Improving Fluency

Increasing Fluency

A fun and effective way of improving fluency is using Reader’s Theatre. The teacher selects a story either specifically written as a Reader’s Theatre story or adapts a story she likes or one that is part of the school’s reading program. This activity involves the whole class as everyone takes a part as a character or narrator. The teacher may even break up into two groups; readers and audience. The students use their voice to give meaning to the words. There is no acting. The teacher coaches the readers to get a vocal performance and appropriate expression. The students read the story repeatedly to improve with their fluency. Finally, they perform for each other or perhaps another class. One way to develop fluent reading is to let the child hear what good reading sounds like. The teacher models by reading the story first while the students listen. Then the students read out loud with her the second time. With continued practice reading, this exercise helps the child’s ability to read with intonation and expression. Memorizing sight words is another technique to help students improve fluency. Many words such as and, the, are and one are very common. By reading these words with automaticity, it improves the students’ fluency. The teacher can introduce sight words each day before reading. She writes each word on a card and puts it in a chart in the front of the room. The teacher may also create flash cards for the students to use to quiz each other (pair