[LIT] Oral Fluency

[Bill IVEY]

Hi!

I just received an electronic newsletter from NMSA in which Dennis
Cavanaugh discusses oral fluency. After making a case for its importance
to all content teachers, he gives two suggested ways to build oral fluency:

1.  Readers Theatre - essentially using plays as a way of presenting
information. The topic might be literary - or it could be, as Cavanaugh
points out, the water cycle!

2.  Repeated Readings - First, the teacher reads a selection several times
in a variety of ways. Second, students pair up and read to each other.
Third, students take turns in what he calls "popcorn reading" wherein when
a student's turn is up, s/he will choose a random person to continue. Note
the strong importance of modeling in this technique.

What are your experiences with this techniques to build oral fluency?

What other techniques would you offer?

Take care,
Bill Ivey
Stoneleigh-Burnham School