Winter Fluency Freebie
Let’s practice Fluency!
Please note:
- You need to use the pause button frequently during this video to give students time to read and respond!
- You can click the arrows in the bottom right corner to make the video fullscreen.
- Click the dot/lines icon on the bottom right to see the bookmarks for the week and easily skip to the portion of the video you need for your lesson!
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Teacher’s Guide:
MONDAY – Syllable Drop
Daily Skill: Students need efficient word attack strategies to be able to quickly decode unfamiliar words. Being able to break a long word into syllables is an essential skill for fluent reading. This activity helps students recognize how words are composed of syllables and how syllables can be combined to make a word.
Review: (Optional) Review the 4 components of fluency
- Read smooth like a swan
- Read quick like a cheetah
- Use expression like a monkey
- Remember words like an elephant
Practice: Today is all about syllables! Chorally read the syllables as they drop into the scene. Then chorally read the complete word. Continue for 5 words.
Transition: You can either finish the activity or proceed to an optional practice & apply section.
Practice & Apply: (Optional) Have students determine the best way to segment the big word into smaller chunks.
Finale
TUESDAY – What A Character
Daily Skill: Rhythmic texts such as poems and chants are real-life opportunities to incorporate practice with expression and phrasing, which are hallmarks of good fluency. It’s expression and phrasing that give melody to our language. Poems and chants are an ideal way to nurture these skills.
Review: (Optional) Review the 4 components of fluency
- Read smooth like a swan
- Read quick like a cheetah
- Use expression like a monkey
- Remember words like an elephant
Practice: Today students will utilize all the components of fluency by chorally reading a poem. Listen to the narration of the poem (optional). Then follow the highlights to chorally read the poem as a class.
Transition: You can either finish the activity or proceed to an optional practice & apply section.
Practice & Apply: (Optional) Students will practice expression with a little added silliness. The style spinner will select a new style and students will read in that fun style. You can do this with up to 3 styles.
Finale
WEDNESDAY – Watch Your Tone
Daily Skill: Initially, you may need to model how the same words can have different connotations depending on the context. In this activity, the focus is on the tone or nuance of expression, so each reading should sound different. Students may have never considered how the way words are said impacts their meaning. Encourage students to play with their voices and use their imaginations. Before long, they’ll be generating elaborate situations to match each sentence.
Review: (Optional) Review the 4 components of fluency
- Read smooth like a swan
- Read quick like a cheetah
- Use expression like a monkey
- Remember words like an elephant
Practice: Introduce the students. Practice reading it together. Then play to reveal the picture of the first setting. Discuss how the sentence might be said in that setting. Is it positive? Negative? Sarcastic? Have your class read the sentence using that tone.
Then start the video again for a new setting. Practice reading this sentence with 3 total different settings.
Transition: You can either finish the activity or proceed to an optional practice & apply section.
Practice & Apply: (Optional) Students are given a sentence. Discuss possible settings where this sentence might be spoken and the tones that would match that setting. You may want to ask volunteers to read the sentence using that tone or have the class read it chorally. Repeated with different tones if time allows.
Finale
THURSDAY – Crazy Conversations
Daily Skill: The sentences in today’s activity are nonsense, but they are given some meaning by their punctuation marks. Discuss with your students how the punctuation changes the meaning and sound of each sentence. For example, when reading a question, their voices should get higher at the end.
Review: (Optional) Review the 4 components of fluency
- Read smooth like a swan
- Read quick like a cheetah
- Use expression like a monkey
- Remember words like an elephant
Practice: Separate into 2 groups. Group 1 = white, Group 2 = blue. Start the video to bring in a sentence said by the first character. Group 1 will read the nonsense sentence using punctuation as a guide. Continue the video to bring in a sentence for the blue group. Repeat with the remaining sentences (6 sentences total, 3 per group).
You may want to switch groups and repeat the activity.
Transition: You can either finish the activity or proceed to an optional practice & apply section.
Practice & Apply: (Optional) Take the supplied word and have students (as a class or small group) generate their own crazy conversations by changing up the punctuation. You can let them include other words if you like. You may want to write their suggested conversation on the board.
Finale
FRIDAY – Riddle Me This
Daily Skill: Riddles are a great application of fluency skills. It takes practice to deliver a riddle in a way that your audience can understand. All the elements of fluency – phrasing, expression, rate, and accuracy – come into play for a real-life purpose. Plus, riddles are perfect for teaching inferring skills!
Review: (Optional) Review the 4 components of fluency
- Read smooth like a swan
- Read quick like a cheetah
- Use expression like a monkey
- Remember words like an elephant
Practice: Start the video. Follow the prompts to practice reading the riddle fluently. [Note: You’ll want to train your students that even if they know the answer to the riddle to please not blurt it out until we’re ready to reveal the answer.] Lastly, discuss the clues given in the riddle and possible solutions. Continue the video to reveal the solution to the riddle. Were they right?
Repeat with the 2nd riddle.
Transition: You can either finish the activity or proceed to an optional practice & apply section.
Practice & Apply: (Optional) Use the suggested steps to have students or partnerships write their own riddles. If time allows, let them read their riddles for the class.
Finale
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