Incorporating Movement with Fluency Instruction:

A Motivation for Struggling Readers

Peebles, J. L. (2007). Incorporating movement with fluency instruction: A motivation for
struggling readers. The Reading Teacher, 60(6), 578-581.

After rigorous research, repeated reading is considered to be the most effective technique for
developing fluency and comprehension in all students; however it is difficult to convince
students to the same passage over and over again. Peebles believes incorporating movement
into reading captures the rhythmic nature of fluent reading by allowing children to feel how
fluent reading actually sounds, ultimately motivating students to continue reading.

Readers Theatre: Involves rehearsing a passage along with incorporating movements
such as actions, gestures, and facial expressions to present with a script to an audience.
o This strategy has been successful in second through sixth grade in both regular
and special needs literacy classrooms. According to Martinez, even the most
reluctant readers exude confidence and experience tremendous growth.
o Aaron Shepards Readers on Stage as well as his website www.aaronshep.com/rt
are excellent resources for teaching Readers Theatre.
Rhythm Walks: An activity which uses purposeful steps or movements to draw attention
to the natural breaks and phrasing of text all while enhancing fluency and
comprehension. To do this, simply choose a short poem, story, or informational text to
analyze and chunk (AKA deciding where there are natural break and pauses using
punctuation) as a class. Write out each chunk along a strip of paper to be placed on
the floor around the classroom for students to read while walking.
o 6 Essential Elements:
Choose the right text short, engaging, and appropriate.
Chunk words into manageable sizes.
Write BIG.
Model first.
Sit back and let the student move watch that creativity evolve!
Always go back to the original text.
o It is important to emphasize that good fluency is not just about being super
speedy.

Mrs. Gallemore always says, When the bum is numbso is the brain! Peebles article only
reiterated this. Movement enhances the brains capacity to learn, so why not take advantage of
this? Besides, every student prefers a hands-on activity over deskwork any day. Readers
Theatre and the Rhythm Walk allow students to be express a little creativity and release a lot of
energy all while improving their reading skills. These will definitely be filed away for use in my
future classroom because after all, learning is best when you dont realize youre doing it!