Fluency for All

Picture a cake. A cake with many layers. Each layer is important. Each layer, when combined, produces comprehension and reading fluency. There's phonemic awareness, oral language, phonics, grammar, and vocabulary. When you put these together, you get a student that reads with automaticity and can comprehend what has been read.

Here I have put together fluency passages which are interesting and assist students with new vocabulary. The passages provide scaffolding, in that students are given picture cues to encourage automaticity. Students will exert less energy on figuring out new words and can use the pictures to help them along. The passages were created for kindergarten and first grade students, but can be used as RTI for older students. I use these passages with my 2nd graders that have difficulty reading. My students enjoy reading the passages because they are both interesting and at their levels.

Each student has his/her own binder. Inside are passages at his/her level.

Passage A includes sight words and words that are illustrated with a picture. There is only one sentence per line to keep students focused on one sentence at a time.

Passage B is similar to passage A, but includes CVC words.

Passage C is similar to  passages A and B, but the picture are in a word bank at the top and can be used if necessary.

Each passage includes a question to encourage text to self connection. Passages B and C include comprehension questions for students.

After students read the leveled passages, they can be given the opportunity to read a passage with the same theme. The above examples have to do with Earth Day. Students can use these passages for timed reading, but also to practice reading and comprehension.

These fluency passages can be used to time and record students reading fluency rate. There is a passage which matches this passage, but has a comprehension question to remind students that the purpose of reading is to comprehend.

From my own experience, I have found that my struggling readers enjoy using the passages. They feel successful and, therefore, become more confident. And what is more fulfilling than seeing a child read with confidence?