Having taught for 16 years, mostly in upper elementary, fluency is so important for kids to have good comprehension. Many teachers don't take the time to teach good fluency.
How do I teach fluency?
1.
Read-alouds - I love reading books out loud to kids, even fifth graders. Utilizing "Interactive Notebooks" and read-alouds along with reading novels in small groups really helps to teach fluency and specific comprehension skills, like making inferences and summarizing. Read-alouds model proper fluency.
2.
Shared Reading - This is like a read-aloud, but each student has a copy of what I'm reading. Sometimes I read it wrong and see what they think about how it sounds versus reading it correctly. This is great for shared reading, but not for read-alouds, because the students benefit from seeing and hearing the words I read. It helps them see how one way is wrong, but another is correct because they can see the punctuation and other text effects.
3.
One-to-One Reading - Wherever the student chooses to sit that day during independent reading, I find him/her and I listen to the student read. I occasionally stop the student to ask if what he/she read made sense or we discuss something specific that I notice he/she did well and something that needs work. These things include: pausing for commas and other punctuation, like... or -, phrasing correctly, learning how to transition from one page to the next smoothly, having appropriate expression, reading at a good speed for the text, accurately reading words or going back to self-correct when he/she makes an error, and many other practices that affect fluency.
4.
You Read, I Read - this is like one-to-one reading, but I don't give a lot of feedback until the very end of the time we read together. I will tell the student two places where he/she read a passage well (or the novel he/she is reading) and one place to improve.
5.
Partner practice - This is done as a class activity in the beginning to teach specific fluency practices. The students sit "EEKK," which is elbow-to-elbow, knee-to-knee. I think that came from
The Daily Five. (Those ladies are fabulous!) The students read together, one reading and the other listening. The listener gives feedback on the reading for the skill we're practicing - one place the reader practiced the skill well, another where he/she could use some practice. The reader then reads it to him/herself two times, and then reads it aloud again. The listener compliments the reader and then they switch roles.
6.
Read to the animal / the recorder / the stuffed animal / the fish / etc... - Sometimes, I have the kids who don't like to read with me sitting next to them do these activities until they are more comfortable with me. I have been known to "overhear" them read something well when they do this and let them know later. This encourages them to keep the good habits I hear, and eventually be willing to read to me once they know I'm not going to bite them while they are reading to me. I am a scary lady....
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| Reading to the Scary Dog |
7.
At home practice - I have sent a sheet home with a letter to parents where their homework is to read a passage every night. The student reads it first, and then the parent tells the student one skill they did well and one that needs work. The student reads it to him/herself two times with that feedback in mind, and then reads it aloud again. The parent compliments one specific skill and they practice it again in the same way the next day. They can time the reading every night or not. I will time them reading it on Monday and again on Friday. So, the homework lasts Monday through Thursday nights. This seems like a silly and useless drill, but there is research that shows improvement with this assignment. I do include a list of the elements of fluency and a few that we've practiced in class together to help the parents give good feedback to their children. This is not my favorite way to increase fluency, but if you have motivated parents and students, it does work well.
8.
(My favorite) Songs - fifth graders, yes these cool and aloof, wondrous beings, enjoy singing in the morning. We have a fifth grade songbook full of fun songs to sing and we sing every morning (LOL) after we say the morning pledges for our country and our class. We have special songbooks for the holiday weeks and it's more fun when there's music for the songs. I am a TERRIBLE singer, but even fifth graders don't care. They say I sing well, and I love them for that. They also say I look 29, so I know they are good at questionable compliments and are practicing the art of hyperbole.
9.
Decoding / Phonics Skills - This should probably be #1, however it's late at night and the Carmelicious from Scooters is wearing off...I do specifically work with all of my students using different methods and materials on phonics and decoding. There are many methods I've employed, and I typically use them in small groups and short lessons before we begin our guided reading small group. This is a topic that could be explored in it's own post, too.
10.
Readers Theater - Students don't typically need costumes and backgrounds for this. It's just a practiced reading of the parts for fluency, not for visual appeal. There are many resources for this online that can be purchased and ones that are freebies, too. This is great to use when you have a short week or as an activity after a novel. There's no end to the good times Readers Theater can be implemented into your classroom.
How do I "test" fluency?
I listen to them read. It's best to use an "on-grade-level" reading to get a more accurate picture of the class as a whole and of each student as an individual. When I've had students that are not reading at grade level, I've had them use a passage from the level they are reading, as well. While they're reading, I do a quick assessment by having a copy of the passage they read and checking off the words they read correctly, crossing out words that are skipped, and putting a line above words that are misread and writing above the line with the pronunciation/word they used. They do this for one minute, and I do time it because it's easier to calculate the words per minute (WPM) read by counting the total number of words and subtracting the number of errors they made. Errors include: mispronouncing, substituting, skipping, inserting, mixing word order, and struggling more than 3 seconds. I do not count errors when students correct themselves while reading, if it's corrected quickly. I do count an error when students repeat words or phrases, but I only count it as one error for each phrase (consecutive words) repeated. I like to record these as it creates a helpful record and could be used in a digital portfolio for conferences. (I have not done that...yet.)
Tim Rasinski has done a lot of research on this and written countless books, as well. I've used one of his books for this "test."
Rasinski,T., & Padak, N,.(2005). 3-Minute reading assessments: word recognition, fluency & comprehension. New York, NY: Scholastic. It was very user-friendly. I've also had the pleasure of hearing him speak and I think he's awesome!
Dr. Tim Rasinski - Reading and Fluency
Here's a 3-Minute Reading Assessment published on an online school's website, too.
Basehor-Linwood Virtual School, by Victoria Dodds
Here's some fluency practice passages online.
Reading A-Z fluency practice
ReadWorks.org, select reading passages and choose your level
McGraw-Hill Publishers
Comprehension
What does fluency have to do with comprehension? A lot, I say! Typically, if a student has developed good fluency, he/she has good comprehension. If not, we work on that. I'll blog about it next time.
Disclaimer
I would like to note that this has been my experience, and I am not an expert. I've had some great teachers who have helped me, and I've had the benefit to attend many workshops and other training, as well. I also employ "Google" and other research methods, like teacher friends. You may have better ideas or different experiences. Feel free to give your suggestions, but please be kind. I have garnered success with the above practices in a public school where many students were receiving assistance and homework was considered taboo and in two different private schools where homework was required, as well. Most of my experience has been in private schools.
