Angelina Gonzales

3-8-23
EDU 443 Fluency Reflection

When this assignment was introduced, I was excited to have an assignment that I would

be able to do within my placement. I was practically excited for this because I don’t get much

time to be the teacher when I am there. I decided to pick a student that is not grade level in

reading so I would have more to work with for this assignment. When I did the assessment, I

took the student in the hallway so he could have a quiet place to do the reading. When I

introduced the assignment, I told the student that there is no grade so no pressure and to do

the best you can. I did this to eliminate any anxiety he had before starting.

I enjoyed taking notes while the student read to be able to use to assess when

determining the grading for the four sections. I found that the purpose of assessing oral reading

fluency was important to finding out the key components the student needs in improvement in

to improve their reading fluency. I was able to use my reading notes and compare them to the

descriptions within my fluency rubric to determine if a student was at grade level, almost at

grade level, approaching grade level, or below grade level. By knowing this I was able to use this

information to create two minilessons that cater to the two areas the student needs

improvement in.

Before I started my process of creating mini lessons to support the needs of my student,

based on the assessment data I picked the two lowest scores and highlighted the points within

that score that the student needed to work on. For example, in expression and volume for the
score of two I highlighted “focus remains largely on pronouncing words” because throughout

the reading he paused other because he other didn’t know the word or because he had to

sound the word out. I used the activity 4.3: “This Is Interesting” Voice Page to gain practice in

this section. I used this same strategy when picking the second mini lesson as well. These are a

few insights I experienced while completing this assignment.

March 8th, 2023

Dear Parents/Guardians of Nick Zimmerman,

On March 6th, 2023, Nick participated in an assessment for fluency. During our one page

reading of the story, “The Montgomery Bus Boycott”, I assessed four areas; Expression and

Volume, Phrasing, Smoothness, and Pace. Each area is out of four points, which is broken down

as one being below grade level, two being approaching grade level, three being almost at grade

level, and four at grade level. For this assessment it was out of 16 points and Nick scored a 10.

Nick scored a two on Expression and Volume which means he begins to make text sound

like natural language, focus remains mainly on pronouncing words, and reads in a quiet volume.

For example, during our reading Nick read in a slightly quiet voice, hesitated on a few words

such as Montgomery and forefront, and towards the end of the reading it became more

monotone. For Phrasing Nick scored a three which means he reads with a mixture of run-ons,

mid-sentence pauses for breath and some choppiness, and reasonable stress and intonation.

For example, I expected Nick’s switch from conversational reading in the beginning to

monotone towards the end due to rushing to be done. This caused reading with run-ons and

needing to catch his breath in the middle of sentences often.

For Smoothness throughout the story, he scored a two which means he reads with

extended pauses or hesitations, reads with frequent breaks in smoothness which are the result

of difficulties with specific words. For example, he often took pauses in the middle of sentences

to catch his breath and hesitated when “(NAACP)” came up because he was not sure if he
should read or skip it. He also had frequent breaks due to difficult words such as, Montgomery,

forefront, and segregation. Nick scored a three on Pace which means he maintains an

inconsistent pace (fast or slow) throughout the reading. For example, within the first section he

paused frequently, in the middle section he read fast, and towards the end he read slow. In

conclusion, Nick scored a 10 out of 16 with a mixture of almost at grade level and approaching

grade level.

After assessing Nick’s performance in this fluency assessment, I created two main goals

to increase his performance in fluency. The first goal is on Expression and Volume focusing on

reading text with expression and confidence. For practice I picked the activity, “This Is

Interesting” Voice which I will model examples of reading with interest versus monotone,

changing my tone for punctuation, and expressing the importance of pausing at appropriate

parts such as commas, dashes, and periods. Nick will then practice with a partner reading and

given prompts they can say to each other to help improve their performance. Some examples

are, “Make it sound interesting!”, “ I can tell you understood what you just read, based on how

you read it”, and “Say it like a teacher would”.

Another main goal for Nick is to focus on Smoothness throughout the text. I picked the

activity, “Slow Down the Zoom, Zoom, Zoom to Make Sense” which I will model reading a few

ways: quickly, with and without errors, and slowly, with and without errors. I will also model

pausing at correct times versus incorrect times to pause. Then I will encourage Nick to practice

the correct ways of reading and pausing with a partner. He will be given prompts to encourage

helpful responses during this activity. Some examples are, “Slow down, make sure you are
thinking about the appropriate models”, “I notice you fixed how you read that to make sense!”,

and “Why did you stop? What did you notice?”.

These are just two activities I am using in the classroom to help improve Nick’s

Expression and Volume and Smoothness but there are lots of activities he can do at home that

are beneficial! Here are a few I think Nick will enjoy!

