games, and those who are "in the know" are best able to join in. So the popularity of a series, like the popularity of any trend, motivates children who are very invested in finding community among their peers to pick up on the trend and read the popular books as fast as they can. It gives them something to talk about and makes them feel emotionally validated for knowing and liking something that others like.

When children find something that they like, they usually want more of it. Series books answer that desire as well, as most series books for this age are open-ended; that is, the books in the series are not limited to a trilogy or a fixed endpoint but instead continue to appear on a regular basis.

Social connections in series books take place not only with other readers but also in a private association between text and reader. Because good authors can make characters seem so real and three-dimensional, children develop empathy and even a kind of friendship with a character, perceiving characters as real people whom they know and either like or dislike. They want to know what happens to characters after the book ends, which, when you think about it, is both silly and wondrous. Silly, because the characters don't really exist, so nothing happens to them after the book ends. But wondrous, because somehow children have made an imaginative connection and developed a real affection for a fictional character, created out of nothing other than words on a page, but brought to life with their multiliteracy skills. Building on their emotional attachment to such characters helps strengthen children's capacity for empathy and can offer wisdom in the successful negotiation of real social interactions.

In terms of developing linguistic literacy, children who read books in series are reinforcing their expectations for patterned language and plot structure. Children have a working knowledge of simple plot structure through the many traditional stories and picturebook narratives they have encountered. In chapter books, these basic structures are elaborated and extended. Because they unfold over a longer time with more detail, however, it may be hard for children to relate causes and effects and other relationships between events over the entire narrative. When young children (and even older ones) relate what happened in a movie or tell a story, they may relate the sequence of events in time order but not in terms of how one episode leads to another or why a character behaves the way she does. Series books, especially mysteries series such as Nate the Great, Cam Jansen, and Hank the Cowdog (available as audiobooks at http://www.hankthecowdog.com/), help children identify the relationships between cause and effect as the characters sort through clues and try to identify not only what has happened, but why.

The Ivy and Bean series is well known for its well-developed characters and its ability to draw children into the stories by creating scenarios and problems children can relate to. Bean does not want to play with Ivy because she thinks Ivy appears quiet and boring. Bean's character is developed first, as she squabbles with her sister and the author establishes her love of energetic play as well as her exasperation with her older sister's attitude. When a prank she tries to pull on her sister goes wrong, however, Ivy reaches out to save her, and Bean realizes that she might have been wrong about Ivy being boring. She sees that Ivy has a strong imagination that leads to the kind of dramatic play that Bean finds appealing. Because Bean has a strong personality, she brings her ideas to bear on Ivy's projects, and the two girls learn how each of their strengths complement the other. Part of their collaboration results in Bean's snooty older sister getting what she deserves. Readers are left wanting to know more about Ivy but also wondering what kinds of adventures the girls will be able to cook up together.

As the series progresses, each character becomes more developed, enabling readers to predict what they might say or do in response to situations but also offering enough new situations to keep the series fresh and interesting. The plots also become predictable in structure, but fresh in how that structure unfolds. The books alternate between each girl doing something that leads to trouble and then working together to solve the problem or escape the consequences. Because the plot details are so original, children may not consciously consider the similarity of structure at this level, but the fact that it underlies each book makes the books familiar and actually motivates the reader to continue reading: They know that the original plan is going to get messed up, but how? Then they know that the girls will figure out an escape plan, but how will it work? Along the way, they are actively considering what they would do in the situation, because Ivy and Bean are characters whose experiences with mean older siblings, cranky neighbors, horrible babysitters, and well-meaning but sometimes pushy parents are easy to relate to.

Explore and Reflect: Identifying With Characters in Series Books

Listen to the children as they discuss Ivy and Bean in this clip, especially around the 2-minute mark: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKNndBM3l9A.

How are they talking about the characters? What does this suggest about why they like these books?

Now, consider how this dynamic plays out in social media. On Facebook you are asked to "like" what your friends like and to share what you find with others so that they can like it too. How does sharing what you like reflect or establish your social identity? How does it compare, for instance, to being the fan of a sports team or a music group? How might you use this tendency to identify with genres or characters to motivate children to read more?

Recurring plot patterns and well-developed, consistent characters aid in the development of fluency because they set expectations that they then fulfill, making the reading proceed smoothly. As in any situation, knowing what to expect breeds more confidence than entering a situation with uncertainty. Readers don't have to puzzle over why the characters behave as they do; they know that Ivy usually responds a certain way, and Bean's responses are very different. As long as the characters behave in ways consistent with their established personalities, readers can move forward with the plot without having to stop to figure out what's changed. The same mechanism of expectation and fulfillment applies to plot as well. Readers know that a problem will be introduced and then solved in a clever way, so they are motivated to read faster in order to see what happens.

