The Great Poetry Race!!!

As you already know, we are doing the Great Poetry Race with our students in reading. This is an idea that works on the students fluency skills. Fluency is being able to recognize words automatically and not having to stop and sound out the words. It also includes how smooth the reader reads and how they are able to include expression and prosody to their reading. Being a fluent reader also aides in their ability to comprehend, which is the ultimate goal in reading. These poems are given to the students on Friday. We go over the poem and practice it several times in class. Then the students take the poems and try to read them to as many people as possible by the next Friday. The two students who get the most signatures are the winners for that week. They get to wear a gold medal for the day. We will be posting videos and pictures of the winners we have had so far this year. The students seem to love the competition and it is also increasing their reading abilities.