1. Read Like a Storyteller- When there is a character talking, make sure you’re

thinking about what’s being said, how the character feels, and the character says

it (tone).

Some prompts to help: “Is that the narrator speaking or the character?”, “Yes! I

heard the difference between the character and the storyteller”, and “Check the

punctuation. How do you think the character said that?

2. Cover and slide: When you’re trying to read a word part by part, you can cover

up the parts you aren’t reading now, to focus on the parts you are.

Some prompts to help: “Cover everything but the first part”, “Now slide your finger

across the word, reading part by part”, “Now put it together”, and “I notice you read

that part by part. Did that help you?”.


Name: Angelina Gonzales
Target Content/Lesson Topic: Fluency (Expression/Smoothness)
State Learning Standards
Identify relevant grade level standards
and Learning Outcomes from the State
Content Learning Standards, Common
Core Standards, and school learning
outcomes.
Learning Targets/Objectives
What should the students know or be
able to do after the instruction? Use a
common format with a measurable verb
that matches the cognitive domain
standard. This should be a small piece of
the standard stated in measurable
terms.
Grouping
Describe how and why students will be
divided into groups, if applicable
(homogeneous, heterogenous, random /
based on ability, interest, social
purposes, etc.)
Differentiation
If either or both lessons are whole class,
how is the lesson(s) differentiated for
the focal student?
Fluency Intervention Lesson Plan Template
Grade Level: 7th
Date: 2-8-23
Planning
Strand: Reading Foundational Skills (Fluency)
Fluency - Grade 5
RF.5.4 Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
1. Read grade-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.
LT: I can use proper phrasing and expression while reading.
LO: Student will be able to use proper expression and smoothness while doing pair reading for practice.
Minilesson One:
Students will be in pairs to do the activity to take turns reading to practice smoothness and the appropriate
parts to pause.
Minilesson Two:
Students will be in pairs to do the activity to take turns reading to practice expression and the appropriate
parts to pause.
Additional support: Printed prompt sheets, groups of 3, and videos to show examples.
Check ins: I will go around to each group and help if needed and regroup pairs if needed.
Assessment
1
Assessment
How will students demonstrate that the
focal student is making progress in
toward their fluency goals?
Minilesson One
1. Introduction (including setting
expectations and establishing
procedures and instructions)
2. Activate/Connect To Prior
Knowledge
3. Fluency Activity (including
modeled, guided, and independent
practice, as needed)
Minilesson Two
1. Introduction (including setting
expectations and establishing
procedures and instructions)
2. Activate/Connect To Prior
Knowledge
3. Fluency Activity (including
modeled, guided, and independent
practice, as needed)
• Assess with the same rubric again in 2 months.
• Partner echo reading
No rubric needed
Instruction
Activity 3.7: Slow Down the Zoom, Zoom, Zoom to Make Sense Page 86 (Smoothness)
I will model reading a few ways: quickly, with and without errors, and slowly, with and without errors. I will
model pausing at correct times (periods and dashes), I will also show incorrect times to pause (middle of
sentences). I will encourage students to practice the correct ways of reading and pausing in pairs. I will have
these prompts up as well to help the students use when helping each other:
• Check yourself
• Slow down, make sure you are thinking about the appropriate models.
• I notice you fixed how you read that to make sense!
• Was that okay?
• Why did you stop? What did you notice?
Activity 4.3: “This Is Interesting” Voice Page 110 (Expression and Volume)
When reading read the text as if you are a teacher interested in the information (model example of interesting
versus monotone). Look to the ending punctuation to know whether you are going to be giving information
(periods, exclamation points) or asking questions (question marks). Explain the importance of pausing only at
commas, dashes, and periods) this way the reading is smooth and fluent. I will have an anchor chart with this
information up as well. Also, I will have these prompts on the board as well to help the students use when
helping each other:
• Make it sound interesting!
• Your voice was flat there; try to make it sound like the information is amazing!
• You just made that sound interesting!
• I can tell you understood what you just read, based on how you read it.
• Say it like a teacher would.
• I see you paused in the middle of the sentence, remember when you are supposed to pause (point to
anchor chart)
• I see a question mark. Make your voice match it.
Students will work in pairs to practice reading with expression and volume.
2
Instructional Materials, • Fluency rubric
Equipment and Technology • Printed version of reading material
List equipment or technology that needs • Anchor charts/prompts for each minilesson
to be available. Attach a copy of ALL • Chromebooks for YouTube video examples
materials the teacher and students will
use during the lesson; e.g., handouts,
• Printed prompt sheets
questions to answer, overheads,
PowerPoint slides, worksheets.