RICA Fluency 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A second-grade student reads at 45 words per minute with 92% accuracy. Based on fluency benchmarks, this student is BEST described as:
- At grade-level fluency for second grade
- Below grade-level fluency for second grade (Correct answer)
- Above grade-level fluency for second grade
- Within the frustration range for fluency
Correct answer: Below grade-level fluency for second grade
Second-grade students should read approximately 90 words per minute by mid-year, so 45 wpm is significantly below benchmark.
Question 2: Which of the following BEST describes prosody in reading fluency?
- The number of words read correctly per minute
- Reading with appropriate expression, phrasing, and intonation (Correct answer)
- The percentage of words decoded accurately
- Using context clues to identify unknown words
Correct answer: Reading with appropriate expression, phrasing, and intonation
Prosody refers to the expressive, rhythmic quality of reading that includes appropriate stress, phrasing, and intonation.
Question 3: A teacher uses echo reading with a struggling fluency student. What is the PRIMARY purpose of this technique?
- To assess the student's independent reading level
- To build vocabulary through repeated exposure
- To provide a fluent model and allow immediate imitation (Correct answer)
- To improve phonemic awareness skills
Correct answer: To provide a fluent model and allow immediate imitation
Echo reading has the teacher read a passage aloud first, then the student immediately repeats it, providing a fluent model to imitate.
Question 4: Repeated reading is an evidence-based fluency strategy primarily because it:
- Introduces students to new vocabulary in each reading
- Builds automaticity with words through multiple exposures (Correct answer)
- Teaches students to use phonics rules systematically
- Exposes students to a wide variety of text genres
Correct answer: Builds automaticity with words through multiple exposures
Repeated reading builds automaticity and fluency by allowing students to practice recognizing words until they become effortless.
Question 5: A teacher wants to measure a student's oral reading fluency. Which assessment approach is MOST appropriate?
- Administer a silent reading comprehension test
- Have the student read aloud from a grade-level passage for one minute and calculate words correct per minute (Correct answer)
- Ask the student to retell a story they have read silently
- Use a running record focused solely on error types
Correct answer: Have the student read aloud from a grade-level passage for one minute and calculate words correct per minute
Oral reading fluency is measured by having students read a grade-level passage aloud for one minute and counting the words read correctly per minute (WCPM).
Question 6: Which component of fluency is MOST directly related to reading comprehension?
- Rate (words per minute)
- Accuracy of word identification
- Prosody and phrasing (Correct answer)
- Letter-sound automaticity
Correct answer: Prosody and phrasing
Prosody and appropriate phrasing most closely reflect comprehension because they show the reader is processing meaning and text structure.
Question 7: A teacher notices a student reads accurately but in a word-by-word, monotone manner. The MOST appropriate instructional response is to:
- Provide additional phonics instruction to strengthen decoding
- Assign the student easier texts to build confidence
- Use choral reading and model expressive reading with think-alouds about phrasing (Correct answer)
- Focus on vocabulary instruction to improve word knowledge
Correct answer: Use choral reading and model expressive reading with think-alouds about phrasing
A word-by-word, monotone reading style indicates a prosody deficit, best addressed through modeling and choral reading to develop expressive phrasing.
RICA Fluency 2
A second-grade student reads at 45 words per minute with 92% accuracy.
Based on fluency benchmarks, this student is BEST described as: