Why You Need Fluency Activities
Fluency includes a variety of components making it an incredibly important aspect of any balanced literacy program. When students are working on fluency, they’re improving their overall abilities as a reader. By incorporating fluency activities into your daily literacy plans, readers will show improvements in many areas of reading. This includes: accuracy, pace, smoothness, expression and comprehension. In order to help readers improve their fluency, you need to provide opportunities for a model of oral reading. This can be done through daily read alouds. You also need to provide frequent practice, with your assistance, and for students on their own. This can be done through partner activities, small groups and independent work.
How to Make Fluency Practice Engaging
Including a Fluency center in your room is a great way to practice fluency frequently. It’s not only meaningful, but also enjoyable for readers. You can make it more engaging by including tools to help readers focus on fluency.
Tools like whisper phones help readers hear themselves clearly, as they read. When using these, readers can improve their accuracy, pace and smoothness. By hearing themselves outloud, it allows them to notice if they’re reading well.
Pointers are helpful in keeping readers on track, but are also fun for them. There are many options out there that can easily be switched out each month to keep kids excited.
Fake glasses can be known as “Fluency Focus Glasses”. Using these simply acts as a reminder that readers are focusing on different aspects of fluency while in their center.
The little green microphone is another visual reminder that readers want to do their best reading while at the center. Pretending to read into the microphone keeps them on track and engaged.
More Tools and Fluency Toolkit Freebies
Since readers may spend multiple days at a fluency center each week, it’s important to have everything ready for them. This will keep them focused and on track as soon as the center begins.
Sign up for my newsletter and get all the Fluency Toolkit freebies here! They will help get your fluency center set up and started in your classroom.
If you’re looking for a few of the tools I’ve used to make, and fill, the fluency toolkits, here are a few links that will help you get started. These are Amazon affiliate links and I earn a small commission.
What I use in my fluency toolkit:
- Timers
- Sand Timer
- Dry Erase Markers (with eraser)
- Photo boxes (for the actual toolkit)
Focus on Fluency: Free Webinar
I created a FREE webinar all about fluency. It includes the basics of all aspects of fluency and why you should incorporate a Fluency Center in your classroom. There are also a bunch of freebies included (pictured below!). You can watch the fluency workshop here!
Fluency Passages: Levels A-V
You can also check out my Fluency Passages packs for Levels A-V to help get your Fluency activities going in your classroom! Check out the Fiction and Non Fiction packs!
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