Fluency Strategies for Sixth Grade
1. Poetry Party:
Description: Poems are a wonderful way to help students develop fluency.
Purpose: Poems are short, and students need to comprehend them to communicate their message to an audience.
Directions: A good way to foster a love of poetry in the class is to have a Poetry Party, in which students read a favorite poem they have practiced. In order for a Poetry Party to occur, you have to demonstrate how not to read a poem (in a monotone voice) and how to read a poem (with appropriate expression and correct pauses and rate so the auidence understands its essence).
Most elementary students enjoy the humorous poems of Shel Silverstein, Jack Prelutsky, and Bruce Lanksy.
Description: Poems are a wonderful way to help students develop fluency.
Purpose: Poems are short, and students need to comprehend them to communicate their message to an audience.
Directions: A good way to foster a love of poetry in the class is to have a Poetry Party, in which students read a favorite poem they have practiced. In order for a Poetry Party to occur, you have to demonstrate how not to read a poem (in a monotone voice) and how to read a poem (with appropriate expression and correct pauses and rate so the auidence understands its essence).
Most elementary students enjoy the humorous poems of Shel Silverstein, Jack Prelutsky, and Bruce Lanksy.
2. Speech Reading:
Description: Fluency is more than reading at a fast pace.
Purpose: Authentic fluency instruction should include opportunities for students to practice their reading so they learn to use the various prosodic tools- phrasing, intonation, and expressions at their disposal.
Directions: Select famous speeches for your students to read aloud. Some famous speeches include; President Kennedy's inaugural address and Martin Luther King, Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech. Provide opportunities for your students to develop their fluency and public speaking skills. Remind students that speed was not the goal of either President Kennedy or Dr. King; they used different rates, pauses, and intonation to convey ideas they hopes would spur listeners to action.