Though it may seem as if reading aloud is an activity that is better suited for young children, people of all ages can benefit from being read aloud to, particularly those who struggle with fluency. Reading aloud to students offers opportunities to model fluent reading, intonation and expression. For this activity, choose age-appropriate texts that interest children, or you could read aloud sections of textbooks or important historical documents. Try to read aloud to your students every day to offer ample opportunities to hear examples of fluent reading.
Engage your students in paired reading. As the name suggests, during paired reading, students read in pairs. Pairs can consist of two students, or a student and a teacher. In paired reading, a more fluent reader is paired with a struggling reader, or two readers on the same reading level are paired together. During paired reading, readers take turns reading sections of a text aloud -- sentences, paragraphs, pages or chapters. Through this activity, children are able to practice and hone their fluency skills, acquire skills from one another and apply them to their own reading.
Readers' Theater is an engaging activity to use with students to develop fluency. In Readers' Theater, students assume the roles of the characters and a narrator in a book and bring the story to life by acting out the roles. Children may use props, scenery and other items to tell the story. Students read the parts they are assigned in a story and use intonation and expression to make the story more realistic. This activity allows students to practice fluency skills in a meaningful way.
Another activity that you can use to increase middle school students' fluency is choral reading. Through this activity, students read aloud a text together, like a chorus. Students may either be paired off, or the activity can be done as a whole class. During choral reading, fluent readers act as guides for non-fluent readers, offering skills and strategies that can be applied to reading. Additionally, choral reading helps to promote confidence in reading, as non-fluent readers are able to read aloud in a non-judgemental way.