Hello Mrs Sykes

It's a Bright Idea round-up. Enjoy this post from earlier this year! I work with struggling readers in grades 2-5, so I know it can be a challenge to keep these learners engaged and enthusiastic while practicing Fluency and Accuracy. Today, I'm sharing my secret weapon: The Partner Game!

If you work with struggling readers in grades 2-5, you know it can be a challenge to keep these learners engaged and enthusiastic while practicing Fluency and Accuracy. Today, I'm sharing my secret weapon: The Partner Game!

The Reality of Oral Reading Fluency Often, teachers are asked to give too much importance to a bit of data. The current trend is a focus on Fluency in struggling readers, particularly in grades 2-5. The Oral Reading Fluency score (ORF) is simply a look at how many words the student read correctly in a minute.  If it is below the magic number, the teacher needs to take a closer look.  The magic number varies, depending on the grade of the student, the time of year, and if you are using DIBELS , mClass , EasyCBM.com , etc. Here comes the tricky part - looking past the oral reading fluency to why the student is struggling. Too many teachers are being asked to provide an intervention in fluency, when that might not be the issue at all. Teachers and parents spend tons of time reading (and timing their students!) with the goal of reading faster. That's right. The goal is to read faster. They chart it, celebrate when the numbers rise, and fret when the numbers stay the same. ...

In my experiences as a literacy coach, classroom teacher, and literacy specialist, I noticed that my upper elementary kiddos who struggle with reading usually have some similarities.  They are typically not fluent readers, and they rely on prior knowledge instead of the information they read.  Not all struggling readers have these issues, naturally.  :) When I say fluency, I know the picture that pops into the head of many teachers...  anxious students, stopwatches, and lists of nonsense words while you tell the kiddos to read as fast as they can!  That's not what I mean.  I'm not talking about their oral reading fluency - I'm concerned that these kiddos who struggle with reading aren't fluent readers when they read to themselves .  Since the best way to become a better reader is to read, and they struggle reading, then reading isn't usually something they are clamoring to do. For months, I have been inspired to create "Practicing Fluency and Compr...

For real... my kiddos need to work on fluency.  Many of my students are ELLs, and need help in understanding figurative language.  Enter the Knock, Knock jokes!  Particularly in grades 2 and 3, the ability to effectively deliver a knock knock joke (or speak up in class discussions!) is a skill to hone. Teacher Tip: You can establish an instant connection with a student usingKnock Knock jokes.  Here's a few to add to your bag of tricks: Knock, Knock! Who's there? Boo. Boo, Who? Don't cry.  It's just a joke. Knock, Knock! Who's there? Interrupting cow. Interrupt... Moo! For maximum annoying-ness with your Knock Knock jokes, which usually gets the best response from 2nd and 3rd graders, start over-explaining the answers.  (Get it!?!  Boo, Who sounds like crying.)  Then, they'll start trying to tell you jokes, which will help you smile, since it's really pretty funny when they make up their own...  Here's a freebie to help your me...

Today is the second day in my series to empower teachers, Supporting Struggling Readers in Grades 3-5.  If you are new to the series, or want to see what the hype is about, click to visit the other posts in this series . You've got your Assessment Binder, right?  That was your homework from Part 1.  If not, no biggie - you can get it together as we go.  The main part now is that you have your list of struggling readers .  This is truly important, because you are going to go through that list in a quick, methodical process to pinpoint an area of need. Our focus today is Fluency!! Can you tell I'm a Literacy geek?  Can you feel the excitement?  That's because it's time to get started!! Without giving you information overload, we are going to engage in a bit of "Digging Deeper" with each student on your list.  We want to use this time to be a detective and find out why they are struggling readers. There are 3 main reasons the majority of s...