Another of the more successful new series for second and third graders features an Asian American boy named Alvin Ho. Second-grader Alvin has a social anxiety disorder that prevents him from talking in school. He has a loving extended family that includes a mother and a father, an older brother and younger sister, and grandparents with whom he spends a lot of time. He lives in Concord, Massachusetts, a town just chock-full of history and ghosts that fire Alvin's already active imagination. In the first book in the series, he tries unsuccessfully to become a part of the boy group in his grade, but ultimately rejects part of the bullying initiation and ends up finding a true friend in a girl named Flea who wears an eye patch and has one leg that is shorter than the other. In later books, Flea helps Alvin in school by interpreting his looks for the teacher, since he cannot verbalize what he needs. The short, humorous novels thus engage issues of gender, disability, mental health, and sibling and intergenerational relationships in subtle, child-friendly ways that teachers can use as springboards for discussion. They also introduce the rich history of the Concord area and include aspects of Chinese culture as a matter of Alvin's everyday life, with a glossary of accessible explanations of both American history and Chinese references.

In terms of plot structure, the books in the series feature distinct episodes in each chapter, but each episode is linked to the theme of the book as a whole, enabling readers new to longer fiction to see how chapters work and how they contribute to a longer narrative, which is one of the expectations laid out in the Common Core Standards for reading literature in third grade. The artwork also helps scaffold the reading experience by showing pictures of concepts that might be difficult for young readers to visualize. For instance, in the first book, Alvin is hanging from a tree and is said to look like a duck in a Chinatown window. The picture shows Alvin but also has a picture of such a duck, done in a broken outline so readers will know it is not literal, to help readers who are unfamiliar with the cultural context.

As he tries to navigate the world, Alvin makes huge mistakes and often behaves unwisely, but the adults in his life are unfailingly sympathetic, even when they are legitimately angry with Alvin. His father is a particularly successful character in that he is strong, emotional, and fair-minded. Alvin recognizes and acknowledges his father's anger, which is perfectly appropriate given what Alvin sometimes does to provoke it, but he never has cause to actually fear that anger, because his father always manages to get control of himself before he talks to Alvin or delivers consequences. As a result, Alvin's father actually offers good parenting lessons for dealing with a sensitive child. Certain episodes of the Alvin Ho books, as would episodes from other early chapter books, would make great scripts for reader's theater.

Explore and Reflect: Controversy in Books for New Readers

The third book in the Alvin Ho series has stirred controversy over its stereotypical portrayal of Native Americans in Alvin's play. Here is the argument as it played out in a blog—first the critique, and then a response by Lenore Look, the author, followed by comments from others.

Read the discussion, and write a response that explains your opinion on the problem and how you would deal with it. Would you avoid teaching this book, or would you openly address the problem with your students? Which do you think would be the more appropriate response and why?

Some series books have come under scrutiny and even censorship because of their style and content. The Junie B. Jones series, for instance, is critiqued for its reinforcement of improper language use and for Junie's outspokenness. On the other hand, the series is very popular with children for its humor, which is mostly derived from Junie's bad behavior. From a literary standpoint, Junie's character is quite flat, which makes her antics seem unmotivated and doesn't encourage children to empathize or relate to her. From a developmental standpoint, however, children who are just beginning to think about the appropriateness of social rules will have much to talk about as they consider Junie's actions.

Even stronger critiques have arisen around Dav Pilkey's Captain Underpants series, which is wildly popular with second and third graders. The same things that make it popular with children, however, have made it unpopular with adults: The books feature two boys who indulge in outrageous pranks, disrespect any and all authority, and delight in transgressive, scatological humor. These traits keep it on the list of banned books reported to the American Library Association, usually somewhere in the top 10. And yet parents report over and over that these books are ones that their children will read when they are uninterested in anything else.

Even if they are not considered controversial, series books in general are not usually considered to be of high literary quality because many, such as Mary Pope Osborne's Magic Tree House series, rely on repetitive sentence structures, bland vocabulary, underdeveloped characters, and formulaic, predictable stories. As a result, they are like comfort food for new readers—easy and appealing, but not necessarily growth-oriented. But precisely because of their predictability, series books can function as reinforcement for skills already learned, and can increase readers' confidence and enjoyment in independent reading, which are important motivators as they move to more challenging fare.

When selecting series books for classroom use, it is important to weigh multiple factors that can only be determined in your particular contexts. For instance, if you have students who resist reading, then reader appeal may weigh more heavily in your decision making than literary quality. The kind of repetitive reinforcement children get from reading series books has some value in affirming their identities as readers, even if it isn't challenging them to move to the next level intellectually. But if you have students who already enjoy stories and are ready to think about the kinds of issues they raise, you can gravitate to more well-written series books and more sophisticated extended narratives.

