How to teach fluency during shared reading

Since you and your students will read the same text multiple times in a week, shared reading is an excellent time for building fluency.

Here are some tips that will show you how to teach fluency during shared reading.

We’ve reached the final post in my 5-part series about shared reading!

Today we’re talking fluency.

Remember that there are three characteristics of fluent readers:

• They read the text accurately.
• They read at an appropriate pace.
• They read with proper expression.

Shared reading can help with all of these!

How to use shared reading to build fluency

Teach the word-solving skills your students will need as they advance to higher levels in reading.

As you observe your students during small group reading lessons, notice what’s tripping them up as they solve difficult words. Then teach word-solving skills during shared reading to build fluency. (If this sounds a lot like phonics, you’re right – but kids need phonics skills to be fluent readers.)

During shared reading, highlight sight words your students are learning at other parts of the day.

You’re surely teaching sight words in your reading block, so here’s a time to give them extra special attention – in context.

• Highlight sight words with highlighter tape.
• Underline sight words with Wikki Stix.
• Write sight words on index cards, and have students match them to the text in the big book.

Model fluent reading.

Bring out your inner actor as you show your students what it means to read clearly, at an appropriate speed, and with proper expression.

Vary how you read the text with your students.

• Choral read (read together).
• Echo read (you read, and they read after you).
• You read one character’s part, and they read another.
• You read one side of the page, and they read another.

Focus on specific fluency skills.

As I prepare shared reading lessons for The Measured Mom Plus, I like to focus on a specific fluency skill one day each week.

Here are some fluency skills you could teach.

• Read like we talk, not word-by-word.
• Scoop up words as you read in phrases.
• Change your voice to match the emotions of the characters.
• Vary the pace of your reading to match the events of the story.
• Slow down as you’re reading more difficult nonfiction passages.
• Make your voice match the ending punctuation.

Have you seen the whole shared reading series?

 Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Watch the member workshop

In this 17-minute training, members will learn:

• How often you should do shared reading
• What to read during shared reading lessons
• The structure of a shared reading lesson
• What skills to teach
• How to keep the same text fun and interesting

Not a member yet? Learn more here.

CLICK TO WATCH THE MEMBER WORKSHOP

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