Hi,
I just read something interesting that said “There is no doubt that children tend to start reading spontaneously as their printing fluency begins to approach the 30 lpm rate.”
I have forgotten how to measure rate. How do you count “word per minute” when reading or writting?
Donna in MO
To measure words per minute, count a 100 word passage and time the child reading that passage in seconds (one minute and 30 seconds = 90 seconds). This can be done without the child knowing they are being timed by using a timer without sound or the second hand on your watch. (I don’t do a running record unless I’m using a timer.)
Then, divide 6000 by the number of seconds that it took the individual to read that 100 word passage. The quotient (answer) is the number of words read per minute.
When listening to students read, I will sometimes look at their book before they begin and count out a 100 word passage to time. That gives me a rough guess at where they are.
If fluency seems an issue, I will time them using a great leaps passage in their just-right reading range—which may be different than their current book selection.
This is just how I’ve informally measured fluency for instructional planning. I would use different testing instruments for formal assessment.