You may decide to introduce the first book in a series through a read-aloud with discussion, and encourage interested students to pursue additional volumes in their independent reading, especially if the only thing that recommends the series is its humor. However, if a book has interesting, well-developed characters or other features, such as challenging vocabulary or plots that lend themselves to strong discussions of cause and effect, you may find it meets your pedagogical goals to read more than one book from a particular series so that you can encourage the kinds of discussions that will help your students grow in literary understanding as well as reading fluency.

Recommended Books: Early Chapter Book Fiction Series

Note: While most second graders will still enjoy high-quality leveled readers by authors such as Peggy Parrish (Amelia Bedelia), Cynthia Rylant (Henry and Mudge, Mr. Putter and Tabby), Russell Hoban (Frances), and Arnold Lobel (Frog and Toad, Owl, Mouse Tales), the books in this list are not part of any leveled series. Instead, they are chapter books that have a bit more heft and challenge in terms of literary sophistication.

Alder, David A. Cam Jansen. A supersleuth who solves mysteries with the help of her photographic memory. Also available for new readers is the Young Cam Jansen series. http://www.camjansen.com/

Barnes, Derrick. Ruby and the Booker Boys. Sassy, lovable 8-year-old Ruby Booker has to live down the reputation of her mischievous older brothers. http://www.derrick barnes.com/RUBY_and_the_BOOKER_BOYS.html

Barrows, Annie. Ivy and Bean. An unlikely pair of friends get into and out of funny scrapes. http://www.anniebarrows.com/ivyandbean/

Byng, Georgia. Molly Moon. An orphan who doesn't quite fit in and uses her powers as a hypnotist, time traveler, and mind reader to solve her problems. http://www.meetmollymoon.com/

Cleary, Beverly. Ramona. An 8-year-old who experiences humorous and relatable problems with friends and family. http://www.beverlycleary.com/

Curtis, Christopher Paul. Mr. Chickee. The Flint Future Detectives, Steven and Russell, have comic adventures that are part mystery and part sci-fi. Only two books so far.

Danziger, Paula. Amber Brown. Realistic fiction series that starts with Amber in third grade. Her parents are divorced and her best friend moves away. Prequels are available in a leveled series. http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/fun-classroom-amber-brown-1

Draper, Sharon. Sassy. Nine-year-old African American Sassy struggles to stand out in these funny, character-driven stories.

Greenburg, Dan. Zack Files. A 10-year-old solves humorous mysteries with a fantasy twist. The TV show spin-off ages Zack to high school, but the books are suitable for independent readers in third grade.

Howe, James. Bunnicula. The Moore family has some unusual pets, including a vegetarian vampire bunny, in this child-friendly "horror" series.

Lindgren, Astrid. Pippi Longstocking. The strongest girl in the world dazzles children and adults alike when she challenges social rules. Pippi's adventures have been translated into over 70 languages. http://www.pippisworld.com/pippi-longstocking.php

Look, Lenore. Ruby Lu. Eight-year-old Ruby Lu gets in and out of mischief but always has the loving support of her close-knit Asian-American family.

Lowry, Lois. Gooney Bird Greene. A highly confident second grader with a knack for storytelling. http://www.loislowry.com/index.php?option=com_djcatalog2&view= items&cid=5:the-gooney-bird-books&cid=5:the-gooney-bird-books&Itemid=185

MacDonald, Betty. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. Since she first appeared in 1947, this small lady has been helping children overcome their bad habits with zany and fantastic magical cures.

McDonald, Megan. Judy Moody. An outspoken third-grader who has lots of hilarious adventures. http://www.judymoody.com/

McDonald, Megan. Stink. Judy Moody's younger brother, who imagines his way through his problems by drawing comic strips where he is a superhero. http://www.stinkmoody.com/

O'Connor, Jane. Nancy Clancy, Super Sleuth. New chapter book series featuring an older Fancy Nancy, who still loves dancing, dressing up, exploring, and using big words. http://www.fancynancyworld.com/

Sachar, Louis. Marvin Redpost. In this eight-book series, Marvin has humorous problems with school, family, and friends. http://www.louissachar.com/Marvin.htm

Sachar, Louis. Wayside School. A wacky school filled with quirky characters and accessible brain teasers and puzzles that stem from rules and expectations gone awry. http://www.louissachar.com/Wayside.htm

Sharmat, Marjorie Weinman. Nate the Great. A younger version of Sherlock Holmes who solves crimes with his dog, Sludge. http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/natethegreat/

Sobol, Donald J. Encyclopedia Brown. This series offers readers a chance to solve multiple mysteries alongside boy detective Leroy Brown and his sidekick Sally Kimball.

