Sequence # 1 – Developing Fluency

This tool shares three practical tips to help your child improve their reading fluency while having fun and staying motivated. 

Written by: Caroline Côté, resource teacher, Institut TA
 

 

When they first start school, your child will put a lot of effort into matching letters to the sounds they make. Fortunately, the more time they spend practising reading and playing with words, the more words they’ll be able to recognize without sounding them out. Try doing these fun activities with your child to help them recognize common words.  

You will need: 

• Chalk and chalkboard
• Sports balls, jump rope, or other sports equipment
• Fly swatter, laser pointer, foam dart gun 
• List of common words available in appendix 

Written by: Caroline Côté, resource teacher, Institut TA

 

The purpose of the activity is to help children learn to identify and combine individual sounds (phonemes) in words, to aid in accurate reading and clear speaking. Teaching kids to sound out words promotes correct pronunciation and reading fluency and enables them to confidently read unfamiliar words and comprehend texts when reading aloud. 

You will need: 

• Sentence bank in appendix (print it out or keep it open in your browser)
• Highlighter

Written by: Caroline Côté, resource teacher, Institut TA

Chunking words (reading groups of words) is crucial to the development of reading fluency in children. Instead of focusing on each word individually, which can slow down the reading process, chunking words can help your child understand the overall meaning of a sentence. In this tool, you’ll find practical examples that show you how you can help your child chunk words, step-by-step.    

You will need: 

• Pencil
• Paper

Written by: Caroline Côté, resource teacher, Institut TA

 

Mastering punctuation not only helps us to understand a text, but it also allows us to bring it to life when reading aloud. Commas and periods are sort of like traffic lights: They tell us when to pause for a breath and what rhythm and intonation to use. You’ll find some fun tips to help your child learn to follow punctuation marks when reading. 

You will need: 

• Sentence bank in appendix (printed out or displayed on a screen)
• Red pencil
• Yellow pencil

Written by: Caroline Côté, resource teacher, Institut TA

 

Intonation in reading is like the melody of a song: It gives life and energy to the text and communicates the emotions of each sentence. It plays a crucial role in reading fluency. By practising this aspect of reading, your child will develop their communication skills and develop their love  of reading!

You will need: 

• Sentence bank in appendix 

Written by: Caroline Côté, resource teacher, Institut TA
 

 

To make reading more engaging, it’s important to adapt your intonation to the emotions the characters in the story are feeling. This expressive dimension of reading also helps your child develop their emotional intelligence, as it helps them learn to see things from someone else’s perspective. To practise reading with intonation and expression with your child, click here! 

You will need: 

• Paper
• Pencil
• 6-sided die

Written by: Caroline Côté, resource teacher, Institut TA