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Fluency Phones

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"Can I help you?" asked the Home Depot man.

"Yes please. Want to guess what I'm making?"

Either he didn't see my shirt that says iTEACH in giant letters or he doesn't think very highly of teachers.

I informed Home Depot man that it is very common for teachers to make fluency phones with PVC pipes and that whisper phones are in fact legal and that I couldn't get the parts to fit together like I needed them to.

He said, "That's because you need a PIPE, honey."

It was a little more complicated than I expected it to be.

The pipe that Home Depot man picked out for me was a 2 ft long, 3/4 in (diameter?) pipe. He cut it for me at the store... after I laughed when he asked me if I had a saw at home.

No husband = no saw, obviously.

He cut the pipe into seven 4-inch pieces.

Because I had 7 pipes, I grabbed 14 of the 3/4 inch, 90 degree "elbows," as Home Depot man called them.

I spent a total of $8.76.

Seven fluency phones for less than $10 sounds like a great deal to me.

When I got home, I wiped all of the elbows down with my favorite cleaning device, baby wipes.

They were dirty. Why do PVC pipes have dirt in them when you buy them?

Then I stuck them together and wrapped them in some cute duct tape.

The duct tape got all crinkly because of the change in widths where the pipe meets the elbows, but I'll deal with it. They're definitely not perfect, but they'll do.

If you're planning on making your own, good luck!

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DIY: Legal Fluency Phones - School and the City

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"Can I help you?" asked the Home Depot man. "Yes please. Want to guess what I'm making?" "Ummm is it legal?" Either he didn't see my shirt that says iTEACH in giant letters or he doesn't think very highly of teachers. I informed Home Depot man that it is very common for teachers to make ...

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Punctuations and Expression Cues.

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Recently I posted 8 Ideas to Build Fluency, but there is so much more to fluency than just reading at a good pace and accurately. Fluency is also about reading smoothly, as I described in my reading interventions blog post. However, today, it's all about teaching expression in fluency!

When it comes to the expression in fluency, it is really about getting students to take note of the punctuation first. I want to share a few engaging activities that I like to do at the beginning of the year to make sure my students understand what expression in fluency is all about so they can apply it all year long in their reading.

Teaching Expression in Fluency Activities

One of the first things I do is discuss with my students the effects that punctuation has on our voices when we read. I create a chart with the punctuation marks, and together we discuss each main piece of punctuation. After partnering up, I direct students to turn to their partner and to take turns asking a question. As their partner is asking the question, they are to listen to the voice and notice what happens. Students should notice that as the student is asking the question, the voice rises, and then the student comes to a stop. We add that to our chart. We repeat this with statements (period), exciting news (exclamation), and lists of things they have in their bedrooms, toy boxes, video games, books, etc. (comma). We then talk about quotation marks.

After we get a bit of a feel for each piece of punctuation and what our voices do with them, I then give each group of students an excerpt from Shel Silverstein's "The Homework Machine" poem. Once students have the chart paper, I give them red, yellow, and green construction paper dots. Together as a group, they decide which dots go where and draw the punctuation on it. Once students think they are done, I go over it on the doc cam showing exactly which punctuation is where and discussing which dot they should have (and which voice they should use).

Once each group has their charts corrected, they then practice for a few minutes, reading it together with the expression they just learned based on punctuation. Then, they read it as a group to the class. I don't make them come to the front of the room but just read it where they are. I have them use the dots as visual cues on their chart paper to slow down, stop, or go (along with if your voice goes up or not).

The next day or so, we practice again using words and phrases that are the same but with different punctuation each time. We talk about how mom can sometimes use the same word over and over but have a different meaning each time just based on how she says it. It's all about the expression - and punctuation!

Throughout the year, I continue practicing expression in fluency through repeated readings and echo readings. I do this in all content areas. I also have students participate in a lot of reader's theater, where I encourage them to try out different voices to match the characters, along with radio reading.

Overall, the idea is that students need to be practicing more than just speed and accuracy when it comes to fluency. They need to be working on smooth phrases and expression in fluency!

Happy Teaching!

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Teaching Expression in Fluency - The Owl Teacher

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Recently I posted 8 Ideas to Build Fluency, but there is so much more to fluency than just reading at a good pace and accurately. Fluency is also about reading smoothly, as I described in my reading interventions blog post. However, today, it's all about teaching expression in fluency!

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Sight words.

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Teachers are always on the hunt for great sight word activities. Sight words are any words readers recognize automatically "by sight"-for fluent readers, that's almost all words! High-frequency words, the most commonly occurring words in written English, like those on the Dolch list, are often thought of as the most crucial sight words.

It's a myth that blindly memorizing every letter in a sight word is the only way to learn it. The science of reading tells us that linking sounds and letters is the most effective way for kids' brains to learn any word. Many common words are easy to tackle using beginning phonics skills (like "at," "can," "him," etc.), so staying true to a strong phonics curriculum is one way to support kids' sight word learning. Even irregularly spelled words have decodable parts, e.g., kids can use the sounds of "s" and "d" to help with "said," even if the "ai" is unexpected. Experts often call these words "heart words" to call out for kids that they should learn the unexpected word parts "by heart." (If all this is unfamiliar to you, it can feel overwhelming, but you've got this! Check out teaching guru Jillian Starr's explanation for more help.)

