The latest issue of Edutopia (www.edutopia.org) suggests several ways to integrate technology into reading classes in order to improve student reading. Here is one easy way to improve reading fluency:
Have students record their own voices while they read aloud. Then play back the recording. Ask students to reflect on their reading skills.
What questions can they ask themselves?
- Do I use punctuation properly? Do I pause at commas, pause slightly longer at periods, and raise my voice at the ends of sentences that end in question marks?
- Do I read with rhythm, linking together the words in phrases?
- When reading dialog, do I raise or lower my voice and add emotion to mimic the imagined voice of the characters who are speaking?
Now, have students record the same passages again and listen for improvement.
Even though students seldom read aloud, the skills they use when reading aloud are likely the same ones they use when reading silently. If students are poor “out loud” readers, they are likely to be poor silent readers, too. Especially for poor readers, recording their voices reading and then listening to their performance can improve overall reading skills.
comicphonics for early readers 