Fluency

Hello! It's Allison Stuckey from Stuckey in Second! I hope everyone is enjoying their summer! I've been trying to relax as much as possible and I've been doing a ton of reading (for pleasure!)


I thought I'd share one of my posts from last summer with you about fluency. I don't know about you, but I have to get my mind back into the beginning of the year and how to start all over on fluency practice.

Fluency....isn't that what we are all working on? Fluency not only helps with test scores (grrrr), but it actually helps students comprehend what they are reading. I always spend a good portion of the beginning of the year working on fluency with every student in my 2nd grade classroom.  Some students move out of needing so much fluency work, but others need it the whole year.

I discovered Fry's Fluency Phrases probably 5 years ago. At first I was excited to just copy them onto different colors of card stock, cut them out into strips, and put them on rings for students to practice. I can actually remember cutting them and assembling them in the car on a road trip we took to Nashville. I actually still use those rings of phrases. They hang up on hooks in my classroom (if I were in my room yet, I'd add a picture, maybe later!)

I have the 100 phrases of each level separated into 5 or 6 rings, so I will pass those out to my small group (whichever level they are on with the phrases.) We usually warm up our small group with those. They will read through one set, then throw them in the middle of the table and when someone else is done, they take theirs, etc. Even though the kids still like doing those phrases on the rings, I felt like I need some more creative ways to practice the same phrases. Of course, the kids don't seem to notice they are practicing the SAME thing, they think it's a new and fun game!

I gave away my Super Reader Fluency Phrases last week for $1 when I was celebrating 1,000 Facebook fans! I've heard a lot of feedback and it seems that people are finding them fun and useful. My Super Reader Fluency Phrase packet is actually a set of 6 games. (One game per level of phrases) My intentions when making the games are to have students start at Level One, and move through the levels as they master each one. In my own classroom, I start teaching students how to play the games (very easy, a variety of Oops!) in my small groups, then when they are good at it, the games can be moved into centers/workstations where they can play with a small group to gain fluency. I have to admit, what I like the most about this set of phrases is the clipart. I just find these "super hero" alligators to be hilarious! :)

 

 

Now, since my students love these so much, I decided to make another set for a few reasons. First reason, they like to have a variety throughout the year and not get bored of course! Second, because I don't want this laminated set to get completely ruined after an entire class is using them for an entire year (and the kids last year have already worn them in pretty well!) So, I've created another set, same exact phrases and everything, just different clipart! They have a Back to School theme! So, I know that I have the option of using the "Super Reader" set or the "Back to School" set at any point in the school year! :) The kids think they are "new" games, but I know that they are all just fun ways to practice fluency without them thinking that they are really being pressured to read phrases over and over again. They truly love it. Here is the Back to School Fluency Phrase set that I completed yesterday. Click on any of the pictures to check them out in my store!!