Florida Center for Reading Research
Fluency: Words, Word Speed Practice
Taking turns, learners time each other as they read a list of high-frequency words and track progress.
Florida Center for Reading Research
Phonics: High Frequency Words, Word Baseball
Scholars play high-frequency word baseball, pretending to be a pitcher and a batter. Players take turns choosing baseballs with high-frequency words printed on them. If they read the word correctly, they move to the next base until they...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Fluency: Letter-Sound Correspondence, Letter-Sound Mix-Up
Scholars time each other as they work through a sheet of all 26 letters. They test each other to see how many letters sounds they can identify in one minute.
Florida Center for Reading Research
Fluency: Words, Word Climb
Just like climbing a mountain, little learners read to reach the top. They take turns picking high-frequency word cards, reading them, then matching them to the words on their mountain worksheet. They race to reach the top of the...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Fluency: Words, Pass the Word
Learners time each other as they read as many high-frequency words as possible in one minute. Peers record progress.
Florida Center for Reading Research
Phonics: Letter Recognition, Hungry Letter Mouse
Scholars take turns writing and identifying letters on a whiteboard. Learner one writes a letter; learner two finds it on the alphabet strip. If they are correct, Mr. Mouse gets to eat that letter, and if they are incorrect, Mr. Mouse...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Fluency: Words, I Read, You Point
Learners read as many high-frequency words as possible in a given amount of time. Peer one reads a word from a list, and peer two points to the corresponding word as they are seen on the table. This activity is timed and peer evaluated.
Florida Center for Reading Research
Fluency: Words, Fast Match
Here is an interesting take on the old timed-fluency activity. In pairs, learners work together to see how fast they can read two sets of high-frequency words. Peer one reads a word from his list; peer two works fast to find that word in...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Fluency: Connected Text, Recorded Reading
Scholars listens to a story on headphones while he reads along with a visual text using intonation, correct pacing, and fluency.
Florida Center for Reading Research
Fluency: Letter Recognition, Speedy Alphabet Arc
On your mark, get set, match! Learners use a complete set of letters, matching each to its outlined letter on an arc. As they choose letters, they name them aloud. For added difficulty, another arc is missing most of its letters to...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Fluency: Letter-Sound Correspondence, Fluency Letter Wheel
Young scholars spin their way to letter sound fluency. While tomes, pairs spin a spinner and make the sound of the letter on which it lands. They add a counter to their cup for each sound they make correctly. At the end of the game,...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Fluency: Letter-Sound Correspondence, Make a Match
A memory activity engages young learners in letter-sound correspondence. Pairs take turns examining two sets of cards lying face down. They flip one image card and one letter card, then name the initial sound. If the sounds match, pupils...
Curated OER
Writing and Presenting a Fable Using Research
Elementary and middle schoolers research animal facts and use them in a fable. First, they pair-share to find animal traits to use in writing a fable. They then complete a prewriting worksheet. After going through the writing process,...
Curated OER
Watch the Road Signs
What makes a good speaker? Upper elementary learners practice oral fluency by working with a partner to read nonfiction books. While reading, they practice using correct tone of voice, making eye contact, and speaking clearly.
Curated OER
Language: Has the Cat Got Your Tongue?
Use funny tongue twisters to entice your young learners! They'll love this game where they face off against members of the other team and recite tongue twisters. Who will win this enunciation and pronunciation competition!
Curated OER
Poetry As Oral Performance
Reciting poetry is a great way to build oral language skills and build classroom community. Pupils look at the text elements of poetry and choose a poem to read aloud. They focus on rhythm, fluency, and expression. This is a great way to...
Curated OER
Reading Fluency
Aid readers in achieving fluency! Hone in on appropriate pacing, accurate pronunciation, and varied intonation through modeling and ample practice. In one-minute bursts, individuals rehearse reading a passage aloud, recording where they...
Curated OER
On the Road Again
Young scholars read to their peers from selected texts. As one person reads, the other person listens to his/her peer, noting tone and fluency. Afterward, they reflect on each other's reading. There is a guided reflection worksheet...
Curated OER
Lights, Camera, and Action!
These activities center around acting out a play to help create fluent readers who use expression and emotion. As readers work through the play the first time, they also practice decoding strategies. In small groups of four, they then...
Curated OER
It's All About Expression: Growing Independence and Fluency
In an engaging anticipatory set, the teacher uses several different strategies to activate prior knowledge about reading with expression, including using sentence strips (that must be prepped ahead of time) to show different moods. The...
Curated OER
VCe Rule Fluency
Explore English by identifying word structures. Learners find many words that end with a vowel, consonant, and then an e. The class will participate in a word flash card game in which they correctly pronounce vowel-consonant words.
Curated OER
Get Excited, Get Mad, Show Emotion!
Youngsters explore the importance of becoming fluent, expressive readers by changing their voice when reading a book. They read the book Ella Sarah Gets Dressed, by Margaret Chodos-Irvine, and poems from the book For Laughing Out Loud,...
Curated OER
Guided Reading with David's Drawings by Cathryn Falwell
First graders participate in a guided reading lesson. In this guided reading lesson, 1st graders read David's Drawings by Cathryn Falwell, which is a realistic fiction book on the DRA:16 level. They determine the author's message, and...
Curated OER
Summertime
Explore expressive reading through the read-aloud Summertime: From Porgy and Bess. Readers will make predictions about the text and listen to the song Summertime. They will also identify how the story relates to the song lyrics.