themselves read and reflect on how they would feel if they were listening to the story being read instead of doing the reading.

       Thus, the Fluency for Friends project was born!
The project starts with a very dull reading of the book, The Paper Bag Princess by Chris Muensch. As the students listen it is quite clear by their fidgeting that they are not enjoying the story. This is exactly what I want to see! Students then listen and view the Tumblebooks version of the same story, read with great expression, by the author himself. The reaction is quite different with students laughing and clapping with the story.
       A discussion about their feelings as they heard the different version launches us into a discussion about fluency and why it is so important.
       After working on fluency skills a large pile of award-winning picture books is laid out around the room. Students are tasked with previewing the books and choosing one they each feel would be of interest to them. Students work individually and as partners, listening to and critiquing each others work.  They will record themselves and each other to hear what they sound like and they will be reading the book over and over as they practice their fluency with a goal of a “just right” reading.
When a student has perfected the reading a final recording is made using an iPod. A CD of the recording is created and attached to the inside cover with a CD sleeve. Each student then chooses a lower grade classroom to honor and presents the book to the class as part of its listening library.
       Additionally, a recording of each book is attached to the class webpage so parents, relatives and friends can listen.

​

Objectives :

       The primary objective of this project is to help students understand the importance of fluency and expression in reading. As side benefits, however, a great deal of technology education and motivation is included.
First, students are motivated because they recognize so many people will be able to hear them read. Not only the students in the receiving class will hear it, but also friends, relatives and, potentially, the entire world!
Second, students learn about using technology as they make practice recordings and their final recording during practice sessions.        These recordings encourage self-reflection, collaboration and improvement because they suddenly hear themselves reading in a much different setting than ever before. Once they get accustomed to hearing what their own voice sounds like, they are able to focus on improving their fluency and expression.  They begin to recognize when a character is excited their own voice should be excited and when the character is sad, the reader’s voice should be sad. Their reading buddy also can listen to the recording and make specific suggestions as they listen together.
       These recordings also are a wonderful opportunity for formative and summative assessments. Since a cold read recording is made at the very beginning of the project it is very easy to make comparisons with the final project.

 

​Future plans/modifications :

       When I first had students work on this project I was teaching second grade. They were very excited about the project, but it quickly became clear neither they nor I were completely prepared for it.
I made the mistake of jumping right into the reading and recording phase of the project without really establishing a good understanding of why fluency is important or why expression is helpful for comprehension. Additionally, I had not realized that in our classroom there was a loud bussing noise that could not be heard in class, but was distracting during the playback of student recordings. Finally, I discovered that my students were having difficulty providing helpful feedback to their reading buddies since they had not had previous experiences of that nature.
       The bottom line is that I dove into the project too fast and pushed students through it too fast!
       To reconcile those issues I will be preparing my students with more precise instruction about fluency before moving into this project. It will be a project for later in the year, after students have a firm understanding of fluency and practice with teamwork and constructive criticism.
       Since my students will be working on assessing and critiquing their writing about math and reading on blogs this year, they will have a better understanding of how to make constructive comments and suggestions. The class has a rubric students will be using frequently as they comment on each others blog posts. This practice will easily transfer over to helping each other with their reading project.
       I am now working with third grade students in a new school and am luck enough to have a break out room, a small quite room located between two classrooms. This space is perfect for individual quiet work and, recording. With more parent volunteers I can have a parent work with students so they can learn how to use the iPods efficiently as well.
Still of concern to me is the success of struggling readers and how they will perceive themselves as readers, especially when they know their reading will be posted online for all to hear. For most students it will be a motivational tool and something they will easily see as something of which to be proud. It is the struggling reader, who views himself/herself, as a “bad” reader who will need more convincing. When I did this project with my second grade students this concern took care of itself because the student who struggles the most showed the most improvement and, at the end, the most pride. It was a difficult road, however, because he was convinced throughout the project that he was not going to be successful.
       I will continue to ponder this issue and discuss my concerns with our literacy coach for ideas. In the meantime I will assess my readers with this in mind and work to build their confidence as they build their reading fluency. My most immediate thought is that alone will be a big help to these readers. I also am planning to have these students make more frequent recordings and compare them to the cold read so they can hear their improvement as they go in the project.