Read: What Are Sight Words?

Check out these low-prep and engaging sight word activities for both teaching and practicing words.

These activities are great when you are introducing new words or when students need a reminder of the letters and patterns that make up each word.

1. Map it and drive it

This is a genius way to introduce words with appealing materials: Say the word, represent each sound with a LEGO brick, write letters for each sound, and "drive" to read it.

Learn more: @droppinknowledgewithheidi

2. Smush play dough for each sound

Set up a routine that works for any word. Play dough squishing for each sound is the ultimate multi-sensory component.

Learn more: @playdough2plato

3. Map words with a magnet wand

It is so super-satisfying to drag those magnetic dots around! Watch the video below for lots of tips on introducing a word using this process.

Learn more: @warriorsforliteracy

4. Make a mini book

Create a mini-book they can take home with them to read on their own.

Learn more: @hughesheartforfirst

5. Tap it, pop it, learn it!

Hardwire those words in kids' brains with this comprehensive word intro routine. (You had us with the Pop-Its!)

Source: @hellojenjones

Once students have learned a word, it's all about practice, practice, practice! These activities will help students learn words by "heart."

6. Find and swat words

An oldie but such a goodie. Find a word in an array and whack! Swat it with a fly swatter!

Learn more: @kids_play_learn_laugh

7. Flip word pancakes

Serve up sight word pancakes while practicing spelling them aloud.

Learn more: Playdough to Plato

8. Wear heart word bracelets

Make kids feel like sight word VIPs and keep sight word review on hand.

Learn more: @teachingmoore

9. Search for sight word balls

Write sight words on ball pit balls with a chalk marker or dry-erase marker. Kids can race around hunting for balls to read and toss in a basket, or hunt through a big tub of balls for a certain word.

Learn more: @preschoolforyou

10. Start a sight word band

Loud but oh-so fun! Feel the rhythm while tapping and reading sight words stuck to homemade percussion instruments.

Learn more: @earlyyears_withmrsg

11. Drive on a sight word path

This is one of many fun ways to use magnetic tiles for learning! Kids love "knocking down" word tiles with a toy car as they read each one.

Learn more: @travisntyler

12. Use sticky notes to inspire sight word sentences

Have kids stick words on items that give them ideas for sentences. "My Mom said to wear a helmet!" = so good!

Learn more: @kinneypodlearning

13. Write words on a sensory bag

So easy: Fill a zip-top bag with a small amount of kid-safe paint, seal well, and have kids practice "writing" sight words with their finger or a cotton swab.

Learn more: @makeitmultisensory

14. Wear a sight word crown

Wear your word proudly and practice reading others' words. Fun in person or virtually.

Learn more: @mrsjonescreationstation

15. Play a magnetic-tile board game

We love new ideas for ways to use magnetic tiles for sight word activities. Easy to set up and fun to play.

Learn more: @twotolove_bairantwins

16. Spell words to a familiar tune

Get sight words stuck in everyone's head, in a good way. We'd add a line for chanting the sounds in the word!

Learn more: @builditbre

17. Feed a word monster

Nom, nom, nom.

Learn more: @ecplayandlearn

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18. Search for the pom-pom under sight word cups

Read all the words as you try to find the cup that hides the prize.

Learn more: @la.la.learning

19. Play sight word Kaboom!

This classroom classic is perfect for sight words. If you need a refresher on the rules, Jillian Starr covers them.

Learn more: @essentiallykinder

20. Roll and write words

Roll, write, repeat.

Learn more: @mylittlepandamonium

21. Write words with rainbow colors

Bonus points for aromatic markers.

Learn more: @mylittlepandamonium

22. Trace words with flashlights

Stock up on batteries because kids never get tired of this!

Learn more: @giggleswithgerg

23. Find words in plastic eggs

Give kids a checklist of words to find as they open each egg.

Learn more: @blooming_tots1

24. Spy words around the classroom

Just add a magnifying glass and clipboard to make kids feel like supersleuths!

Learn more: @readingcorneronline

25. Find words in the morning message

Don't forget about old standbys! This is one of our favorite ways to get kids to recognize sight words in connected text.

Learn more: @tales_of_a_kinder_classroom

26. Build words with bricks

Such a great use of extra building bricks!

Learn more: The Printable Princess

27. Write words in sand

Easy-peasy to set up and keep neat if you use plastic pencil boxes.

Learn more: @teacherhacks

28. Spell words on a construction site

Bulldozing over each word to read it is the best part!

Learn more: @planningplaytime

29. Spell words with toy cars

Drive on over!

Learn more: @lozlovesprep

30. Park in a sight word "parking lot"

This one is easy to modify based on whatever toys are available in the classroom or at home.

Learn more: @msbendersclassroom

31. "Plant" words in play dough

Watch those reading skills grow!

Learn more: @planningplaytime

32. Build words in a sensory tub

Because spelling is just more fun when your hands are covered in beans!

Learn more: @coffeeandspitup

33. Write words on a magnetic drawing board

That eraser track makes for a perfect word card holder!

Learn more: @moffattgirls

34. Or write words on the window!

Everyone wants a turn to write on the window!

Learn more: @kindergarten_matters

35. Shhh! Discover words written in invisible ink

Write words in white crayon and reveal them with watercolors on top!

