What IS Fluency?
Fluency is a crucial aspect of reading development and refers to the ability to read quickly, accurately, and with expression. What that sounds like is talking. Reading fluently should sound natural, like you are having a conversation. As primary teachers, it is essential to provide students with opportunities to build their fluency skills.
Why is Fluency Important?
Fluency allows students to read smoothly and efficiently, which frees up mental energy to focus on comprehension. Students who struggle with fluent reading may find reading to be, well, just too much work which can prevent them from wanting to read.
The comprehension piece is what helps move students from decoders to READERS! Comprehension is such an important part of learning to read. It means that students are able to understand and retain information, they are engaged and invested in the material, they can think critically about what they are reading and make connections, and it helps to increase their ability to communicate their own thoughts and ideas.
About halfway through First Grade, most students are beginning to move from decoders to readers, and we want to be able to support them as they grow. Including fluency modeling and practice in the classroom is a great way to support these students as they move from segmenting and blending to more fluent reading.
Including Fluency in the Classroom
Modeling: Model fluent reading for students by reading books, poems, and other texts aloud with expression and speed. Have students listen and watch as you model fluent reading and then have them practice what they've learned by reading along with you (this is perfect for adding in Choral Reading!).
Choral Reading: Choral reading is a great way to help students become better readers, and it aligns with what we know about how to teach reading. The science of reading tells us that it's important to teach kids phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. Choral reading helps with all of these things by giving kids the chance to read out loud together. When students engage in choral reading, they get to practice reading fluently and accurately, which means they can read faster and with less effort. They also get to work on understanding what they're reading, because they can talk about the text with their classmates. Another cool thing about choral reading is that it can be really helpful for kids who struggle with reading. It gives them a chance to participate in a supportive and non-judgmental environment, and they can go at their own pace.
Voice and Expression: Teach students about voice and expression by having them read texts with different emotions, such as happy, sad, and scared. This helps build expressive fluency and encourages students to use their voice to bring texts to life. This can be done through books, passages, and even short sentences. As a bonus, this is the perfect way to add a little SEL to your day!
Play and Drama: Encourage students to act out short scenes from books, or act out a retelling of a favorite story, practicing their expression while they play. Play and drama are awesome ways to teach kids how to read fluently while also making it fun. And, who doesn't want more FUN AND PLAY in their classroom?! When students get the chance to act out roles or read decodable scripts, they get to practice reading with expression and intonation. That means they learn to read in a way that sounds more natural and interesting.
Including Fluency Practice in Literacy Rotations
Partner Reading: Partner reading is an easy and effective way to add some fluency practice into lit rotations. Pair students up and have them take turns reading short and simple passages to each other. This helps build fluency and provides opportunities for peer feedback and support. (Be sure to practice giving kind feedback!). Our curriculum (EL Education) has a weekly decodable reader that is perfect for this. We read the story together, highlight tricky words, then students pair up and reread to each other.
Fluency Readers: Provide students with short, repetitive passages that are designed to build fluency. I prefer to use these fluency readers with review skills. Students are able to practice phonics skills they have already learned, so the energy can be spent on fluency instead of decoding. Students can read to you in small group, to each other as a partner read, or even record themselves on an app like SeeSaw!
Poetry and Rhymes: Incorporate poetry and rhyming texts into your literacy rotations to help build fluency. These texts are often repetitive and have a predictable structure, making them a great way to help first graders build fluency and confidence. I feel like I never get enough poetry in our day since we've implemented our new curriculum, so I love being able to add in simple poems and familiar nursery rhymes to our rotations! Play word games that encourage students to read and identify words that rhyme. This helps build phonemic awareness as well, which is a crucial foundation for fluency. Rhyme A Lot Bot is perfect for this!
Small Group Decodable Drills: Decodable drills are based on a structured and systematic approach to reading instruction, which is consistent with the science of reading. This approach emphasizes the importance of explicit instruction, in which teachers provide clear and concise explanations of reading concepts, and offer plenty of opportunities for students to practice and apply those concepts. Decodable drills provide such opportunities, by allowing students to practice reading words with specific phonics patterns repeatedly, until they become automatic.
Incorporating a variety of activities into your classroom and literacy rotations helps keep students engaged and motivated, and provides multiple opportunities for students to practice and develop their fluency skills. By using fluency activities you can create a fun and supportive environment that encourages your students to become confident, fluent readers!
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