Cathy York

Fluency Minilesson
February 26

My minilesson was with one student and the goal was to be able to read a book

independently to me twice. The second time the student would read faster and with better

expression than the first time around. I presented this by first asking a student that had finished

their work to pick out a book that they knew well. Once they had chosen a book, I explained to

them what the activity would consist of. I told them that I would like to hear them read the same

book two times. I explained that the first time, I want them to read it through while I listen. I

then told the student that the second time around I would like them to read the best they can, with

expression. I modeled what this would sound like by reading a few sentences or pages

(depending on how much reading there was). I asked if they understood what they would be

doing and they nodded.

My student read a Piggy and Elephant book. I knew this was at her independent level

because every student in my class has their own book box. This is a container filled with books

that are at their independent and instructional level of reading. This was an independent level for

my chosen student because the first time around she read the words easily. Her reading was a bit

choppy the first time but English is her second language. When she finished reading the first

time I let her know that she did a great job and reminded her that we would be reading it one

more time. I modeled again exactly what I meant by this. She read the book again. The second

time around, she used a bit less expression which I was surprised by. The Piggy and Elephant

books are mainly narrated by the characters in the book so there are many opportunities to use

exaggerated expression. These books also incorporate onomatopoeias which gives the chance to
make sounds to illustrate the scenario. My student did use different volumes to illustrate the

different font sizes.

If I were to do this minilesson again, I think I would use a different lesson. I think I

would choose to do something more like a Reader’s Theatre, but because of the schedule of

reading in my class, I’m not able to have students practice and then present it in the classroom.

In order to redo the fluency lesson that I did, I think I would try to have my student pick a book

that has some narration as well as some dialogue in order to better be able to hear a difference in

the expression. I would also like to move to a different room because I did this lesson during

reading when some students are listening to stories on the computer and others are doing read to

self. This makes it a bit difficult for my student to fully use proper expression.

To help incorporate fluency into my own classroom, I would like to do Reader’s

Theatres. To do this, I would have a book that each group would work on until it becomes

something they know pretty well at their independent level (not until it becomes beating a dead

horse but until they are comfortable). Then I would have each group present the book in the

form of a Reader’s Theatre to the class. I can also tie in comprehension by having students

potentially do a KWL chart as well. In order to make this happen, I would probably need to do a

running record for my students as well as a fluency test to group them. This way I would be able

to group the students into “book groups” that would be appropriate for them.

Along with Reader’s Theatre, I would also like to use Seesaw with my students. On this

application my students can record themselves reading and then play it back. They can then

critique themselves and redo it if they would like to. When they are satisfied with the way they

read their story, they can share it with their parents or guardians through Seesaw. This way there

is a connection between the classroom and home.

 In terms of scheduling these types of activities, I would use the Reader’s Theatre maybe 4

times a year. This would be like a quarterly activity for my students. They would be able to

practice and familiarize themselves with the text for a week or two and it would culminate with

the Reader’s Theatre. For the Seesaw idea, I believe this would be used maybe once every two

weeks. This would be good to help keep students accountable for making sure they are reading

the material but also allowing them to better themselves if they do not like the first product.