Practice
makes perfect. Better said, practice makes progress.
Learning a new skill requires repetition to automate
it. Similarly, every beginner reader needs to practice reading to improve fluency.
Add dyslexia to the equation, this becomes even more critical.
Reading fluency is defined as the ability to read text
accurately, quickly and with expression and understanding. First, a reader
learns to read a word accurately and then, with practice, fluently. With
fluency skill, comes better comprehension.
Understanding
fluency and how the brain works is critical to build a successful reading
fluency strategy. The brain
has two hemispheres: right and left. The left hemisphere includes most of the areas
responsible for language processing and reading. The non-dyslexic reader
activates the front and back parts of the left brain while reading. For the
dyslexic reader, however, these reading patterns are different and the brain
requires more steps, using longer pathways, to matches the letters with
sounds.
Our brain functions by transmitting electrical
impulses across neurons similar to a relay race in a track team passing the
baton from one athlete to the other. There are tiny gaps between neurons where
the impulse has to jump for the information to be relayed. This is similar to
the electricity moving through a light switch. In an electrical circuit, the
more we use the circuit, the more it wears out. In the brain, however, the more
often a circuit is activated, the faster and stronger it becomes because
connections between the neurons multiply each time we activate the circuit.
Similarly, in our brain, if we don’t use the connections, they become weaker
and cease to exist.
By
practicing reading fluency, the more direct and efficient circuit for reading
becomes the dominant one. When the
dyslexic brain practices reading with the new connections, the older and slower
connections disappear. Repeated oral reading, exercised consistently, can help
a dyslexic child improve fluency.
Another key thing is the amount of load we put on the
circuit to make it stronger. Just more reading practice, however, is not enough
for fluency. It has to be reading the right difficulty level of words. Another
analogy I like is going to the gym for a workout. If the workout is too weak or
too heavy, we do not get the best result. If we push ourselves just a bit
regularly, then we get stronger. The key is to choose the right reading
materials with words at the right reading level. This not only allows them to
decode new words and build the new pathways in the brain to store the word and
its meaning, but also build self-confidence as they are able to see the fruits
of their hard work. And this may just be the bridge between reading as an
obligation to reading for fun.
Reading fluency passages are a great way to get the
job started. Choosing the right books written with building fluency for
dyslexics in mind, however, will bring an emotional dimension of support.
As your child is learning, you may find a combination of low-level/high
interest books geared to struggling readers to be helpful.
