Fluency Centers

I uploaded my fluency centers resource that I’ve been using in the classroom for a few weeks. I used several last year as I finished them. If you buy this product, you will notice that the copyright says March 2014 because it’s been 80% finished since then, it’s just taken me this long to get around to completing it. But that’s the life of a teacher.

Below, I will show you my Fluency Centers in action! The set you see below is for the 1st grade readers, but I also have a 2nd/3rd grade set, too. Links to both units are below.

All Fluency Centers Need Timers!

Several of my fluency centers require a stopwatch. While you’re printing, cutting, and laminating your centers for the future lessons and centers, go ahead and stock-up on these resources. Here is my affiliate link to Amazon stopwatches! The stopwatches that are in the pictures above are no longer offered on Amazon, so I linked a comparable set.

(Amazon stopwatches)

A Look at All Fluency Centers Included:

These four timed fluency centers involve students using a stopwatch and seeing how many words they can read in a minute (or other given time by teacher). They’re given a choice of fluency phrases, word families, sight words, and nonsense words. My students absolutely loved using their stopwatches for these centers.

One of the most simple ways to increase student fluency is sight word practice. Students need exposure to sight words many times before it’s solidified in their memory. Give them lots of hands-on centers that let them practice their sight words. For example, Buggy Sight Words is a simple ‘kaboom’ style game where students can keep the cards they can read!

After practicing simple sight words, it’s time to get into fluency phrases. A fluency phrase is a phrase that includes one or more sight words. Stringing these words together will help students with their sight word knowledge and fluency.

After practicing single sight words and fluency phrases, it’s time to start thinking about sentences, questions, and punctuation. These all affect the way that students use expression when they’re reading, which is a big part of fluency.