Repetition is important,
but you have to keep it interesting to maintain children’s attention. You can “wake up the brain” with these
playful “state changes.” Use these
strategies for choral reading, repeating poems, reading word wall words,
counting, doing flash cards, and so forth. If you go to my website, click on free activities, and
scroll down you can download these little cards called “fluency cards.” I’d suggest downloading them on
cardstock and then putting them in a bag or little box called the “Voice Box.” Let several children choose cards and
then use those strategies for repeating information.
*You can watch me
demonstrate these on a new video my daughter helped me make.
Three
Bears – Read papa bear style (with a deep voice), mama bear style (with a
prissy voice), and baby bear style (with a wee voice).
Emotions – Read
text with different emotions, such as happy, sad, angry, sleepy, etc. Which one fits the text best?
Rainbow – Open
hands and place on the left side of your body. Swing up and across the body in an arc as you read each
line.
Rock and Roll –
Pretend to hold guitar and dance and sing.
Rap – Let the
children teach YOU how to do this one.
Opera – Extend arms
and sing words dramatically.
Underwater – Put
pointer between lips and vibrate as you read or talk.
With a cold – Hold
nose and talk or read.
Robot – Stick out
arms and pretend to read with a monotonous
voice
King and Queen –
Put a pretend crown on your head and read with a “royal” tone.
Martian – Make
antennae with index fingers over your head. “Beep” for the syllables in the words.
Loud and Soft –
Read loud or soft. Teacher sticks
thumbs up and children read louder.
Thumbs down and children get softer.
Fast and Slow –
Read slowly like the tortoise (slow) or fast like the rabbit.
Animal Voices –
“Meow” each syllable like a cat, “bark” like a dog, or make other animal
sounds.
Football Player and
Cheerleaders – Boys read each line with a gruff voice like a football
player. Bend over after each line
and go, “Hut! Hut!” Girls read each line like a cheer
leader and go, “Rah! Rah!” at the
end of each line.
Lip Sinc - Mouth
the words.
News - Read like a news reporter “on the street.”
Pirate - Put on hand over your eye and talk out of the
side of your mouth. Say, “Grrr!”
at the end of each sentence.
Typewriter - Pretend
to type with your fingers as you move eyes from left to right. Ding, and then “return the carriage”
when you get to the end of the line.
Cartoon Characters
- Read like “Fred Flintstone” (bounce up and down),
Scooby Doo (Ruff! Ruff!), Charlie Brown’s teacher, and
other characters children suggest.
Teacher Style –
Children pretend they are the teacher and read like YOU!