Are you focusing on fluency with nonfiction texts in your classroom? If you haven’t yet, this is a great time to begin! Nonfiction texts are a great way to expand students’ learning. These texts also get them talking about important people, events, and topics.
As always with fluency, when students focus on it, comprehension is just one component that can dramatically improve.
When focusing on fluency with nonfiction texts, you’ll also help them improve their ability to actually read informational texts. The ability to use reading strategies when figuring out challenging content specific vocabulary is very important. Nonfiction texts are one type of text they will read all their lives. Improving their abilities to read informational text, early on, is a very useful skill! Read on to find out how you can incorporate a focus on fluency with nonfiction in your room!
Nonfiction in a Fluency Center
Nonfiction can be used in a fluency center. When setting students up in a fluency center, it’s important to remember that they use independent level texts. This is necessary so that students aren’t making too many errors. Instead students can focus on the meaning of the words.
The goal with using nonfiction in fluency centers is that students become more comfortable with reading informational texts. With this comfort level improving, it results in gaining more meaning from the text. Students become more comfortable when they are reading at a good pace and are making few errors. This allows them to focus on the meaning of the text.
Setting up a fluency center can be done once during the year, and then used over and over again for the entire school year!
How to Set Up a Fluency Center
- Students choose texts at their independent reading level. Use a variety of texts for this: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, etc.
- Students read the text to themselves 2-3 times, focusing on speed and accuracy.
- They can read the passage aloud, recording their time, or seeing how much can be read in a minute.
- Next, students can repeat these readings, seeing how they improve their speed and accuracy.
- As a follow up, students can complete a comprehension check, where they show their understanding of the text.
A focus on fluency with nonfiction, with the addition of a fluency center in your classroom, can have a lasting impact on readers.
When you join my Free Resource Library, you can grab fluency center freebies, to help you get your own fluency center started ASAP!
My fiction and nonfiction fluency passages resources include texts for all your readers that will make your fluency center go smoothly, all year long.
Comprehension of nonfiction
Comprehension of nonfiction texts is challenging for many students. Focusing on fluency with nonfiction, it is important to remember that comprehension is one key piece of fluency. Getting students to decode words in nonfiction texts, while understanding the meaning of the words, is critical.
Informational text standards focus on students digging deep into the key details and vocabulary. Getting students to focus on finding evidence from the text to support their responses, is something that needs to be practiced often.
This can be done through getting students invested in finding evidence in the text:
- Emphasize that students are reading for meaning.
- Ask questions that dig deep.
- Have students come up with digging deep questions, for their peers.
- Let students use tools to identify evidence in the text, for their responses: use highlighters, sticky notes, smelly markers and chart paper, written response questions, and the option to draw, create digital presentations, etc.
- Think about informational text standards while focusing on fluency with nonfiction texts.
- Get students discussing what they learned with a partner, or small group.
- Provide specific questions for written response
Focusing on fluency with nonfiction texts should lead to developing:
- a comfort level with reading informational texts (improved accuracy, rate, comprehension)
- literacy skills that can be applied to content specific vocabulary
- an understanding of informational texts- being able to read for meaning
One of the most important other things that can occur with the frequent inclusion of nonfiction in fluency centers, is the development of a love for reading informational texts. As we know, getting students to enjoy reading is a key part in making them lifelong readers, which is always our goal!
Want to learn more about my nonfiction fluency passages? I provide a closer look at all that’s included with these resources!
