Reading fluency is not about reading words quickly, but it’s about the quick retrieval of words so that reading comprehension isn’t skewed. Saw? Was? Very? Every?
Have you ever had students who confuse “was” and “saw?” Or “of” and “from?” Me, too. We played a fun game Wednesday before Thanksgiving break. I passed out the mats to the students, then remembered I needed a dice. Hmmm? That shouldn’t be a big deal, right? Well, evidently I don’t have any dice in my “reading specialist” room…at least not typical dice. I had big dice from EAI. (These dice can be bought on-line.) All of the sudden, this little game was a party. The students could throw the dice across the floor, not just in a control place on the carpet.
Reading FluencY: How fast can you recall the word?
Sight words are an interesting thing. We want the words to be automatic. We can’t rely on strategies to decode or context clues. They have to know them, but we have to make it meaningful and fun. Why shouldn’t we make it fun. It’s easy:
- Roll the Dice.
- Read the column under that die, as quickly as you can.
- Try to do it faster and faster.
- Be careful, if you mess up you have to start back at the top.
You can even challenge the students to a reading duel. (I wouldn’t want to challenge students to race against each other, but race against themselves.)
reading fluency Freebie