Learn more: @teachstarter

36. Dot-paint words with a cotton swab

Calming and effective.

Learn more: @sightwordactivities

37. "Type" words on a keyboard

Busy day at the sight word office! Use a keyboard cover or any old keyboard.

Learn more: @lifebetweensummers

38. Read words before heading through the door

The line leader can double as the word pointer during transitions.

Learn more: @ms.rowekinder

39. Read the word the teacher's wearing!

Wait, is there something on my shirt?

Learn more: @theprimarypartner

40. Take a sight word cakewalk

Choose a winning word when the music stops!

Learn more: @joyfulinkinder

41. Play sight word hopscotch

If you can't get outdoors, tape on the floor works just as well.

Learn more: @wheretheliteracygrows

42. Play tic-tac-toe

I'll be team "look."

Learn more: Boy Mama Teacher Mama

43. Go sight word bowling

No bowling pins? Use half-filled plastic water bottles instead.

Learn more: @thecreativeteacher_

44. Ready, aim, read

Just throw a beanbag at a word target if foam darts are a no-go.

Learn more: @laurens_lil_learners

45. Play muffin tin ball toss

Toss a ball or pom-pom into the muffin tin and read the word. It's easy to use colored muffin cups to prep different sets of words.

Learn more: @fun_with_lynda

46. DIY sentence flash cards

Authentic use of words in context for the win.

Learn more: @teachertipsandtales

47. Play sight word checkers

King me! If kids don't have a partner available, they can "play" with a stuffed animal and get double practice.

Learn more: @sightwordactivities

48. Play sight word Guess Who?

Set up this game once and use it forever.

Learn more: @RebekahPoeTeaching

49. Sight word jars

Students organize a big jar of letters into words and pack them into smaller jars. Or put the letters you need for each word into a jar and students pour out the letters, then spell.

Learn more: No Time for Flash Cards

50. Sight word fishing

Put paper clips on notecards with sight words written on them, and have students go fishing.

Learn more: A Teachable Teacher

51. Sight word balloon toss

On those hot days, take students outside and write sight words on the pavement. Fill water balloons and have kids toss them at the words they read.

Learn more: No Time for Flash Cards

52. Sight words on the menu

Put sight words in the pretend-play center and have students request, and then be served, sight words.

Learn more: The Kindergarten Connection

53. Sight word dominoes

Create sight word dominoes out of note cards and have students play dominoes, matching sight word with sight word.

Learn more: No Time for Flash Cards

54. Sight word caterpillar

Write letters on bottle caps and have students build sight words by adding letters to the caterpillar's body.

Learn more: This Reading Mama

55. Sight word rubbings

Create raised sight words using a glue gun. When the glue is dry, students can use the cards to color over and see sight word rubbings.

Learn more: The OT Toolbox

We'd love to hear-what are your favorite sight word activities? Share in the comments below.

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We found the best low-prep, effective sight word activities for your classroom, aligned with the science of reading. Check out our mega-list!

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Tracking student progress

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Reading with fluency is one of the hardest reading strategies to teach, but with these 11 interventions for reading you can give your struggling readers the support they need to succeed. Intervention doesn't have to be confusing and stressful! Just try out these tips and check out this Key to Stress Free Reading Intervention, and you will be amazed at how your readers are transformed.

Reading Fluency Definition

Fluency is often thought of as just reading fast. How many words can you read in one minute? However, it really means much more than that. I will be writing an in depth blog post about what reading with fluency means that I'm excited to share with you, but for now, here are the 4 main aspects:

Rate (how fast you read)

Accuracy (whether you're reading the words correctly)

Expression (reading with emotion and inflection)

Comprehension (understanding what you're reading)

Fluency Matters

Why is fluency important? It has the power to fuel reading momentum or burn out and stall struggling readers. Often, a lack of fluency gets students stuck and frustrated. When students do not read with fluency, they are reading too slow and are too focused on each individual word to have a good understanding of the passage as a whole. Continued mistakes when reading also contributes to this lack of understanding. When students are reading so laboriously, it is draining for them and they do not have the stamina to read longer texts. It very heavily affects motivation.

Reading with Fluency Strategies

Reading fluency is one of my favorite reading intervention focuses! It is where the switch "clicks" and you can see the biggest transformation in your struggling readers. Here is a great list of reading interventions that you can use to help your struggling reader build their stamina. See these blog posts for ideas on how to improve other areas of reading as well:

Reading with Fluency Strategy #1: Modeling Fluency

One of the first ways we can teach reading with fluency is to model it ourselves. In all of our read alouds, when we read with expression and smoothly, point it out to our students. Tell them to listen to how your voice goes up and down, and it sounds like you're talking. Show them how "robot reading" sounds (slow-one-word-at-a-time-no-inflection), and then show them how fluent reading sounds and ask them to note the difference.

Reading with Fluency Strategy #2: Start with Sentences

To avoid overwhelm, try starting with sentences before you jump into whole passages. Sentences are the building blocks of text, so when a student can read a sentence, they have the tools to read a passage. The picture shows the tool sentence pyramids in my Fluency Intervention Binder, which are a great way to scaffold reading sentences.

