Today, I’ve got 3 beneficial ways to use reading fluency worksheets for you! Do you ever feel like the first half of the year is full of housekeeping tasks? Getting students comfortable, settling into routines (both at the rug and at small group), getting used to schedules, and working heavily on some phonics skills. Somehow, the second half of the year comes so quickly it can make our heads spin. And after all of that phonics work, we discover that we are ready to make some fluent readers out of our students! That’s why I want to bring you awesome reading fluency worksheets when the time comes for you to make fluent readers in your classroom. These reading fluency worksheets are a great way to incorporate more fluency practice into your classroom when your students are ready – and not to mention, they’re printable worksheets too for ease of use. You’ll be shocked at how these reading fluency worksheets and passages can make grade level (and beyond) readers in your classroom!
3 Activities to Improve Reading Fluency
Timed Readings
- Timed readings are a great way to improve reading rate for a words per minute benchmark. These reading fluency worksheets are a great way to practice for progress monitoring scores. On a regular basis, students can do timed readings with you using these reading fluency worksheets. A few times a year, it’s always a good idea to check in with your students to see their progress or where they’re struggling. It’s a great idea to practice for progress monitoring and benchmarks using these reading fluency worksheets so that your students can be at their best when taking the benchmark tests. These can easily be incorporated into your lesson plans. Similarly, this practice gives them the confidence they need to do the tests correctly, therefore giving you a more accurate score of their abilities. This is particularly important for our kindergarten students because this will be the first time they will see benchmark tests like this. And I know what you’re thinking – kindergarten students can practice fluency? Of course! Giving these students short reading fluency worksheets or passages that are decodable is a great way to enhance fluency, especially if they’re repeated readings. And speaking of…
Repeated Readings
- Repeated readings are great for improving all aspects of fluency (rate, accuracy, prosody, and comprehension). These repeated readings should be done with a variety of texts to pique student interest. It’s important to use reading fluency worksheets for these repeated readings that are on grade level so that fluency can be achieved. These readings can be short reading fluency passages depending on the grade level that you’re working with. If you’re working with early readers, be sure that the number of words in each passage is at a level where they can build confidence in emerging readers and achieve fluency. You can accompany these repeated readings with reading comprehension passages to focus on that area of fluency where students will answer comprehension questions. With repeated readings, you’ll see fluent readers flourish in your classroom in no time- especially when using these reading fluency worksheets.
Recorded Readings
- Recorded readings are a great way to improve reading fluency! And quite honestly, this may be the most fun way to do it. Hearing your own voice is such a good tool for improving fluency because we are able to remove ourselves from the text and specifically listen to our prosody, rate, and accuracy. And we don’t have to overthink this, thanks to technology. You can use the programs below in combination with my reading fluency worksheets!
- Vocaroo is one of the best tools for recorded readings for students because it can be accessed in a browser – it doesn’t even require an app or a free download! The best part about Vocaroo is that when you go to the browser, you’ll see a red record button. Simply press it, and the students can get to work. It’s easy to use and user-friendly, which we know with a young reader is a huge A+!
- Screencastify is a good tool as well if your school is a Google school and you’re able to create a log in with your students. It’s a Google Chrome extension so once installed your students can record themselves reading. After a few rounds of recorded readings, don’t be afraid to let students have some fun with it by reading in funny tones or voices.
Reading Fluency Passages for Timed Practice
You didn’t think that I’d talk all about these awesome activities to improve fluency and not give you any resources, did you? You know I love providing you with the best reading fluency worksheets for your classroom. I’ll give you reading fluency worksheets that will make fluent readers out of your students. And the best part? All of these activities are printable worksheets for easy, grab-and-go lesson plans. Let’s dive into the best fluency practice out there with some awesome reading fluency worksheets, passages, and activities!
FLUENCY TOOLKITS
- This blog post is all about Fluency Toolkits and how you can prep them and how they can be used. Fluency toolkits are a great way to make fluent readers out of your students. Not to mention they’re easy to store and fun to use! These fluency toolkits can be used in small groups, literacy centers, for independent work, or even to send home to students. These toolkits keep them on task and make practicing fluency a breeze. These toolkits consist of a few items, all of which don’t take much time to gather: photo box containers, timers, reading fluency passages (find my awesome K-5 Fluency Passages here!), highlighter strips, dry erase supplies, and fun ways to read like whisper phones, fake microphones, glasses, and googly eye rings. As students read each fluency passage with the timer, they will simultaneously also be practicing for progress monitoring and benchmark assessments. You can also choose to have the reading fluency worksheets or passages focus on a specific phonics skill to enhance learning and differentiate within your classroom. Students can also go back and highlight sight words they recognize in the text as well!
Digital Passages for Google Slides
- This blog post covers the benefits of Digital Fluency Passages for Google Slides. Now, I know we all love printable worksheets – but have you thought about changing them to interactive worksheets? You can do this with Digital Fluency Passages for Google Slides! If printable worksheets aren’t always your thing and you have access to iPads in your classroom, these reading fluency passages can be accessed on Google Slides and provide a great opportunity to practice fluency. It’s all the same set up, but no running to the copy machine that’s down the hall. Students can read these reading passages right on their devices and do it independently. These are also great for repeated readings and brushing up on comprehension skills. These are great for any age level – even our kindergarten students, who seem to have a better and more firm grasp on technology with each passing year! This is one awesome way to incorporate technology into your lesson plans (who knew we could do this so easily with reading!?)
The Fluency Files
- This is my popular fluency course and resource materials that can take your struggling readers from robot reading to fluent reading in no time. Perfect for intervention students who are below grade level and rushing through texts, The Fluency Files was created to help build confidence in your readers, teach them how to read fluently, and cover all aspects of fluency all in one sweep. It can also be used to set up fluency routines in your classroom to help all your readers improve their fluency skills, not just those struggling. Everything is included in the course to help you focus on fluency without spending hours of prep time!
Free Reading Fluency Worksheets
Okay guys, you know I wouldn’t let you leave this blog post without some FREE educational materials and reading fluency passages! Below you’ll find some amazing resources from my very own fluency course The Fluency Files. Both the video series and free passages are a great way to either introduce fluency or continue working on fluency practice within your classroom walls all throughout the school year. With these resources, you’ll be sure to find what you need no matter what grade level you teach – kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd grade, and beyond.
- The Fluency Files Video Series – This is a great way to learn more about how to implement fluency activities in your classroom via bite-sized videos! Sometimes we don’t have time to read an entire instruction manual on how to do something in our classroom. These short, informative videos are all you need to ensure that you’re implementing the correct fluency strategies.
- The Fluency Files Free Passages – These are perfect for your kindergarten-3rd grade readers! After you’ve watched the video series, try these out with your new methods you learned!
Practicing fluency doesn’t have to be mundane – with these reading fluency worksheets, activities, and resources, you’ll be sure to turn your robot readers into fluent readers by the end of the year!
