The F in The CAFE
Building Fluent Readers who Read with Ease, Accuracy and Expression (Virtual Tour)
Stage of Literacy Development:
Stage 1: Beginning LiteracyStage 2: Consolidation / Fluency
Ages:
5-9
Grade Range:
1st 2nd 3rdFood Groups:
b>Primary: Reading Fluency & Expression Secondary: Motivation for Literacy, Reading Comprehension Strategies
Transcript
The next category of strategies is Fluency, and that has to do with the pacing which they read and the enunciation. When they are able to read in a way that sounds normal, it sounds good, sounds like the way they speak. The first strategy that I introduce here is reading Good Fit books. This is crucial, this is very important for the first graders because they really need to be independent in their reading. They really want the teacher to tell them exactly what to read every single time. You are not efficient if you do that. You have to teach them how to choose the right books for them. Kids have different interests, and I talk about how they should be looking for books that they would like to read. A second thing is that they have to think about books that are at their level. We don't want students to be trying to read books that are very challenging for them. They are going to end up just looking at the pictures and never trying to read any word because it's just too difficult for them. Another strategy that I introduce is "Reread text". This is different from "Back up and reread" because the students tend to get confused with those. Reread the text allows them to get more fluent because it's when they read a whole page, or a poem, or a whole book, and then I ask them "okay, read it again, the whole thing." The second time around, they feel that "oh, I can read this faster and more fluent". The third time they read it, they feel like "oh, I'm actually really good". So the words that they found challenging, sometimes they already know them. The second time around, it's much easier. The next strategy that we use within Fluency is using commas and contractions, and question marks and exclamation marks. When they're reading, students sometimes they tend to forget about the use of the periods and the commas and they keep reading. Especially with those students that are fast readers, they feel that the faster they read, the better it is. I tell them, "oh, except if you have a period, then you have to pause otherwise nobody will understand what you're reading. Or yourself, you won't understand what you are reading." So they get to understand the importance of this strategy that we use a lot. Another strategy that goes with Fluency is "Voracious reading". I talk about this and I tell them how important it is to read and read and read. It's like you're hungry, you want to read more and more. That's the only way to get more fluent, you get better and better at reading. Another strategy to gain fluency is to practice sight words, high frequency words. Many students need those in order to avoid over thinking when they're reading. If they recognize many words, when they see them in a book or in a poem or whatever, they just say it and it feels better as opposed to every single time they see a word they have to analyze it and sound it out. They don't have to think too much with every single word that they find when they're reading.
Related References
Additional Links:
The Daily Cafe www.thedailycafe.com
Activity Objective
The goal of The F in The CAFE: Building Fluent Readers who Read with Ease, Accuracy and Expression (Virtual Tour) is to provide students with a range of strategies that will make them better able to read faster and with less effort. These strategies include reading good fit books, rereading the text, paying attention to punctuation, reading as often as possible, and practicing common sight and high frequency words. Following these steps helps students to select books that are of an appropriate level and of personal interest to them while improving their reading speed and accuracy.
Quick Tips
Additional Comments:
- Remind students to look at the bulletin board to check that they are utilizing the best strategies! - Try modeling what a fluent reader looks like by reading to the class. Highlight the importance of punctuation and common sight words as you read.
Other Recipes by this Teacher
What are We Doing in Class Today?: Motivating Beginning Readers with a Daily Schedule (Virtual Tour)
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Literacy CAFE in First Grade: Fostering Independence using a Menu of Strategies (Virtual Tour)
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The Daily 5 in First Grade: Engaging Students with a Balanced Literacy Approach (Virtual Tour)
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Predicting and Inferring: Scaffolding Comprehension Strategies using an Explicit Framework (Virtual Tour)
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Revising and Editing in First Grade: Using Success Criteria to Focus the Writing Process (Virtual Tour)
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