Reading fluency is a huge component to increasing comprehension. If students spend too much energy decoding the words, they can’t focus on what the words mean. If students read too slowly, they will never make sense of the text. Fluency is something most primary teachers target naturally. However, intermediate and middle school language arts teachers need to have regular elements of fluency in their curriculum, too. (It’s not just about reading to learn; some students are still learning to read in the upper grades.)

That said, a short and simple activity that could target reading rate would be to turn on your classroom television and adjust the settings to activate “closed captioning.” Force students to read the show/newscast/movie rather than listen to it. Then, after several minutes, have a discussion or even a short Q&A. Check for comprehension. NOTE: Remember, the goal isn’t to just read faster. It’s to read faster in order to comprehend.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 9:41 am and is filed under 3 to 6 Reading, 7 to 12 Reading, Comprehension, Fluency. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.