Fluency Practice with Fry Phrases

Summary

Students will read Fry Phrases to practice phrasing and sight word recognition.

Materials

• Chart paper
• Fry Phrase list (Doc)
• Timer

Background for Teachers

The 600 word list compiled by Edward Fry contains the most used words in reading and writing. The words on this list make up almost half of the words met in any reading task. Successful readers decode words so that they are said "instantly". This automaticity is essential to comprehension.

Teachers may want to set up a record keeping book that has one page per student to track student progress.

Student Prior Knowledge

Students must know some of the sight words in order to participate in this activity.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Students will practice reading phrases and improve their fluent reading scores.

Instructional Procedures

INTRODUCTION:

• Tell the students that good readers read fluently. Explain that fluent means that you can read words effortlessly and with expression, with the correct speed, and with comprehension.
• Today we are going to practice reading fluently with phrases.

MODEL:

• Model reading a passage of text with expression and fluency.
• Also model a passage that is laborious and word-by-word.
• Have students pick which they prefer to hear.
• Explain that just because a reader can read all of the words correctly does not make them a good reader.
• Record on chart paper all of the things that make a good reader. (This should be student generated.)
  1. getting the words right
  2. reading with the correct speed
  3. reading with expression
  4. understanding what they read

COLD READING RECORD:

• Record a 1 minute timing of each student reading from a list of Fry Phrases.

MODEL AND PRACTICE:

• Read a Fry Phrase to the children word-by-word and discuss how it would sound better if it were read as a "phrase" and model it that way. Make sure to read with correct speed.
• Instruct students that they are going to practice saying some phrases word-by-word first, and then they are going to say them in phrases.
• Have a few students model for the class.

GUIDED PRACTICE:

• Instruct students that they will be buddy reading from the phrase lists.
• Review the THINGS THAT GOOD READERS DO Chart so they know what they are practicing.
• Hand out the phrase lists and have them practice.

Bibliography

Fry Phrase List compiled by Edward Fry