Happy book study day friends! Have you caught up on your reading yet? We are on chapter 5 and it’s all about reading fluency.
If I am honest, I have to admit that I was a little apprehensive going into this chapter. I have an internal struggle with ‘fluency’. Or fluency as I used to know it. The truth is speed is what always came to mind when the word fluency came up. How fast can this reader read? My own daughter was even labeled as not being a fluent reader, since she did not read as fast as the benchmarks required. As a parent/teacher this frustrated me. My daughter loved to read and her comprehension was always good, she just lacked the speed. I talked with her teachers and they always assured me that she was a competent reader, just not fast. I was/am okay with that. And now after reading this chapter, my feelings and opinions have been validated. Read on to find out what I believe to be the 5 top tips you can do as a kindergarten teacher to improve your students reading fluency…and not just their speed. 🙂
5 Top Tips for Teaching Kindergarten Fluency
- Students in kindergarten NEED High Frequency Word Work – Emergent readers need to strengthen their automaticity with high frequency words, as it helps them with the anchor words in their text and less frustration.
- Students in kindergarten need strategies in decoding words quickly – Teaching students strategies to decode words quickly will make comprehension greater and easier to focus on other fluency skills, such as phrasing and expressive reading.
- Students in kindergarten need to learn to ‘read’ punctuation – Students need several whole-group and small group lessons on reading punctuation. Many times beginning readers forget to stop at the punctuation, which results in unclear comprehension and even losing their place in their reading.
- Students in kindergarten need to learn how to read in phrases – Of course, this skill comes a little later in kindergarten. But when it’s time, teaching progressing readers to read in phrases helps them to create meaning faster and understand how to move their eyes over the bigger parts of the passage, instead of just word by word.
- Students in kindergarten need to learn to read with expression – This will help students to visualize what is happening in the story and aid in total comprehension.
Has your mind or thoughts changed on fluency? I know that I have a much more in-depth understanding of reading fluency and believe it is going to help me with my guided reading groups this next year. Did you have any ah-ha moments while reading this chapter? What would you add to my 5 tips list? And don’t forget to check out my friend Mr.Greg’s review of this chapter too! You can go HERE to read his take!
Did you miss my review of the other chapters? Check them out here:
Or check out my 31 Days of Kindergarten Series!
