Building Fluency

Repeated Reading

Repeated readings are one of the best ways to build fluency. When reading, we want our students to sound like they are talking. That means they are reading the words with ease and with appropriate phrasing and expression. If a student cannot read that way, the text is likely too challenging. Some kids find that ready the same story over and over can be boring- but there are ways to make it fun!

• use a silly voice

• read with a flashlight

• read the text in three different locations

• take turns reading (every other sentence/paragraph/page)

• practice for a performance for the family, grandparents, or neighbors

• track how many times the text has been read with tallies, stickers, coloring an image, a small treat, etc.

Texts to use when practicing repeated reading- use the local library as a resource to find different books.

• children's books

• You Read to Me, I'll Read to You

• reader's theater scripts

• jokes

• poems

  • Check out Kenn Nesbitt's website for fun poems for kids. The author reads each poem and there is a printable option.

• speeches or monologues

• two person dialogues (interviews/phone conversations) to really work on expression

Need help finding engaging texts? Use Chat GPT! Type in the prompts below or tweak them to meet your child's needs/interests.

**You will want to preview the text that Chat GPT gives to determine if it is appropriate for your child.**

• Give me a two person reader's theater script about gymnastics for a third grade girl.

• Give me a monologue in the voice of a ten year old boy.

• Give me jokes for a 12 year old girl.

• Give me a speech about the American Revolution for an 11 year old.

• Give me a two person poem for a 1st grader about animals

• Show me a conversation between two friends on the phone talking about the football game.

• Show me a poem for two voices about the water cycle.

Watch repeated reading in action!

Choral Reading

Choral reading involves multiple readers reading the same text at the same time, with more fluent readers supporting the less fluent. Choral reading can take many forms. A benefit of choral reading is that it makes the less fluent reader feel as though they are part of a team rather than in competition with better readers, and it's a great way to improve students' reading! Choral reading is a great way for the fluent reader to model expression!

Unison: read together as a group (any text will work for this type of choral reading)

Call and Response: two groups: one group does a call, the other a response (this is a great one for chants or songs)

Call: Baa, baa black sheet, have you any wool?

Response: Yes, sir, yes, sir, three bags full. One for the master, one for the dame, and one for the little boy who lives down the lane.

Echo Reading: teacher or parent reads a line and the class echoes

Texts to use when practicing choral reading- use the local library as a resource to find different books.

• children's books

• You Read to Me, I'll Read to You

• songs/chants

• poems

Need help finding engaging texts? Use Chat GPT! Type in the prompts below or tweak them to meet your child's needs/interests.

**You will want to preview the text that Chat GPT gives to determine if it is appropriate for your child.**

• Give me a call and response text about hiking for 5th grade students

• Give me a chant about football

Watch choral reading in action!