How Reading Fluency Activities Can Help Students
Ask any kindergarten teacher to tell you about how the way a class reads and they are bound to tell you what the most difficult part is when teaching reading fluency activities. For a teacher, it is the most difficult to keep each and every reading student engaged and challenged because their ability level is so diverse. In kindergarten particularly, students are coming to school for the first time with incredibly different backgrounds that have prepared them for their first school days. Some kindergartners have possibly never attended preschool or a formal learning environment. And even if a student has attended preschool, the various learning processes in mainstream education such as the Montessori style education can have an impact on the initial learning strength of a kindergartner. Some may not even know their alphabet correctly whereas others are exhibiting reading fluency activities at a first grade level or higher.
Using Level Readers
The diversity in reading fluency activities beginning in kindergarten is where guided reading activities can be of help to teachers as well as students. The availability of level appropriate readers helps better develop reading fluency activities. Teachers typically introduce a theme to the entire class and then students use stories from the ability level appropriate readers to read the actual passage or story. The reading instructor can monitor how each student is doing and appropriately guide their reading questions and activities. As the students complete the story, they can discuss the themes and answer according to their appropriate reading level.
Reading fluency activities that foster the development levels of students is a very beneficial way to teaching. Using the level readers, all the students will read about the same topic such as a day at the farm for example. However, rookie readers are not overwhelmed with vocabulary that is too difficult for them. Alternatively, more mature readers will not be affected by boredom when engaged with skills at their appropriate development level. The ability to participate in class discussions with all levels is a significant class activity, benefitting the sharing of viewpoints among the students.
The Use Of Visual Cues
Another reading fluency activity can be to use pictorial representations of the text being read. Reading instructors are able to explain to older children how they are able to use flow charts, timelines, bubbles, etc. in order to visually capture what they may have just read. It is often easier for visual learners to recollect a visual tool in order to better absorb the material.
Making It Interactive
Of the many facets to reading fluency activities, is to ensure the reading session is interactive and to encourage the asking of questions. Engaging the students to predict what may happen next is a creative activity. Provoking the students to find a similarity between one passage to the next is a common activity. Even if the students do not relate well with the fictional characters discussed in their reading passages, they may very well be able to remember a story the best friend excitedly tells them. The key to reading fluency activities is keeping it interesting, making it interactive and providing students the opportunity to develop their skills at their own pace.
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