Designed to meet these objectives: Language • Students will • Students will • Students will • Students will develop fluency in a variety of literary genres. analyze text and draw conclusions. read fiction and nonfiction texts for meaning. make connections and inferences. As you use your Building Fluency Card Bank—and as your students develop fluency—you will undoubtedly notice a difference in the way students read and comprehend text. Because their focus is not on decoding, fluent readers can concentrate on comprehending text as they read. Fluency does not happen all at once, however. It is a gradual process requiring repeated oral readings— which, in turn, improve students’ word recognition, speed, and accuracy. Over time, students will read each passage in this set with ease—and become better prepared for more challenging text in years to come. Be sure to use only dry-erase markers on the write & wipe surface. To prevent ink from beading, prime the surface by drawing on it with a dry-erase marker, and then erase by rubbing vigorously with a dry textured cloth or paper towel. Repeat if necessary. Remember to wipe away any markings left on the surface before putting it away. Do not allow markings to remain overnight. What’s Included • • • • • 80 write & wipe leveled reading cards 4 write & wipe fluency checklists/comprehension question cards 4 one-minute sand timers 10 dividers & a storage folder Reproducible Fluency Progress Chart Leveled Passages Your card bank includes 80 reading passages divided into ten different levels spanning first through third grade. The levels are divided as follows, though you may adjust the levels as needed: • Levels A-D are designed for first grade, with approximately 75-120 words. • Levels E-G are designed for second grade, with approximately 120-150 words. • Levels H-J are designed for third grade, with approximately 150-190 words. How to Use the Cards • • • • Use Use Use Use the the the the cards to provide leveled reading practice, particularly with students reading below grade level. cards to provide additional independent reading practice for all students. higher-level cards to offer a challenge to students reading above grade level. cards as an assessment tool in tracking fluency progress. WARNING: © 2008 Lakeshore (800) 428-4414 www.lakeshorelearning.com CHOKING HAZARD—Small parts. Not for children under 3 yrs. EE501 Ages 6+ Printed in China Getting Started Before you begin, show students a card, pointing out that the numbers at the end of each line show the number of words up to that point in the passage. Explain that students will be timing themselves as they read aloud, using one of the minute sand timers each time they read a card, and then counting up the number of words read. Students should read the passage on a card at least three times and, after each read, record how many words they read per minute in the boxes on the card. After the first timed reading, encourage students to practice reading the passage several times before the second and third timed readings. Demonstrate how to mark a line with a dry-erase marker after the last word read, and then use the numbers at the end of the lines to count up the total words read in one minute. Note where the slash is. To calculate the total number of words read, the student can either count forward from the number at the end of the previous line or count backward from the number on the line with the slash. This would give the student a “score” for that reading. If the student cannot read a particular word, he or she should put a line through the word. The missed word or words should be subtracted from the score to get an accurate words-per-minute rate for that passage. For example: •This student read 83 words, minus one word (“frightened”) that he could not read. The total words per minute (WPM) read for this passage is 82. When to Use the Cards • Students can use the cards during independent work time. You may wish to direct the students as to which level to begin on, then let students progress through the levels on their own. Or, you may have every child begin with level A and read each card in the bank for extra reading practice. Students can use the reproducible Fluency Progress Chart included in this guide to record which passages they have read and what their reading rates were. • Students can use the cards with a partner to do “partner reads.” The partners can take turns reading aloud to each other, timing each other on the passage and recording their reading rates on the reproducible Fluency Progress Chart. Partner reading is particularly useful when a more fluent reader is paired with a less fluent reader. The more fluent reader can model fluency as well as provide feedback and encouragement to the less fluent reader. • Use the cards for small-group review. Make enough copies of a passage for a small group. Students should follow along as you read the passage aloud, modeling fluent reading. Do an “echo read” of the passage with the group, having students repeat each sentence after you read it—or do a “choral read” of the passage as a group. 2 Checklist/Comprehension Cards • As students work independently, they can use the checklist cards to remind themselves what fluent readers do. After each read, they should use the card to check off the things they did correctly, and, on the next read, they should focus on the things they did not do, such as read with expression. • The goal of fluency is to better comprehend a passage as it is read. Being a fluent reader will lead to a more complete understanding of the text. Students can use the comprehension side of the card to evaluate how well they understood the story. Have them either write answers to the questions on a separate sheet of paper or work with a partner to discuss the questions and answers together after they read the passages aloud. Extension Activity At the end of each month, students can graph their words-per-minute reading rate on their own graphs to see how their fluency has progressed. For example: 3 © Lakeshore