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Fluency Formula™ is distributed by Scholastic. Web: www.scholastic.com/fluencyformula. Telephone: (800) 724-6527 (customer service).
Fluency Formula™ has been implemented in eight states in the United States.
Teachers use a variety of strategies during 15-minute daily lessons to promote students' knowledge and skills in phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. The first two days of each instructional week are devoted to direct instruction and guided practice activities for the whole class with a focus on fluent reading, prosody (intonation and/or vocal stress), and oral comprehension. During the next two days of the week, students reading at and above grade level practice their reading fluency independently, while students reading below grade level receive supplemental instruction in small groups with an emphasis on phonics and word attack skills. On the fifth day, teachers use the Fluency Formula™ Assessment System to identify struggling students and then use the assessment handbook to set instructional goals based on student assessment scores. In addition, teachers monitor student fluency growth at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year.
During class lessons, teachers model fluent reading and ask students to practice through repeated readings, reading with partners, and together in whole class (choral) reading. Students practice fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension individually using a program workbook and read library books while listening to an audio CD version of the book. Instructional practices also include review of sight word fluency and drills for reading speed and accuracy. Students can track their fluency progress on a class chart and receive bookmarks and certificates as rewards for progress. Students are encouraged to take the library books and workbooks home and read for at least 20–30 minutes daily at home or at school.
Professional development for teachers includes the Fluency Formula™ Professional Guide as well as online courses through Scholastic's "Scholastic Red" division, which include teaching simulations, structured feedback, information on research and theory, videos modeling instruction by expert practitioners, and materials that can be used in the classroom.
The Fluency Formula™ kit for one grade level costs $625 and includes introductory materials, four student workbooks, four copies each of 24 library books and six audio CDs, fluency activity cards, original leveled reading passages, the Fluency Formula™ Assessment System with a student timer, and a fluency flip chart. The cost for six Fluency Formula™ kits (one per grade for grades 1–6), a principal's guide, and a facilitator handbook is $5,775. The cost of individual materials and courses is available on the publisher's website.
|Institute of Education Sciences
