So…  I started thinking about fluency and what my students think of their own reading. After giving the surveys I realized that my students weren’t really aware of what fluent reading means even though we talk about it ALL the time. I have wrestled with the thought for a while now, but really didn’t know what to do about it. Today in the middle of my lesson the simplest idea struck me. I will have students assess their own fluency during the popcorn reading portion of our lesson. I explained to the group that I wanted them to give me thumbs up after they read a sentence, if they thought they read fluently. If not, then they could reread the sentence. Below is a list of the things I saw during the activity and some reflections on my teaching (and research).

Observations and Reflections

1. WHY DIDN”T I THINK OF THIS BEFORE?????? This was such a simple idea and super easy to implement. I am actually kind of mad that I didn’t think of this earlier in my research or earlier in the year!

2. Students were very engaged. Even my distractible kids were right with me. They followed along and rated their own reading throughout the entire passage.

3. Students were honest. All students rated the reading honestly. If the reading wasn’t fluent they looked up at me and gestured or asked to read again. After stopping to decode two words in one sentence, Tyler said, “I need to read that again. I can do better.” I agreed with the ratings of each student. I also loved seeing the smile and the thumbs up when students heard themselves read fluently.

4. I loved teaching today! Occasionally I find that the redundancy of my instruction weighs me down. I basically do the same thing with the same kids every day and progress is slow. About twice a year (always once in February), I get in a funk and can’t seem to clear the fog. Then all of the sudden the sun shines, a kid makes me laugh hysterically or I see the “light bulb” go on and I am back to normal. That happened today! This probably isn’t what teachers are supposed to say, but it’s honest.

5. Based on the comprehension questions I asked during and after the lesson students comprehended what they read and made thoughtful connections. Sarah said, “If I were that bug, I’d puke!” Another student added, “Yeah, being in a bouncing ball would be way worse than a roller coaster. You would go up, down, up, down.”

6. We were so absorbed in learning that I forgot to send students back to class. OOPS!