5.6 Demonstrate research based instructional practices for developing reading fluency and reading endurance
A great way to develop fluency in students is to have them do “Reader’s Theater”. Sometimes there is so much to cover in reading that often students get overwhelmed and bored. This is a great way to motivate students to read while improving their fluency skills and reading endurance. Luckily the reading series has a set week for reader’s theater which is the last week of every unit. I am so thankful that my mentor teacher allowed me to do it because some teachers weren't. I think the students once in a while should have a break of learning new skills and just have a little fun, especially if they are gaining skills through these activities. I think the best part about it is that they had so much fun and they didn't even know that they were actually practicing fluency. The play we used was called "Whodunit? Woo Knows", it was a mystery that involved burglaries and a little girl used her thinking skills to figure out who the burglar was.
Before this week I did some preparation for the plays. Using their past fluency scores I wrote down the students names from lowest to highest, then I counted the lines that each character had and lined up the characters from the most lines in the play to the least. I was planning on dividing the class into two groups because there were only 11 parts and I have 22 children, lucky for me there was the exact amount to do it. I gave the students with the lowest fluency scores the parts that had the most lines, so they had more fluency practice throughout the week. Two of the students with the highest fluency were the sound effect people and they were also in charge of helping their classmates practice the plays. After organizing the students and the parts, I used colored folders to put a copy of the play for each folder. I used red folder for one group and blue folders for the other. The on the first day of this week I explained to the student’s the activity they would be working on all week. I emphasized the importance of not reading like robots and to really get into their character.
The first day they would get together with the person from the other group that had their same character and look over their lines to figure out who their character was, and how they should sound. The following days they would be in their play groups practicing. They had about an hour each day to practice, and on Friday each group performed they plays. After the play we discussed what things lead the girl to figure out who the burglar was and I explained to them that this is the way they should proceeded to answer questions from different texts. They have to be detectives and look back in the story to find the answers. I have attached some pictures of the students practicing and a video of one group performing the play.
Before this week I did some preparation for the plays. Using their past fluency scores I wrote down the students names from lowest to highest, then I counted the lines that each character had and lined up the characters from the most lines in the play to the least. I was planning on dividing the class into two groups because there were only 11 parts and I have 22 children, lucky for me there was the exact amount to do it. I gave the students with the lowest fluency scores the parts that had the most lines, so they had more fluency practice throughout the week. Two of the students with the highest fluency were the sound effect people and they were also in charge of helping their classmates practice the plays. After organizing the students and the parts, I used colored folders to put a copy of the play for each folder. I used red folder for one group and blue folders for the other. The on the first day of this week I explained to the student’s the activity they would be working on all week. I emphasized the importance of not reading like robots and to really get into their character.
The first day they would get together with the person from the other group that had their same character and look over their lines to figure out who their character was, and how they should sound. The following days they would be in their play groups practicing. They had about an hour each day to practice, and on Friday each group performed they plays. After the play we discussed what things lead the girl to figure out who the burglar was and I explained to them that this is the way they should proceeded to answer questions from different texts. They have to be detectives and look back in the story to find the answers. I have attached some pictures of the students practicing and a video of one group performing the play.