Research Paper on:
Teaching Reading to Fourth Graders

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
the challenge to earlier notions that one method (e.g. phonics, rote memorization, supported instruction, etc.) was singularly better than others in determining long-term reading outcomes. What researchers have found  is that different children learn in different ways and the best classroom successes are achieved through the use of differentiated instructional methods that address the needs of a varied learner  population. Hudson, Lane and Pullen (2005) break down reading research and task performance as a means of defining methods for assessment.  These authors identify the three major elements of reading fluency: the accurate reading of text, the reading at a rate that is conversational and the use of appropriate prosody.  In conjunction, the authors maintain that reading accuracy can be identified through an assessment of the way in which students reference existing knowledge, decode words and demonstrate correct understanding  (Hudson, Lane and Pullen, 2005). The presence of existing vocabulary knowledge not only impacts reading accuracy, but also reading rate. Reading rate is identified as both the word  level at which a student can retrieve pre-existing knowledge automatically and the speed at which a text can be read (Hudson, Lane and Pullen, 2005). Prosody, then, is assessed  relative to some basic central features, which include the patterns that are stressed during reading, the pitch and expressiveness in reading (Hudson, Lane and Pullen, 2005).  Both the reading accuracy and reading rate are influenced by the presence of an existing body of vocabulary. When students reference words automatically, they increase  their speed and the accuracy of their reading. As a result, reading fluency is directly connected to the level of vocabulary knowledge a student has and its impacts on