Building Reading Fluency

Hi! This is Jaymie from First Grade Centers and More.  

Today I wanted to share some of my favorite books for building reading fluency with students.  I love the "You Read to Me, I'll Read to You" series by Mary Ann Hoberman, and the kids LOVE them too.  There are currently six books in the series; 

short stories, scary stories, fairy tales, mother goose tales, fables, and most recently tall tales.

The books are great for partner reading.  They are laid out perfectly for student to understand whose turn it is to read.  The stories are color coded into different colors for each reader, plus a third color for reading together. The layout of text on the page is really helpful for students.

The scary tales version is perfect for this time of year.  And don't worry....they are really NOT scary! 

I would recommend using these stories with your students who are ready to build fluency.  They will be too challenging (at this point in the year) for your beginning readers.  Want to make it even more fun?  Once students have practiced LOTS of times and sound very fluent, let them "perform" the story for the class!

Happy Halloween!

Using Tablets to teach Fluency

Hi there! I'm Bridget from Hardcore Teacher Resources! This is my 9th year teaching and I have experience across the elementary board, I have taught gifted first grade, second grade, K-5 gifted, and kindergarten. I like to switch it up every once in awhile, but my passion for learning, infusing real world experiences into the classroom, and pushing students to think creatively has not changed! 

I'm amped about collaborating with the fabulous bloggers of I Teach First! Though I will be shifting over to I Teach K in the fall because, well, I will be teaching K! :) 

Welcome to Techy Tuesday! Today I want to show you an easy way to teach fluency using tablets/ipads or ipods. 


So when my school first got an Ipod Lab for the school that we could check out I was really excited. My principal wanted to see how we could integrate them in the classroom. 

HOWEVER.... it took our tech person a long time to add any apps. 

My formal observation was coming up and my principal challenged us to incorporate technology for our formals. And I'm always up for a challenge... but without any apps I was wondering how I was going to achieve it. I needed to work with what I had!

So even with no apps on there I figured out a great way to incorporate it and my kids were amped! 

1. Model how to use the recording function on the ipad/ipod/tablet. The ipods/ipads have a little microphone looking thing. Every tablet comes with a recording function. I did this is in a circle while each student had the tablet in their hands.

2. I reviewed (for the millionth time) good fluency, bad fluency, modeled stopping at the periods,etc. 

3. I had students choose a "Just Right" book from their book boxes. (You could assign them a book or they could all be reading the same thing) 

4. If you have enough tablets for 1:1, students can go to their own book nooks to record themselves for 4 minutes reading. 

5. After 4 minutes reading, pass out the checklist. Students should listen to themselves reading and assess how they did.
Free Fluency Checklist!

6. On the next page, they listen to a partner's reading and assess their reading as well!

My principal loved the lesson and the kids loved using the technology with a purpose! I really noticed an improvement in my kids' fluency and it was a good tool to bring back in small group when some of them slipped off the fluency wagon! 

I think by hearing themselves it really brings to light some things they need to improve on. 

You could even do the same thing the next week (with the same book) to see if they notice an improvement!

Hope you love this easy way to teach fluency using a tablet! Thanks for being a rockstar teacher!

Bridget