Reading Fluency

Inspired by Mr. Salsich’s 3rd grade class, the Magical Minds and I endeavored to show the world that we, too, read fluently.  And, as Mr. Salsich writes,

Reading fluently means:

• Reading smoothly at the right PACE – not too slow, not too fast, and notchoppy.

• Reading with EXPRESSION – changing your voice to make the reading sound interesting.

• Paying attention to PUNCTUATION -stopping at periods, slowing down at commas and line breaks, and sounding excited at exclamation points.

• Read with good PHRASING – make the reading sound like natural talking.

I showed this list to Magical Minds and read them two poems. They thought I was mildly interesting.  But, when I showed them how Mr. Salsich’s class records their readings and then votes on the most fluent reader – WOW, the class was on fire.  ”Can we do that?”  I point to a pile of poem books and the group bursts into independent readers, practicing poems in all corners of the room.

A few of the Magical Minds actually recorded their voices today, and I was going to post them here, but… Well, I came home and while talking to Eric about our lesson, I felt as if it all happened too quickly.  The kids barely had time to hear themselves.  I want them to HEAR themselves, and think about their fluency.  I want them to monitor themselves, and give feedback to their peers.  Thus, I think it’s time we made a rubric.

Tomorrow we will practice assessing different readings, grading them on pace, expression, punctuation and phrasing.  And, the first readings we will assess… Eric’s and mine.  Enjoy!

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