FOCUS ON INCLUSION: USING READERS THEATRE TO FOSTER FLUENCY IN STRUGGLING READERS: A TWIST ON THE REPEATED READING STRATEGY

The . . . children . . . crushed . . . the . . . chocolatey . . . treat . . . between . . . their . . . teeth . . .. Their . . . dog, . . . Bandit, . . . looked . . . up . . . at . . . them . . . with . . . hopeful . . . big . . . brown . . . eyes . . .. But . . . the . . . children . . . knew . . . that . . . dogs . . . should . . . not . . . eat . . . chocolate . . .. Mike read the few sentences slowly, pronouncing the words carefully, each one isolated and distinct from its neighbors. Mike, a third grader of low average reading achievement, has little difficulty decoding the words in his book. He and his reading partner, Ben, have already identified the words each child was unsure of, and between them, the two have generated plausible meanings. Why, then, does Mike read in a manner so hesitant and disjointed, pushing out each word as he does, one by one? Mike, like many children (and some older students and even adults), lacks fluency in his oral reading.