3 minute read
Targeted Supports for Fluency
by General
For small group instruction, consider limiting groups to three to six students. Groupings are flexible and may shift throughout the year. Students may benefit from being grouped according to their word-attack skills rather than by their comprehensions skills. If accuracy is not an issue, other elements of fluency or comprehension could be the focus of small group work.
Fluency includes four elements: accuracy, phrasing, expression, and rate. Repeated readings of a book can benefit all students and help them develop their skills in each of these areas. Repeated readings may be completed during small group time as well as during center time or at home. Consider the following supports as needed to bolster students’ fluency.
Accuracy
As a Readables collection, Geodes are designed to support independent reading. Students should be encouraged to read each book as independently as possible. They should not be expected, however, to sound out words that are not yet decodable according to the aligned Fundations® scope and sequence.
Consider the following options for students in need of prompting support:
If students struggle with a Fundations® Decodable Word, help them sound it out or tap it out using the strategies they have learned. If students struggle with a Fundations® Trick Word, write it on a flash card or whiteboard and determine the part(s) of the word that the student can sound out. Then discuss the tricky part, and have students practice reading the word. If students struggle with a Recurring Content Word, show them the corresponding flash card to practice reading the word. Each flash card in the Geodes Resources section includes an icon to help students better understand the word. Once students recognize the word, they will no longer need the icon. Fold the flash card along the dotted line so only the word is visible. If students struggle with a proper noun that is not yet decodable, read it for them. If they struggle with another word that is not yet decodable, encourage them to use context or picture cues along with their emerging decoding skills to determine the word. If they are still unable to read the word, tell them the word.
Consider modeling a fluent read of challenging sections of the book. Then have students read the passage more independently with each repeated read. For example, students can begin by whisper reading along with the teacher, then choral reading, and then partner reading. If students with very low decodability skills struggle with a Read Along book, have them listen without attempting to track so they can focus on the meaning of the story during an initial read.
Phrasing
The books in Modules 1 and 2 include fluency-friendly line breaks to assist students in scooping up phrases or reading clusters of words that naturally flow together.
In Modules 3 and 4, paragraphs are gradually incorporated.
Consider the following options for students in need of phrasing support:
Model read a page of text, emphasizing appropriate phrasing. Then, read it again in phrases as students echo read the text. Use My Geodes books to underline or scoop the phrases to serve as a visual cue for students. Select a challenging paragraph and copy each sentence onto sentence strips. The strips could be further cut into phrases. As students become adept at reading each phrase, combine the phrases back into sentences with the goal of having students read the full paragraph.
He had to plant seeds
for Nana.
Expression
Reading with appropriate phrasing and expression can be a window into a student’s comprehension level. If a student understands that different characters need variations in expression, that shows the student is comprehending the nuances of the characters.
Consider the following options for students who need support with expression:
Model different types of expressive reading. This will help students better understand the range of possible expressions. Model read a literary text with the appropriate interpretation of a character’s voice, and then have students echo read. Model read an informational text with phrasing and appropriate expression to keep the listener’s attention by using a natural rise and fall to the voice. Encourage students to read the text many times. Each reread is an opportunity to develop their expression further. Emphasize phrasing and expression rather than rate.
