Put the FUN in FlUeNcy!
In this post I will talk about Expression. Fluency has many components that can be overlooked and misused. With the world going assessment crazy in the past years, I believe some of the most important components are overlooked as a way of simplifying and expediting the assessment process. In this post I will talk about one of those components: Expression. Expression, to me, is one of the most fun parts of fluency. So let your creative juices flow while you read on. Years ago I learned a super fun word -prosody.
So many literacy gurus speak of it when discussing fluency and oral reading. In Jennifer Serravallo's book The Reading Strategies Book she includes many strategies for teaching prosody to all stages of readers. She begins in the early stages of reading introducing several fluency building strategies to pre-emergent/emergent (beginning readers).
Here's her book:
You can grab your copy here.
OR
Examples of her Pre-Emergent Fluency Strategies:
1.8= Express the Emotions
(I created an anchor chart/lesson to go along with each strategy. Here are some examples of them.)
1.13= Talk Like the Character
(I'm working on putting these in my TpT store:)
Teaching children early on about using expression while reading can help defend against the fluency struggle. This coupled with systematic teaching of decoding strategies and exposure to multiple forms of literature will give children a solid fluency foundation.
Teaching expressive reading can be a blast! I recommend presenting and practicing it in a variety of ways. I've come up with a few to share with you today. Hopefully seeing them and hearing about them will spark some creative juices in you this summer to start planning new and fun ways to practice fluency with your students next school year.
1. Green Screen
This is my favorite! What better way to teach prosody/expression/fluent reading than to be on stage? I've found that my students perform so much better when they are on camera. What a FUN way to cover those Speaking & Listening standards too!
Here are some links to some green screen/fluency products I have created:
Here's an example of one we did during Dr. Seuss week. (Click on the links to view the videos. It works better this way for my mobile device viewers:)
Here's an example of one we did combining fluency and visualization.
2. Use a stage and props!
Here's one we did with joke telling.
3. Use Apps!
4. Video Record Students Reading Books for Younger Students and Listening Centers!
My students LOVE to set up the camera and video record themselves reading a book for use in a listening center. This way if the students viewing do not have a copy of the book, they can still view the pictures! It's a fantastic way to practice using correct expression like a seasoned reader. The best part...if you mess up...start over!
5. Poetry Party
This is one that my students created. Students would choose a poem, practice it, and bring it to the "party." The party simply consisted of all students sitting in a circle on the floor holding their poems. They would take turns going into the center with their poem and reading it aloud. They all would snap their approval and continue until all who were ready to share where finished sharing. They loved it! We found that doing this after lunch was a great way to get back into our classroom/working mode! Change it up. Make it yours. Like I said, my students created this all by themselves. Why not incorporate that stage here too? Maybe you have a runway to get you there? Make it fun!
These are my top 5 ways to practice using expression while reading. They are fun, hold students accountable, and promote the FUN in FlUeNcy!
Start collecting props, poems, apps, and background images this summer! Plan out some fun lessons and activities you can use in your classroom next year. Give it a whirl and let me know how it goes!
If you are looking for a fun way to bring the Super into Super Fluent Readers check out this item below:
My next post will dig a little deeper into another important area of fluency. Until then enjoy your summer!
Until the next post...
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