Reading with Fluency Strategy #3: Sight words

Sight words are another great way to help reading fluency. By nature, sight words are read automatically by sight instead of sounding them out. When a student stops to sound out every word, it can really slow your reader down. The more sight words a student knows, the more automaticity they can have when reading, which helps their pace. These sight word clues are a fun way to practice sight words!

Reading with Fluency Strategy #4: Line tracking (pointer, paper)

This is one of my favorite reading with fluency strategies. If students have trouble focusing on the text, try having them track the words as they read. They can use their finger, a dollar store pointer (drink stirrers word great!), or some of those fun finger gadgets you can put on your fingers (like these googly eyes). When a student needs even more focused support, use a notecard to place under each line as they read. This covers up the other text so they don't get overwhelmed, and helps them focus on where they are reading. I love how simple this tip is! Check out these 11 Effective Strategies for Reading Intervention for more simple tips!

Reading with Fluency Strategy #5: Colored paper

Ready for a crazy trick?? Lightly colored paper helps students read better! Their eyes are able to focus on the text and take in the information better. Don't believe me? Try it! Print your reading passages and word lists on pastel colored paper. If anything, it helps engagement as it changes it up from the normal white. I like to use this tip for testing, especially for informal or formative tests like my Comprehensive Reading Assessment.

Reading with Fluency Strategy #6: Warm-up (practice tricky words, word by word)

Warm-ups help beginning readers approach a text with confidence. Before they even start reading, go over any tricky words you think they might have trouble with. For extensive warm-ups, try these warm-up activities from my Fluency Intervention Binder. It has each passage broken up into sentences with dots under each word. Students can start slow with one word at a time, then when they are ready they can move onto the paragraph and read it fluently. This is great for readers that need that boost in confidence.

Reading with Fluency Strategy #7: Repeated readings (with cold reads and hot reads)

Repeated readings are one of the best proven strategies for reading with fluency. Start with a cold read-letting the student read the passage without any practice or prep. This gives them experience reading completely new and unfamiliar text. Then go over some of the tricky words they missed, talk about the context, practice reading a sentence or two together, and encourage smooth reading with expression. Then have them go back and read the passage again. Their hot read should improve a ton! I have plenty of repeated readings included in my Fluency Intervention Binder.

Reading with Fluency Strategy #8: Performances

Reading for performance helps break up the monotony of repeated readings. As mentioned, reading and re-reading texts is a great way to build fluency, but sometimes students can get bored with it. Practicing reading a script for a readers' theater or poetry performance gives students purpose for their reading. They are excited to practice reading, because they are excited to perform in front of a real audience (parents, peers, another class, etc.). When using performances and plays as an intervention strategy, be sure to encourage actually reading the script, not memorizing. Students will have the script in hand while their performing and will be reading their parts. The point is to practice reading smoothly, not to memorize lines! Here are some amazing partner plays you can use for your performances!

Reading with Fluency Strategy #9: Fluency Tracking/Student self-tracking progress

Tracking rate and accuracy is important for you as the teacher to see if your student is making progress and if your interventions for reading fluency are working. Try to do a timed read at least once every 2 weeks (every week is even better!). Time the student for 1 minute (30 seconds is ok too if you're short on time) and keep a tally mark of how many errors they made. Count how many words total they read, and then count how many correct words they read. Write that number down in one chart for that student, to keep all of your data in the same place.

Having the student fill out their own data can also be highly effective. Try to make it as positive an experience as possible and help them get excited about improvement. This is especially great when you are doing cold and hot reads. Have them mark how many words in a cold read they read, and then how many words in a hot read after practicing. The hot read will almost always go up, so they can see immediate progress! That is so motivating for them to see that success so immediately.

Reading with Fluency Strategy #10: Partner reading/Turn taking reading

Partner reading is an excellent strategy, because it involves reading, listening, and social interaction. Students can read with another student, or an adult depending on how much support they need. The readers can model fluency for each other and help each other out when they get stuck. It also breaks up the text into shorter chunks to read at a time, which is a lot less overwhelming than reading an entire text for struggling readers.

Reading with Fluency Strategy #11: Context

Last, giving context and building background knowledge can be a great intervention. It encourages comprehension and thinking about what they read (which is a component of fluency!). When they understand what they're reading, they are better able to decode words because they make sense together. To do this, talk a little about what the text is about, read the title, look at the pictures, build their schema before reading. It will make a huge difference!

So, there are my top 11 strategies for reading with fluency! They are all so effective and help students make awesome improvement. Remember, not all students are the same, so you might have to try different interventions for each student.

If you would like some more tips and activity ideas to build reading skills, plus identify the students who are struggling, download this FREE Reading Intervention Cheat Sheet! It is a great "at-a-glance" guide to help you know how to help your students.

Happy teaching and reading!

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Reading with Fluency Strategies that will Transform your Readers

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Reading with fluency is one of the hardest reading strategies to teach, but with these 11 interventions for reading you can give your struggling readers the support they need to succeed. Intervention doesn't have to be confusing and stressful!

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Line tracking and word pointer.

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Reading with fluency is one of the hardest reading strategies to teach, but with these 11 interventions for reading you can give your struggling readers the support they need to succeed. Intervention doesn't have to be confusing and stressful! Just try out these tips and check out this Key to Stress Free Reading Intervention, and you will be amazed at how your readers are transformed.

