Fluency Folder Routines for Second Graders

In kindergarten and first grade, we have poetry folders that we use for fluency practice. A while back, I blogged about my routine for poetry folders in first grade here.

So what does fluency practice look like in second grade? Each day's routines are quick and easy and should take less that 5-10 minutes each day once you build the routine in your classroom! Let's chat about fluency folder routines for 2nd graders!

Tuesday

The fluency folder routines start on Tuesdays with my 2nd grade phonics curriculum. On Tuesday, students get the new fluency passage for the week.

Give them 2 quiet minutes to scan the passage for sight words to circle or highlight. Then, they will spend the rest of the 2 minutes reading the passage quietly.

With the Digital Phonics Curriculum, the sight words are on the screen for the kids to find. But you can definitely just write the sight words for them to look for or have them just look for ones they know!

When the 2 minute timer goes off (that's the black bar across the bottom), you model read the passage expressively as they follow along.

Then, just briefly talk about the passage by asking about 3 comprehension questions about the passage. After you have discussed the passage, students will add the passage to their fluency folders.

Wednesday

On Wednesdays, kids get out their fluency passage and buddy read the passage. Set a 4 minute timer and walk around and monitor as the buddies set elbow to elbow and knee to knee to take turns reading and listening or reading together.

The goal today is to let buddy 1 read, then buddy 2 read, and then both choral read together before the 4 minute timer is up.

Thursday

On Thursdays, students get their fluency passages out and read independently. Set a 1 minute timer. Kids will try and finish reading the fluency passage in the 1 minute.

The decodable fluency passages I have are written with an appropriate amount of words for second graders to read in one minute or less. The passages start off with only 50 words and at the end of the year have 90 words.

Friday

There is no fluency folder routine for Fridays or Mondays built into the second grade phonics curriculum. This is just to give you some flexibility. For example, start the routine on Monday if you have more lower readers in your class and do Thursday's routine twice to give them practice and more time to build their fluency.

Fridays can be used for assessments. During guided reading groups, take a few minutes to pull back some kids and do running records on their fluency passage for the week. This will be a sure way to get data on grade level texts each week! Want to learn more about running records? Read this blog post.