Narrator: Let’s take the next few minutes to see how some of the fluency practices and strategies you’ve just learned about come to life in the classroom.
Lisa Islas: OK, Ishmael, we’re going to practice reading the story you read last night.
Narrator: Improving rate and accuracy are the most important aspects of enhancing fluency. This teacher supports the student’s reading of a difficult word; then guides him to re-read the sentence.
Student: (Unintelligible)
Teacher: What vowel do you see?
Student: /p/.
Teacher: No, what vowel? What’s that? What letter is that in the middle?
Student: /i/
Teacher: What letter is that?
Student: I.
Teacher: OK, and it makes what sound?
Student: /i/
Teacher: OK.
Student: Dip, dip.
Teacher: Uh huh. Very good.
Student: “Dip, dip in it. What is it?”
Teacher: OK. Read that whole page for me again.
Student: “Sid can dip in it. What is it?
Teacher: Good job.
Student: “Sid can /w/, win…” Win?
Teacher: Very good.
Student: “Sid, Sid can win it. What is it?”
Teacher: Colin, I like the way that you went back and re-read it to me. After you figured out the word, you went back and re-read the whole sentence. Good job.
Narrator: In this classroom, Hilda Carias-Varelas listens to and coaches students during independent reading time. She focuses their attention on accuracy and rate. See how she asks the student to re-read a passage after correcting a mistake.
Hilda Carias-Varelas: Me lo va a leer así: “La oruga va a ver al guajolote sabio del pueblo que está sentado en el parque.” Me lo va a leer así, pero esta vez, me lo va a leer más rapidito.
Student: “Narrador: La oruga va a...” O.
Hilda Carias-Varelas: Vamos a ver. OK. ¿Qué hizo? Por qué le hicistes así: (Sharp intake of breath). ¿Por qué hiciste así?
Student: Porque hize un error.
Hilda Carias-Varelas: ¿Y, ti, cuando haces un error, que tienes que hacer?
Student: Tengo que corregirlo y volver para atrás
Hilda Carias-Varelas: Exactamente. Muy bien.
Student: “La oruga va a ver al guajolote sabio del pueblo que esta sentado en el parque.”
Hilda Carias-Varelas: ¡Te fijas! Entonces, estas tenido problema como ver tus ojitos. ¿Verdad? Muy bien. Entonces, vamos a leer eso.
Student: “Por favor, guajolote sabio, necesito tu ayuda.”
Hilda Carias-Varelas: Excelente. Así se lee.
Narrator: Re-reading texts is an effective fluency building strategy. There are a variety of activities that engage students with fluency practice.
Student: “Hurray! I could go with my brother to the park and sail my new boat.”
Narrator: Partner reading is one way teachers may group more proficient readers with less proficient ones. The more able reader begins and the partner then re-reads the same passage. It’s important to work with students, teaching them how to be supportive reading partners.
Student: “On Monday Fox and Millie went to the fair. ‘Let’s have our picture taken,’ said Fox. “Oh, yes, let’s do,” said Millie.”
Student: “On Monday Fox and Millie went to the fair. ‘Let’s have our picture taken,’ said Fox. ‘Oh, yes, let’s do,’ said Millie.”
Student: “Click went the camera, and out came the pictures.”
Student: “Click went the camera and out went the camera.”
Student: Came.
Student: “…came the camera.”
Student: Pictures.
Student: Pictures.
Narrator: Computer or tape-assisted reading is another repeated reading strategy that boosts fluency. Some students, especially English language learners, benefit from listening to books on tape as they make the connection between oral and written language. In small groups or with the whole class teachers provide opportunities for students to practice fluent reading often.
Students: “‘What am I going to do?’ he said to himself.”
Narrator: Roxanne Gabaldon’s class re-reads short excerpts from a basal story, focusing on prosody.