Reading Fluency Definition

Fluency is often thought of as just reading fast. How many words can you read in one minute? However, it really means much more than that. I will be writing an in depth blog post about what reading with fluency means that I'm excited to share with you, but for now, here are the 4 main aspects:

Rate (how fast you read)

Accuracy (whether you're reading the words correctly)

Expression (reading with emotion and inflection)

Comprehension (understanding what you're reading)

Fluency Matters

Why is fluency important? It has the power to fuel reading momentum or burn out and stall struggling readers. Often, a lack of fluency gets students stuck and frustrated. When students do not read with fluency, they are reading too slow and are too focused on each individual word to have a good understanding of the passage as a whole. Continued mistakes when reading also contributes to this lack of understanding. When students are reading so laboriously, it is draining for them and they do not have the stamina to read longer texts. It very heavily affects motivation.

Reading with Fluency Strategies

Reading fluency is one of my favorite reading intervention focuses! It is where the switch "clicks" and you can see the biggest transformation in your struggling readers. Here is a great list of reading interventions that you can use to help your struggling reader build their stamina. See these blog posts for ideas on how to improve other areas of reading as well:

Reading with Fluency Strategy #1: Modeling Fluency

One of the first ways we can teach reading with fluency is to model it ourselves. In all of our read alouds, when we read with expression and smoothly, point it out to our students. Tell them to listen to how your voice goes up and down, and it sounds like you're talking. Show them how "robot reading" sounds (slow-one-word-at-a-time-no-inflection), and then show them how fluent reading sounds and ask them to note the difference.

Reading with Fluency Strategy #2: Start with Sentences

To avoid overwhelm, try starting with sentences before you jump into whole passages. Sentences are the building blocks of text, so when a student can read a sentence, they have the tools to read a passage. The picture shows the tool sentence pyramids in my Fluency Intervention Binder, which are a great way to scaffold reading sentences.

Reading with Fluency Strategy #3: Sight words

Sight words are another great way to help reading fluency. By nature, sight words are read automatically by sight instead of sounding them out. When a student stops to sound out every word, it can really slow your reader down. The more sight words a student knows, the more automaticity they can have when reading, which helps their pace. These sight word clues are a fun way to practice sight words!

Reading with Fluency Strategy #4: Line tracking (pointer, paper)

This is one of my favorite reading with fluency strategies. If students have trouble focusing on the text, try having them track the words as they read. They can use their finger, a dollar store pointer (drink stirrers word great!), or some of those fun finger gadgets you can put on your fingers (like these googly eyes). When a student needs even more focused support, use a notecard to place under each line as they read. This covers up the other text so they don't get overwhelmed, and helps them focus on where they are reading. I love how simple this tip is! Check out these 11 Effective Strategies for Reading Intervention for more simple tips!

Reading with Fluency Strategy #5: Colored paper

Ready for a crazy trick?? Lightly colored paper helps students read better! Their eyes are able to focus on the text and take in the information better. Don't believe me? Try it! Print your reading passages and word lists on pastel colored paper. If anything, it helps engagement as it changes it up from the normal white. I like to use this tip for testing, especially for informal or formative tests like my Comprehensive Reading Assessment.

Reading with Fluency Strategy #6: Warm-up (practice tricky words, word by word)

Warm-ups help beginning readers approach a text with confidence. Before they even start reading, go over any tricky words you think they might have trouble with. For extensive warm-ups, try these warm-up activities from my Fluency Intervention Binder. It has each passage broken up into sentences with dots under each word. Students can start slow with one word at a time, then when they are ready they can move onto the paragraph and read it fluently. This is great for readers that need that boost in confidence.

Reading with Fluency Strategy #7: Repeated readings (with cold reads and hot reads)

Repeated readings are one of the best proven strategies for reading with fluency. Start with a cold read-letting the student read the passage without any practice or prep. This gives them experience reading completely new and unfamiliar text. Then go over some of the tricky words they missed, talk about the context, practice reading a sentence or two together, and encourage smooth reading with expression. Then have them go back and read the passage again. Their hot read should improve a ton! I have plenty of repeated readings included in my Fluency Intervention Binder.

Reading with Fluency Strategy #8: Performances

Reading for performance helps break up the monotony of repeated readings. As mentioned, reading and re-reading texts is a great way to build fluency, but sometimes students can get bored with it. Practicing reading a script for a readers' theater or poetry performance gives students purpose for their reading. They are excited to practice reading, because they are excited to perform in front of a real audience (parents, peers, another class, etc.). When using performances and plays as an intervention strategy, be sure to encourage actually reading the script, not memorizing. Students will have the script in hand while their performing and will be reading their parts. The point is to practice reading smoothly, not to memorize lines! Here are some amazing partner plays you can use for your performances!

Reading with Fluency Strategy #9: Fluency Tracking/Student self-tracking progress

Tracking rate and accuracy is important for you as the teacher to see if your student is making progress and if your interventions for reading fluency are working. Try to do a timed read at least once every 2 weeks (every week is even better!). Time the student for 1 minute (30 seconds is ok too if you're short on time) and keep a tally mark of how many errors they made. Count how many words total they read, and then count how many correct words they read. Write that number down in one chart for that student, to keep all of your data in the same place.

