This school year, Marlin students are working on becoming
more fluent readers. Students are
building their fluency by reading poems—lots and lots of poems. Classrooms are using Dr. Tim Rasinski’s
Fluency Development Lesson to focus on fluency, adding word work and
comprehension to the lesson.
Reasons for using the Fluency Development
Lesson:
·
Is an instructional routine.
· Combines elements of effective word decoding and
fluency instruction.
·
Relatively quick and easy to administer.
· Allows for school and home reading.
·
Allows for students to read more challenging
materials.
·
Allows students to develop a sense of
accomplishment through the mastery of a text.
·
Is research-based.
Fluency
Development Lesson:
Time Requirement: 15-25 minutes per day.
Texts: A brief text (poem, song, story
segment). Make two copies for each
student. Make a display copy for whole
class reading.
PART
1
1. The
teacher introduces a new short text and reads it to the students two or three
times while the students follow along silently. The text can be read by the teacher in a
variety of ways and voices.
2. The
teacher and students discuss the nature and content of the passage as well as
the quality of teacher’s reading of the passage.
3. Teacher
and students read the passage chorally several times. Reading variations are used to create
variety and maintain engagement.
4. The
teacher organizes student into pairs or trios. Each student practices the passage three times
while his or her partner listens and provides support and encouragement.
5. Individuals
and groups of students perform their reading for the class or other audience
such as another class, a parent visitor, the school principal, or another
teacher.
PART 2
6. The
students and their teacher then choose 4 to 5 interesting words from the text
to add to the individual students’ word banks and/or the classroom word wall.
7. Students
engage in 5-10 minutes of word study activities (e.g. word sorts with word bank
words, word walls, flash card practice, defining words, word games, etc.)
PART 3
8. The
students take a copy of the passage home to practice with parents and other
family members.
9. The
following day/week students read the passage from the previous day/week to the
teacher or a fellow student for accuracy and fluency. Words
from the previous day/week are also read, reread, grouped, and sorted by
students and groups of students. Students
may also read the passage to the teacher or a partner who checks for fluency
and accuracy.
10. The
instructional routine then begins again with part #1 using a new passage.
