FISH fluency screener for older struggling readers

FISH (Fluency Indicators in a Story Hierarchy) is a diagnostic fluency screener for educators and speech pathologists working with older students with significant literacy challenges.

Ideal for students 8 years and over, the FISH Screener offers a unique collection of short, sequential, decodable passages that will provide valuable insights into a student's reading fluency and phonic skills. FISH can also be used to check foundational skills in early high school students or reading fluency in beginner readers (Years 1-2).

In 5-10 minutes, using the hierarchy of FISH stories and normed fluency benchmarks, you can pinpoint the starting point for targeted literacy intervention and start making a real difference in the lives of struggling readers.

For a more detailed description click here: About FISH

How is FISH different?

FISH has been carefully designed to review fluency in struggling older readers. Reading passages in standard fluency screeners typically include full code and are too complex for some students. Inevitably this means at the end of the screening process, you are no clearer as to the specific needs of your students than you were when you started!

FISH stories start with CVC and build up to extended code including multi-syllabic words and word endings. With three separate entry points in the story hierarchy, choose the starting point for your student and move up and down the story hierarchy from there. 

Each story contains exactly 60 words which enables you to estimate fluency rates (Words Correct Per Minute) on the fly and progress through the screening process more efficiently. For example less than three errors plus a time of 30 seconds per story would be appropriate for a child in Year 3, as it indicates a reading rate around 120 WCPM. The exact WCPM can be calculated and graphed after testing for formal reporting purposes. 

The phonic code in each story is very specific enabling you to identify where phonic knowledge is breaking down. Once you have identified the story where reading fluency starts to fall below benchmark (orthographic mapping is not occurring) you have a clear starting point for targeted intervention.

Does FISH used normed measures?

Yes :) While FISH is not a normed screener, it uses Hasbrouck and Tindal's 2017 updated Oral Reading Fluency norms. The fluency graph included with FISH uses the 50th percentile as the reading rate expected by the end of each year level.

Who is FISH for?

FISH was created to assist educators and speech pathologists review fluency rates and identify a starting point for intervention for struggling older readers (aged 8+). The story content and custom-made graphics were carefully designed to appeal to an older age bracket.

FISH can also be used to check foundational skills in early high school students or review reading fluency of beginner readers in the early years.

Types of licences

There are two licences available:

Single-user licence: authorises you to print unlimited copies of FISH for personal use in your classroom or private practice.

Multi-user licence: authorises professional use across an educational institution, learning support division, speech pathology clinic or tutoring service.

The sharing of digital files outside your licence limits is not permitted.

What you will receive:

This is a digital product. Upon ordering you will be able to instantly download a FISH screener pack containing PDFs of the following: 

• FISH Screener Overview
  includes detailed instructions on how to administer the screener and how to analyse the results
• FISH Decodable Stories (12)
  sequential stories build in difficulty from initial code (CVC) to full code
  
• FISH Score Sheet
  mark student errors, record time and complete comprehension questions
• Student Summary with fluency graph
  check performance against normed oral reading fluency benchmarks

Placing students in Read3 (or another) intervention

The Read3 literacy intervention was created specifically for children with significant  foundational reading challenges. Guidance on where to place children in Read3 are provided with the FISH Screener.

If you are not using the Read3 program, please refer to the phonic code description for each FISH story and target your intervention accordingly based on student scores.

* Hasbrouck, J. and Tindal, G. (2017) An Update to Compiled Oral Reading Fluency Norms.