Having the student fill out their own data can also be highly effective. Try to make it as positive an experience as possible and help them get excited about improvement. This is especially great when you are doing cold and hot reads. Have them mark how many words in a cold read they read, and then how many words in a hot read after practicing. The hot read will almost always go up, so they can see immediate progress! That is so motivating for them to see that success so immediately.

Reading with Fluency Strategy #10: Partner reading/Turn taking reading

Partner reading is an excellent strategy, because it involves reading, listening, and social interaction. Students can read with another student, or an adult depending on how much support they need. The readers can model fluency for each other and help each other out when they get stuck. It also breaks up the text into shorter chunks to read at a time, which is a lot less overwhelming than reading an entire text for struggling readers.

Reading with Fluency Strategy #11: Context

Last, giving context and building background knowledge can be a great intervention. It encourages comprehension and thinking about what they read (which is a component of fluency!). When they understand what they're reading, they are better able to decode words because they make sense together. To do this, talk a little about what the text is about, read the title, look at the pictures, build their schema before reading. It will make a huge difference!

So, there are my top 11 strategies for reading with fluency! They are all so effective and help students make awesome improvement. Remember, not all students are the same, so you might have to try different interventions for each student.

If you would like some more tips and activity ideas to build reading skills, plus identify the students who are struggling, download this FREE Reading Intervention Cheat Sheet! It is a great "at-a-glance" guide to help you know how to help your students.

Happy teaching and reading!

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Reading with Fluency Strategies that will Transform your Readers

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Reading with fluency is one of the hardest reading strategies to teach, but with these 11 interventions for reading you can give your struggling readers the support they need to succeed. Intervention doesn't have to be confusing and stressful!

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Put together poems and nursery rhymes.

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Need strategies and ideas to develop reading fluency skills with your students? I've shared favorite fluency activities to help struggling readers improve fluency and reading comprehension.
Hi Friend!

Building our students' ability to comprehend and make meaning of what they read seems to be the #1 goal of reading instruction. It's essential for learning and really for all of life!

There are many different skills and strategies you can teach to help your students build their reading comprehension, but today I want to talk specifically about just one... building fluency.

Note: This post contains an affiliate link. This means that, at no cost to you, I earn a few nickels should you choose to make a purchase through the link.

A significant study on reading fluency conducted by the National Assessment of Educational Progress found a tight correlation between reading fluency and reading comprehension.

The better the fluency, the stronger the comprehension.

But sadly, the study also found that fluency is "a neglected reading skill in many American classrooms, affecting many students' reading comprehension."

Reading this inspired me to share with you information and resources to help bring more effective fluency instruction into your classroom!

WHAT IS READING FLUENCY?

Reading fluency is the power to read quickly and accurately. A fluent reader can group and recognize words with ease. When they read aloud, they have a smooth natural expression.

These are the five key parts of reading fluently (taken from Reading Strategies):

1. Phrasing or parsing - putting words together into meaningful groups within a sentence.

2. Expression or intonation or prosody - reading to match the feeling of the piece, paying attention to ending punctuation and dialogue marks.

3. Emphasis - emphasizing words in the sentence to match the author's meaning. Paying attention to text treatments (bold, italics, all caps).

4. Automaticity - reading known words automatically

5. Pace - reading at a pace that mirrors how we talk, not racing through words or reading at a labored rate.

WHY IS READING FLUENTLY IMPORTANT?

Reading fluency is important because it provides a bridge between word recognition and reading comprehension.

Kids who can read fluently don't have to do the work of decoding. Instead they can focus their attention on what the text actually means and make mental connections that help to deepen their understanding. Fluent readers are able to recognize words and comprehend their overall meaning at the same time.

It is important to note that fluency and comprehension may not always be connected. Be aware of the student who can read aloud beautifully but can't seem to answer any questions about what they just read!

Also keep in mind that we shouldn't expect readers at the lowest levels (A, B, C) to read with fluency. Instead, their focus should be on one-to-one matching (reading one word aloud for each word in print) and pointing under the words. Level D readers should have some phrasing, and E readers should also have some intonation.

HOW TO TEACH READING FLUENCY

As with all things, you'll want to model, model, model, as well as provide a range of opportunities for whole group, small group and independent practice.

If you are looking for explicit instruction for fluency I highly recommend you take a look at the book The Reading Strategies Book: Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Readers by Jennifer Serravallo.

She has a ton of great ideas for mini-lessons on fluency (along with other skills that help build comprehension!) I'm sharing some of my favorites below!

Model Reading Fluency!

Reading aloud to your class is the perfect opportunity to model fluency. Do it daily. Show them how punctuation, character's feelings, etc. help you know how to make your voice sound. When you do, you are giving your students the opportunity to learn how a reader's voice can help a text make sense.

Storyline Online is a free website that has a lot of examples of adults reading aloud.

It is perfect for a listen to reading center and is definitely worth checking out! And did I mention it is FREE?? No login required!

Provide Opportunities for Whole and Small-Group Fluency Practice

Echo and choral reading are two whole-group strategies that can be used to teach fluency.

Echo reading is when the teacher reads a short segment of text, sometimes a sentence or short paragraph, and the student echo it back.

Choral reading is where the teacher and the students read the same passage at the same time.

