Welcome Tessa from Tales Outside the Classroom

Fluency is an often overlooked aspect of reading instruction.  I know that I was guilty of it for a long time.  I would try to throw in a Readers Theater on weeks that were "off" and we couldn't do our normal routines.  I would talk to the kids about "reading like they were talking" but didn't focus a lot on it.

A few years ago I went to the National Conference for Literacy Learning put on by SDE.  I heard Tim Rasinski speak.  Everything he said just made so much sense.  I bought a couple resources from him and the ideas started flowing.  Because I did reading instruction with a large group of students who were below grade level, I needed to try some different ideas and the ideas I got from this workshop were great.

One big idea I introduced was using the Fry sight word phrases.  Previously, I had used sight words, but hadn't done much instruction with the phrasing.  I took each list and broke it down into 4 chunks.  I then created a Powerpoint for each chunk.  When students finished with their work early, they went over the computer, and read through the PPT with the phrases.  They would whisper them to themselves.  When students felt they could read the phrases with fluency, they called me over to listen.  If they read them well, they moved to the next list.  I made it a challenge for my students by offering small rewards when they made new achievements.  For example, the first student to make it all the way through would get a new book of their choice from me.  Because these were struggling students, I was happy to use a book as the dangling carrot for their hard work.

Another method I used, with my younger students, were games with the Fry phrases.  I created a baseball game that I used in my small groups.  I've updated the game and posted it in my TpT store.  You can get the game for List 1 of the Fry Phrases for FREE.  Just click the pictures below.

 

 

 

I hope I've been able to give you a few ideas on how you can use the Fry Sight Word Phrases in your fluency instruction!

Tessa Maguire is a former reading teacher and differentiated instruction coach.  She currently is in a dual role administration and curriculum coaching position.  She spends her days helping her K-3 teachers find what works best for them and their students.  She blogs about the resources she finds and creates and she shares tips and strategies for effective instruction.  You can find out more information on her blog Tales from Outside the Classroom: http://talesfromoutsidetheclassroom.blogspot.com