Fluency~~It really does matter! and CUrRentLy

~~~Fluency ~~~

I used to teach in an inner city setting many moons ago…I was hired late in the year.  They had been meeting in a small semi corner of the MPR. { yeah, I’m sure that was quiet } and all the first grade teachers got rid of 4-6 students each.  Can you imagine what I had walked into?!?  My first year teaching and 32 students and 98% spanish speaking.  YIKES!!!!

My mom who I speak about often and was an educator for many years said, “sweetheart I can promise you that you will never have a year like this again.”  and she was right of course.  I had a CLASS full of discipline problems and an aide that left every day at 12:30.  –and don’t think I bribed, begged, pulled her arm to make her stay…but she never did.

I knew SOME Spanish.  I mean I took Spanish in high school and went to Spain and Mexico.  I practiced wherever I went and people were always very gracious with me…especially in Spain.  I loved it there!

Was I smooth and was there an easy flow to my sentences?  Absolutely not!  But when your students are fluent there is an ease to their reading, they aren’t stopping every couple words to decode and sound.words.out.  They can now focus on reading to LEARN.  Go figure…isn’t that a nice goal?  They can actually spend the time focusing on what the text is saying instead of getting tripped up on words.  Don’t get me wrong I love teaching phonic skills and playing decoding type games. 

But I love to see my little ones reading fluently after a year of struggling and learning and trying so hard.  I see fluency kind of like a bridge

We worked on fluency today during our reading groups…

Today we took turns reading a passage fluently in our small groups.  I timed the kids and made it like a game…the fastest/most fluent reader received a ticket.  They loved it!!!How do you include fluency practice in your classroom?

And to leave you with this…. ha!ha!

 I know you had to read a lot to get here…gotta love currently!

Link up with Farley and join in the fun!!!!  I can’t believe it’s MAY!!!