"Partners Help to Smooth It Out" is a great lesson that I came across in the Reading Strategies book.

For this activity you simply put one book in-between two kids during partner reading.

Together they look at the words, listen to themselves and to their partner The goal is for the two students to read in one voice, pausing at the same places and using the same expression.

Provide Opportunities for Independent Practice

"Make the Bumpy Smooth" is another powerful lesson from The Reading Strategies Book.

It's a lesson which teaches students that sometimes it's hard to read smoothly the very first time you read a new story, encounter new words or new information.

When this happens, students are taught to go back after they know the words, reread it and try to smooth it out, or to make what was bumpy, smooth.

One last lesson from the book that your students will love is called "Fluency Phone for Feedback." It allows students to listen to themselves read. They can either find a quiet spot in the room where they can read to themselves without disturbing others or use one of these "fluency phones" to hear themselves read (the curved tube allows for instant feedback).

You can purchase fluency phones here or make one with PVC piping.

Students could also record themselves on a device (like an ipad) and play back to listen to and evaluate their fluency, asking themselves, "Am I reading smoothly and with expression?"

For this activity your students can work alone or with a partner to build familiar nursery rhymes and then develop fluency by reading them aloud.

The build a poem fluency resource includes 22 nursery rhymes that you can cut and laminate so they can be used year after year! It's a great way to expose your students to the genre of poetry and a perfect activity for your literacy centers!

Students are able to develop fluency skills by reading and rereading these familiar nursery rhymes.
Add this fun and engaging fluency center to your classroom by clicking Nursery Rhymes Poetry Center
This activity is a great way for students to practice reading and writing sentences with basic sight words, while at the same time practicing reading accurately and fluently.

The resource includes sentences (two versions for easy differentiation!) that are ready for you to print, laminate, and then hang around your classroom.

Students just need a clipboard and then they're ready to move around 😍 to "read and write the room." Just as we teach our students to pick "just right books" I teach them to read and record the "just right sentence."

They are encouraged to do so because they like the feeling of success of reading a good fit sentence. In addition, my students know they will be reading the sentences to themselves and to a friend as indicated on their recording sheet to practice reading accuracy and fluency.
I love that it's a simple, single activity which gives students practice in both reading and writing!

Click below to start using this engaging center in your classroom!
resources mentioned in this post PIN for LATER

The whole reason we read (and teach children to read!) is to make meaning. We know that fluency is closely correlated to comprehension, so I hope the information, resources, and activities I have shared today will help bring more fluency instruction to your classroom! It's an essential skill that will benefit your students in your classroom and well beyond!

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Need strategies and ideas to develop reading fluency skills with your students? I've shared favorite fluency activities to help struggling readers improve fluency and reading comprehension. Hi Friend! Building our students' ability to comprehend and make meaning of what they read seems to be the #1 goal of reading instruction.

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Sentence Trees

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Fluency is such an important aspect of reading, but it's often something that we only think of working on with our highest readers. I am constantly trying to think of ways to work on fluency even with my beginning readers.

These Sight Word Sentence Trees will be a perfect way for my students to work on sight words AND fluency.

The cards come in both a color version and a black and white version. I printed the black and white version onto colored paper to make them more eye catching for my students.

These cards will be laminated and placed on a metal ring. Early finishers will be able to grab these to practice. I can also throw these into a center for independent practice. These Sight Word Sentence Trees will also be perfect if I have a parent volunteer that can work with students.

I love that once I prep a couple sets of these for my class, they can provide practice for my students for the rest of the year.

You can check these out by clicking on the picture below.

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Sight Word Sentence Trees - Fun in First

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Fluency is such an important aspect of reading, but it's often something that we only think of working on with our highest readers. I am constantly trying to think of ways to work on fluency even with my beginning readers.

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Reading Fluency Posters.

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These Fluency Posters Will Help Students Understand What Goes Into Reading

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What do we mean by terms like accuracy, phrasing, and rate?

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Fluency Charts

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Fluency is an integral measure of a competent reader. It's not just reading quickly, as many students mistakenly think. It involves skills such as reading expressively at a natural pace, grouping words together, and thinking about what you read as you go. Here are 17 of our favorite fluency anchor charts to help your students become masterful readers.

1. As a Fluent Reader ...

SOURCE: Teaching with a Mountain View

This colorful anchor chart has all the information your students need to read like pros.

2. Read With Expression

Read like you speak-you are not a robot!

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3. The Elements of Fluency

SOURCE: @angie.campanello

Extra bonus-when you read with fluency, it helps your comprehension.

4. What Does a Fluent Reader Look Like?

SOURCE: Step Into Second Grade

Fluent readers are expressive and natural and read like they speak.

5. Reading With Fluency

SOURCE: Inspired to Read

Use a storyteller voice and think about what you're reading while you read.

6. Let's Read Fluently!

SOURCE: Think, Grow, Giggle

This chart's best advice? Read every day and frequently listen to others read.

7. Fluent Readers ...

SOURCE: Conversations in Literacy

Learning how to "scoop" words and phrases is important for fluency.

8. Fluency Checklist

The big four simply laid out.

9. Fluency Grid

The big four in a little more detail.

10. Punctuation-My Voice

This chart helps kids know exactly what to do when they hit those punctuation marks.

