Rachel Thomas

READ 436
October 13, 2014
Fluency Minilesson
For my fluency minilesson I chose to have students read a tongue-twister of their
choice. According to Patricia M. Cunningham and Richard L. Allington, fluency is the ability to
read most words in context quickly and accurately and with appropriate expression. (2011, p
29). There are other aspects included in fluency. The students should pay attention to
punctuation, read the words smoothly, read at a correct pace, pay attention to dialogue,
emphasize important words, and use the correct volume. For this particular lesson I chose to
focus on the students reading faster and reading the words smoothly.
I chose two different tongue-twisters for the students to read, Peter Piper and
Racehorse. I allowed them to choose which one they would prefer to read. They had to read
the chosen tongue-twister three different times. I timed them each time to see how quickly
they could read it. I also paid attention to other details about their reading as well. I decided to
do this activity with individual students instead of a small group or the whole class, so I could
better pay attention to details of the students readings. I chose four students that are all in
different reading groups. The first reading group is the lowest, and they are focusing on
directed reading instruction. The second reading group, which is the middle group, is focusing
on fluency. Then, the third reading group is the highest group, and they focus on vocabulary
and comprehension. I introduced the lesson by bringing each individual student out into the
hallway to the individual desk. I told them I would be timing them reading a small passage.
Then, I allowed them to choose which tongue-twister they wanted to read.
All the students responded extremely well to this activity. Surprisingly, all the students
chose the same tongue-twister to read, Racehorse. Student one is in the third reading group,

Rachel Thomas
READ 436
October 13, 2014
and he has a DIBELS score of 115. By the end of this semester, the students should have a score
of 45. He read the tongue-twister in 13 seconds the first time. He repeated the second half of
the first line, and he replaced the word was with has. I think he made the mistake because
he knew I was timing him, so he was trying to get a good time. He read all the words smoothly,
and he included a slight pause at the end of every sentence. During his second and third
readings he had times of 9 seconds and 8 seconds respectively. He made no major mistakes.
Student two is in the second reading group, and she has a DIBELS score of 73. During the first
reading of the tongue twister this student got a time of 12 seconds. She used her finger to
point to each word while reading. During the second and third readings she has times of 9
seconds and 8 seconds respectively. She read smoothly and paused at the end of every
sentence. Student three is part of the first reading group, and he has a DIBELS score of 45. He
had a time of 20 seconds during his first reading. He read slow but smoothly. He paused at the
end of every sentence. One thing that troubled me was how he positioned himself to the
paper. He was far away and not facing forward. I think if he had been sitting appropriately,
then he would have had better times. During the second reading, student three got a time of
12 seconds. The faster he tried to read the tongue-twister, the louder he spoke. He continued
to do this during his third reading, which he got a time of 9 seconds. However, he made a few
mistakes near the end. He also started reading fast but slowed down by the end. Finally,
student four is also in the third reading group, and she has a DIBELS score of 36. She is a
repeater of second grade. During her first reading she got a time of 22 seconds. She did not
read smoothly at all. She paused slightly after reading each word. During the second reading of
the tongue-twister she read with a time of 13 seconds. She made two different mistakes. The

Rachel Thomas
READ 436
October 13, 2014
first mistake she self-corrected, but the second mistake she completely missed. Finally, her
third reading had a time of 12 seconds. She made no major mistakes.
I would do a couple things differently if I conducted this lesson again. I would have the
students read the tongue-twister of their choice three different times just like I did originally.
However, I would have them also read the second tongue-twister later on in the day and
compare the time ratios. Obviously, the times will not be exactly the same because one
passage may be longer than another, but the different times should line up with respect to each
other. Also, I would choose a couple more students to conduct the activity on. I found it
interesting that the four students I chose lined up with their reading group, DIBELS score, and
times. I would be interested to see if there are any students in the class that are in a certain
reading group, but their times are extremely off. This could indicate they are not in the correct
reading group.
I will incorporate fluency into my own classroom by doing fun activities with my class. I
will conduct readers theatres, poetry readings, and tongue-twisters into my lessons. This will
allow my students to gain fluency through fun and interactive activities. I will use the DIBELS
assessment to help me create the reading groups for the class. Also, I may discuss the students
reading levels with their previous teachers. Finally, I will schedule fluency lessons within my
day by setting out a certain time to focus on this topic. I am hoping that through this practicum
experience, I can find the best practice for teaching fluency.