There are three aspects of a reading program that struggling readers need: comprehension, vocabulary, and fluency. Integrating those three ingredients proved difficult as I faced junior high struggling readers who lacked confidence, motivation, and a positive outlook. As a result, their temperament in all of their classes was not constructive or positive. They were not successful students because of their inability to read assignments or textbooks. That frustration carried over to all aspects of their school day and homework experience.
At first I was at a loss as to how to help them without causing further frustration. I began with read-alouds showing them how to think as they read, but also providing opportunities for them to see success with elementary principles without being elementary in the presentation and activities. That's when I introduced the fluency rubric and self evaluation.
The rubric principle is a simple one, but it's objective is amazing: to give clear guidelines. I quickly realized that even after practicing and practicing and practicing a poem to be read aloud (for example), the students needed to understand the expectations more clearly - hence this rubric. We went through this rubric multiple times - checking and rechecking for understanding. Modeling expectations over and over and over again. And it took quite a few run through's before they were ready to implement this assessment with their own presentations, and when they were ready (they literally knew the expectations like the back of their hand) - the results were amazing. The more they read (and saw success reading) the more they wanted to read! I took it up a notch with Poetry Performance Parties - complete with snacks, presentations, and games if time.
Visit my TeachersPayTeachers or TeachersNotebook stores to purchase the rubric and self-evaluation along with a detailed explanation of exactly how I implemented it for $2.
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