Fluency is having the ability to read words quickly and accurately. In order to become excited and interested in reading, students must develop fluency. Why? Because fluency is key to reading comprehension. Children must be able to accurately read the words on the page at a normal speed so their attention and focus can go towards comprehending the words that they are reading. If children are not able to comprehend they are never going to be interested or excited about reading because the words will be meaningless to them.
So how do you become a fluent reader? By reading of course! The more you read the more fluent you will become. Just like tennis, soccer, or golf, it takes practice!
Providing struggling readers with easy reading materials will allow them feel more confident and more willing to read.
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| This is a creative idea for a word wall in the classroom! |
I believe that as a teacher, the most important factor in helping your students become successful readers is by showing them how much you love to read yourself and by demonstrating enthusiasm and excitement during reading time. By reading aloud to the class and using expressive and charismatic language while reading, you students will see that reading is fun and interesting! It provides them with a good example of how good readers are able to really get into the books they are reading.
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| Word walls will help children to realize reading isn't so hard after all! |
I liked the idea of having a word wall in the classroom to learn frequent words that come up in every day reading. By coming up with fun chants and songs to learn the words on the wall, the students will eventually learn them with little effort! When the children come across these words in their reading, they will be excited to read them because not only will they be familiar with the word but they will also know what it means!
Word walls are fabulous. Surrounding kids with words and drawing their attention to these words is a great tool in helping children become word-conscious.
ReplyDeleteI visited a classroom just last week and the teacher was a second grade reading specialist. She had a word wall (along with TONS of other literacy decorations). They add new words to the wall each day after they read a passage from their readers. It seems very effective and the kids love the fact that they are active "decorators" of the classroom. It promotes the idea of "our space" instead of the "teachers space" which was mentioned in one of our earlier articles.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more that as teachers we lead by example. Reading aloud to students not only gives the teacher the opportunity to show their excitement towards reading, but also demonstrates prosody to the students.
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