Van Draanen, Wendelin. Shredderman. Nerdy Nolan Byrd uses his secret weapon (his brain) to become a superhero who fights bullies. http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/vandraanen/shredderman/

Whether or not they appear in series, early chapter books often focus on relationships and fitting in at school and in peer groups. Classics like Beverly Cleary's Ramona series and newer books like those by Claudia Mills serve a dual function: They remind adult readers how children of this age think and feel about things with their closely observed realism, and they help children negotiate the wider world of school and peer relationships they have entered. For instance, while most children are emotionally ready and even eager to transfer their attachment needs from their parents to their peers, some have a difficult time making that transition. They may not have emerged from Erikson's stage of trust versus distrust with a firm sense of the world as responsive and caring. Alternately, they may have had difficulty when their attempts at initiating exploration of new situations were met with punishment, shame, or other adverse reactions—resulting in a reluctance to reach out to other children. Temperament also plays a role in how they approach new situations. Reading books that focus on common problems with school and peer relationships gives children a safe place to talk indirectly about their fears and aspirations because they are ascribing those fears and aspirations to characters rather than talking directly about themselves.

9.5 Music for the Young Reader

Music instruction for young children has demonstrable benefits that go far beyond learning to play an instrument. Engaging in musical activities is an aid to fluency. Singing promotes fluency, for instance, in ways similar to that of poetry, in that word choices must be limited to words that fit the rhyme pattern and melodic line of the tune. Proper pacing is managed by the music itself, as singers using song sheets must match their reading tempo to the song beat. Children who grow up in churches that use hymnals have a considerable reading advantage, then, if their parents have shown them how to follow the written words as they learned to sing the songs.

Folk Music

In second and third grade, children have developed to the point where they can sing traditional songs in chorus with others, matching pitch, tone, and tempo. They are also usually willing to do so, enjoying the singing of traditional songs such as "I've Been Working on the Railroad," "America the Beautiful," and "This Land is your Land" very much. But they are also ready for the cultural learning that surrounds folk songs. Ann Owen has edited a series for Picture Window Books that feature a traditional song, such as "The Ants Go Marching" and "Clementine," with notes on its history and origins. Other books that feature folk songs with information that sets the song in historical and cultural context include Woody Guthrie's Riding in My Car (2012), illustrated by Scott Menchin with Guthrie's song as the text, and a fully restored version of Guthrie's This Land Is Your Land (2008), featuring lush illustrations by Kathy Jakobsen that evoke the United States of the 1920s and 1930s and help children understand the social landscapes of the Depression and the Dust Bowl years. Both books expand the context of their songs so that children can see how the songs helped shape American culture through symbols and shared experiences.

Once students have been introduced to the American folk tradition, they can expand their understanding of how folk music gets handed down from generation to generation. In Gary Golio's When Bob Met Woody: The Story of the Young Bob Dylan (2011), for instance, children are introduced to two giants of the folk tradition, Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie, in a way that shows how music traditions are handed down across generations. The similarly themed Passing the Music Down (2011), by Sarah Sullivan, details the story of two lesser-known performers of folk music, Melvin Wine and Jake Krack (watch Melvin and Jake here). The importance of the story these two books tell is the through-line of musical traditions in America. They are stories of how generations influence one another, thus they can easily fit into multiple strands of the curriculum, including musical traditions, folk life, regional study, and intergenerational relationships. For more advanced readers, or for a read aloud, Bonnie Christensen's Woody Guthrie: Poet of the People (2009), rounds out a unit on the importance of Woody Guthrie to American music that can be supplemented with a fascinating interview Guthrie gave in 1944 to the BBC Children's Hour program (click here).

Learning About Music

Music instruction for second and third graders focuses on, among other things, learning about famous musicians, musical styles, different instruments, and different styles of dance. For an idea of the diversity of music-themed books suitable for young readers, browse through the lists in the websites recommended in the Online Resources box. You'll notice that they include fictional stories, biographies of classical composers and jazz musicians, introductions to various instruments in the orchestra, and dance styles and dancers from around the world. Students can learn about the history of music and how important it is to multicultural understanding. Daniel J. Levitin, author of The World in Six Songs (2008), argues that songs fall into one or more of six fundamental categories: knowledge, friendship, religion, love, joy, and comfort. You could introduce these categories to your students and encourage discussion and debate over whether and how songs can be classified in this way, how they think the categories can be expanded or elaborated, and how they use music in their daily lives.

Encouraging children to draw while listening to powerful music, or to find visual images that connect to songs encourages them to listen carefully and to increase their awareness of how music creates meaning. The Common Core Standards encourage both the interpretation of illustrations as well as the production of visual displays that complement the meaning of text. Careful observation and discussion of the interaction of art, music, and text hones young readers' interpretive skills and enables them to create more successful visuals themselves. An especially innovative book to work with both audio and visual literacies is William Lach's Can You Hear It? (2006). This book features 13 works of art with evocative images and an accompanying CD. The text encourages readers to listen for various instruments and motifs while viewing the art, making connections between music and the mental images it creates.