Monday Musings!

I'm trying to stay caught up as best I can, so here is today's real reader: Jake T.

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One of the reading strategies we continuously work on is reading with fluency.

From Reading Rockets:

Fluency is defined as the ability to read with speed, accuracy, and proper expression. In order to understand what they read, children must be able to read fluently whether they are reading aloud or silently. When reading aloud, fluent readers read in phrases and add intonation appropriately. Their reading is smooth and has expression.

Children who do not read with fluency sound choppy and awkward. Those students may have difficulty with decoding skills or they may just need more practice with speed and smoothness in reading. Fluency is also important for motivation; children who find reading laborious tend not to want to read! As readers head into upper elementary grades, fluency becomes increasingly important. The volume of reading required in the upper elementary years escalates dramatically. Students whose reading is slow or labored will have trouble meeting the reading demands of their grade level.

What kids can do to help themselves:
Track the words with your finger as a parent or teacher reads a passage aloud. Then you read it. Have a parent or teacher read aloud to you. Then, match your voice to theirs. Read your favorite books and poems over and over again. Practice getting smoother and reading with expression.

What parents can do to help at home
Support and encourage your child. Realize that he or she is likely frustrated by reading. Check with your child's teachers to find out their assessment of your child's word decoding skills. If your child can decode words well, help him or her build speed and accuracy by: Reading aloud and having your child match his voice to yours. Having your child practice reading the same list of words, phrase, or short passages several times; Remind your child to pause between sentences and phrases;
Read aloud to your child to provide an example of how fluent reading sounds.
Give your child books with predictable vocabulary and clear rhythmic patterns so the child can "hear" the sound of fluent reading as he or she reads the book aloud.
Use books on tapes; have the child follow along in the print copy.

Click on the link to the right (Reading Rockets.org) for more ideas to help your child learn to read.

Today during our integration time with Mrs. Maha's class we learned about how the pictures in a book can help with comprehension. We also added to our vocabulary words: humble, radiate, overlook, prevail, confident, as we read The Strong One. IN math we took a pretest for unit 4. This will help me differentiate my instruction for the next unit.