SOURCE: We Are Teachers

Download these gorgeous posters to reinforce good fluency habits in your classroom.

12. Fluency Definition

SOURCE: Teaching my Friends

How to read so the words flow.

13. A Fluent Reader

SOURCE: My Life as a Third Grade Teacher

All of the skills to check off the list.

14. Fluency Self-Evaluation

SOURCE: The Literacy Effect

This anchor chart, posted by a middle school teacher, helps students self-evaluate their fluency skills.

15. Fluency Posters

SOURCE: One Extra Degree

If you prefer pre-designed anchor charts, you'll love this whimsical set (for only $2) that includes one poster each for accuracy, phrasing, pacing, and expression.

16. Froggy Fluency

SOURCE: Teacher Mom of Three

Available for free on TPT, this poster is a cute reminder for younger readers.

17. Reader's Workshop Collection

SOURCE: Mrs. M's Style

Finally, if you're looking for the big kahuna of prepared reading anchor charts, this set is for you! For $6 you get 20 posters that cover not only fluency but accuracy, building stamina, just-right books, and more.
Share your best fluency anchor charts in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINEFacebook group. Also, check out our favorite anchor charts for close reading and comprehension.

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Here are 17 of our favorite fluency anchor charts to help you teach your students to read with accuracy, phrasing, punctuation, rate, and expression.

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Play reading fluency games online

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Audio books for stations where students can listen as they follow along in the book.

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Have students imitate you as you read.

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Read stories repeatedly to self or to a buddy.

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Having stuffed animals in the classroom can provide emotional comfort and academic support. Here are five ways you can use stuffed animals in the classroom.

Reading Buddies

This is probably the most common way that teachers use stuffed animals in the classroom. If you use The Daily 5 for your reading block, you know that Read to Someone can often leave a student left to read alone when a child is absent or there is an odd number of students. When this happens, students can choose to read with a stuffed animal instead. Also, when students need to practice their oral reading fluency, stuffed animals make terrific listeners! They won't interrupt, they maintain eye contact, and they don't seem to intimidate or make the student nervous while reading which helps build student confidence.

Listening Buddies

As I mentioned earlier, stuffed animals make incredible listeners! You can set up a station in your classroom where the animals can listen to a child's worries, help a child celebrate an achievement, or even lend an ear to a tattle or two.

Speaking and listening skills are something students need to practice. I know I was always terrified to stand in front of the classroom when I was growing up. I may have tackled the ability to stand in front of a classroom full of students, but please don't make me stand up in front of adults. Chances are some of your students are feeling the same way. Before a student gives a presentation or report in front of the class, you can allow that child to practice in front of a captivating audience of stuffed animals.

Stuffed animals can also be used as class pets. They provide comfort and conversation without the fear of making a mess or triggering allergies. Years ago, I introduced my students to Brownie and Rocks. These two pups traveled home with my each of my students. The students would write a letter to the class sharing about their adventures with the class pets. We never had a lost pup all year long and the pups were very well taken care of. You can read more about these adventures here. Still, if you fear that something will happen to your treasured stuffed animals, you could have your students write letters to the class pets during class time instead.

Classroom Management

Stuffed animals can also be used to assist with your classroom management. If you are as grossed out about hall passes as I am (eww, germs), you can have your stuffed animals be seat fillers. When a child goes to the bathroom or the office, simply place the stuffed animal in the child's seat. You can also choose to recognize appropriate behaviors you see in the classroom. When the class becomes particularly chatty, you can gently pick up the stuffed animal, walk up to a quiet student, and say, "Pete the Cat sure thinks you are groovy because you are working quietly. Can he come sit by you for a little while?" The other students will quickly quiet down because they, too, want to have Pete the Cat sit on their desk.

Finding Friends

If you are interested in building up your collection of stuffed animals, you don't need to get carried away with spending a lot of money. You can ask families to donate gently used stuffed animals or even check out some local yard sales. If you are looking for specific characters, keep an eye out at Kohl's. The Kohl's Cares program carries popular book characters and Kohl's donates the money towards different charitable organizations.

I have also found a few friends on Amazon. Here are just a few favorite book characters:

we are a participant in the amazon services llc associates program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Caring for & Storing Your Stuffed Animals

Where will you keep your stuffed animals? That is up to you. I definitely recommend having a designated area for your new friends. Not only will this help teach responsibility, but you will easily be able to see if a friend is missing and whether a friend needs a little TLC. I have seen stuffed animals kept on bookshelves, in a large plastic tub, and even next to the window. Find a space where students can easily access them. You also need to make sure your new friends are machine washable. They will need to get a bath occasionally to keep them safe and clean. If you have a stuffed animal that is not machine washable, you might want to consider leaving that friend at home or just keeping it on display.

Do you use stuffed animals in your classroom? I'd love to hear more about how you use them with your students!

Happy Teaching!

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5 Ways to Use Stuffed Animals in the Classroom

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Having stuffed animals in the classroom can provide emotional comfort and academic support. Here are five ways you can use stuffed animals in the classroom. This is probably the most common way that teachers use stuffed animals in the classroom.

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Read aloud to your students everyday.

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18 Perfect Read-Alouds for Teaching Growth Mindset

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Fluency- the ability to read with speed, accuracy, and proper expression.