Roxanne Gabaldon: Boys and girls, we’re going to be doing some echo reading so that we can become even better readers, more fluent readers. I’m going to be modeling how our sentence should sound. If it’s a question, Joe, I’m going to make sure that I read it like a question. If there’s a character talking and they’re excited, I’m going to be excited. And that way I’m going to be modeling what I expect you to do when you’re reading.
“Once upon a time in a big cave, past the volcano on the left, lived the Grunt Tribe.”
Students: “Once upon a time, in a big cave, past the volcano on the left, lived the Grunt Tribe.”
Narrator: In this classroom it’s the student’s turn to model fluent reading.
Student: “‘Oh no! I can’t play. I can’t play with you, Freddie. Not now. Can’t you see I’m eating spaghetti?’”
Narrator: The child chosen to be reader of the day knows to practice the book before reading to the class.
Student: “‘Can’t you see I need more? More spaghetti,’ I say?”
Narrator: Carolyn Earnhardt and her students developed a rubric for the reader of the day so students have a clear understanding of what’s expected.
Carolyn Earnhardt: Tell me something else a good reader does. Mckinsey?
Mckinsey: To read with expression.
Carolyn Earnhardt: All right, you have to read with expression. You want to keep your listeners involved, so you have to read with expression. Something else, Kristen?
Kristen: Read in a teacher voice.
Carolyn Earnhardt: And what is a teacher voice?
Kristen: Read in kind of a loud voice, but not too loud.
Carolyn Earnhardt: OK. Where it can be heard, right? You want everyone to be sure that they hear you. Cory?
Cory: Practice it at least two times.
Carolyn Earnhardt: Right. A good reader usually always practices the book at least two times.
Student: “The prince and the princess were so unhappy. They didn’t know what to do!”
Narrator: Second graders also have fun with readers theatre, another approach to fluency building. In Maria Bernhard’s room, the students read through their own parts several times; then practice together as Ms. Bernhard checks in.
Student: “Oh, no. Naps are no fun at all.”
Maria Bernhard: OK. Let’s practice that together. Think about how they’re going to stay that. Do you think they really want to take a nap? How are you going to say that to your mom if she wants you to take a nap? “Oh, no. Naps are no fun at all.” Can you guys try that together again? Why don’t you try that together?
Students: “Oh, no. Naps are no fun at all.”
Maria Bernhard: Very good.
Narrator: Roxanne Gabaldon’s students practice rereading a poem all week to prepare for Friday’s poetry theater. Of course, all of that practice has a pay-off. As second graders gain proficiency in reading faster and more accurately, they improve their understanding of what they read.
Students: “I learn to read and I read to learn. I feed our fish; we each get a turn. I add and subtract and count quite well. I go on field trips and do show and tell!”
Narrator: Many of the fluency activities you’ve seen are well suited for mixed ability groups. Better readers can support the less able readers, and students who struggle to read fluently are motivated to re-read when the learning is this much fun.
Teacher: Nice job.
Narrator: It is important to monitor each student’s fluency progress, regularly checking reading rate and accuracy. Let’s listen to this student’s second reading of the passage.
Student: “It was a big mess. It was a big flat mess, flat mess.”
Narrator: Teacher Lisa Islas times the student’s reading, then shows him how to check his own progress.
Lisa Islas: Very good. What does that say?
Student: One minute and 28 seconds.
Lisa Islas: What happened?
Student: I got better.
Lisa Islas: You got better!
Narrator: With each repeated reading, the student charts his time, gaining immediate feedback on his efforts toward more fluent reading. Seeing this kind of progress can be a great motivator for second graders. They learn that the more they read, the better readers they’ll become. Chart a course toward fluent reading for your second graders. Plan fluency-building activities that provide many opportunities to read and re-read a wide variety of appropriate level texts. Then, watch their love of reading soar.
Student: “And when I keep them open I can read with much more speed. You have to be a speedy reader.”
Dixie Huckabee: And you’re a speedy reader. You’re reading it really well.