Fluency/Repeated Reading

Each week as a part of my students' homework they were to read a passage at least three times each evening.  They could time themselves if they wanted to see how many words they could read in a minute, but they were expected to read the entire passage.  Their goal was to become smoother and faster readers.  We practiced the passage/page every day in class. We discussed words they didn't know and the pronunciation.  We talked about stopping at periods, pronouncing the endings on words, reading with expression...we emphasized this is NOT a race. They would read using their 'phones' and I would time them.  (Sometimes we used Audacity so they could listen to themselves when done.) They marked on their page where they stopped.   I used passages out of teacher books, passages related to what we were reading, passages related to social studies or science or math, but my favorite was a page from the basal.  I copied one page with a lot of text.  I counted the words and labeled each line.  The students were given a copy to practice with and I had a stack ready to mark miscues when they read the passage or page to me on Friday.  Earlier in the blog I talked about graphing their scores.  The score from Friday was the 'final' score and it was graphed.

http://kstrc387.blogspot.com/2011/02/fluency-graphs.html

http://kstrc387.blogspot.com/2011/02/fluency-graph-example.html

I saved the original passage with the words counted in a notebook in the order of the stories in the basal.  If I used something other than the basal, that passage was inserted when I used it.  This was very handy the following year as I didn't have to search for a passage/page and didn't have to count words again.  They were ready to be copied.

Fluency Graph example

This gives you an idea of how we charted our growth with words read per minute.  The data shown does not belong to any child in my classroom as I made it up.  The goal (target) at the beginning of the year was less than 123 but I had the student put 123 as the target on the chart because (1) it's the time of year that 123 is the goal and (2) it is the ultimate goal so why not use it.  The students charted their own growth using the template chart created for them to use.

Fluency Graphs

I wanted the goal (123 words) to appear on the students' graphs.  I googled how to put a target line on a graph and found a solution that worked for me.  There may be another way, maybe even easier than what we did, but I'm happy.  We just added another column of data with the goal.  The goal is listed with each entry.  Now we have a line showing the target number and the students can see how close they are to the goal.  They read to me today to get a new number to add to their chart.  Maybe I imagined it, maybe it was real, but it seemed like they all tried a little harder.  They've always been interested in their fluency (words read per minute) number, but now it has become a competition to get that WRPM above the target line.  They love reading to me.  They love getting their new number.  They love using excel to chart their growth.

They are becoming so quick at figuring out how to follow me on the computer and how to use the computer.  It might be time to allow them to gather more data about themselves.  Maybe a timed test on multiplication facts.  I wonder if a target line on their graph for multiplication facts would inspire them as much as the WRPM.   Now to figure out what would be a reasonable goal for multiplication facts in one minute....

Audacity/Update on Youtube/Google

Our account was "reinstated" allowing us to upload a few videos on making change.  :)

Have you used Audacity?  This is one of my favorite free programs.  I look forward to continuing to explore the possibilities for this program.  So far I have used it for fluency practice.  Students record a passage or the week's story in the program.  Then they listen to their recording while following along.  Sometimes I time them to see how many words they can read in one minute.  Last week after students wrote and edited a passage.  They opened Audacity and recorded their writing.  They stopped the recording and played it while following along with their writing.  The purpose behind the activity was allow to students another chance to edit their writing.