by Terri Serrato

Created on: May 19, 2008

Reading is a skill, which must be learned. Fortunately, many children can easily learn how to read, however, other children have great difficulty. This difficulty could be because of language, vision difficulties, hearing difficulties, different learning styles, lack of exposure to reading, and many more reasons. While it is impossible to list solutions for all children, here are some very useful strategies for teaching reading skills to upper elementary school students.

Fluency, the speed at which someone reads, was the key to unlocking better reading skills. I now begin each school year by evaluating each student's fluency level. I have each student read to me for one minute out of a story which is on grade level (even students who are not on grade level). Then, I count up the words they were able to read successfully and subtract the number of errors (mistakes which they corrected themselves are not counted). I measure their fluency in this manner every 4 5 weeks, which helped me keep track of their progress. 3 words per minute was a good increase, but many children had several sessions where they showed no increase, but then suddenly increased by 20 or more words! Using this method helps me keep track of which students are improving by leaps and bounds, and which ones are still struggling and may need more direct assistance.

On a daily level, I also practice fluency with the students. Spelling words, according to textbook standards, are supposed to be words students on grade level should be able to read easily. Keeping this in mind, I created a power point presentation for each weekly list of spelling words. It basically was flash cards with the spelling words, which the students as a class would read aloud. I set three different levels slow, fast, and faster. "Slow" changed slides every 2 seconds, "fast" changed slides every second, and "faster" changed every half second. The students actually enjoy doing these daily exercises. I use the slow level to introduce the words, having them repeat them after me the first time they see them each week. After 2 days on slow and fast, I start using only fast and faster. It is amazing how quickly they start reading these words, and how much enjoyment they get from the challenge. By Christmas Break, I always have many students asking if there is a speed that is even faster, but the slower students would not be able to keep up, so I just smile and tell them no. These spelling words are common words and being able to

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