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Kelsey Mercadante
READ 436
Fluency Minilesson
The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of tongue twisters is FUN! I was
ecstatic when Dr. Sullivan explained how tongue twisters could be used to help children practice
fluency. Once we learned about tongue twisters and fluency in READ 436, I talked to my
cooperating teacher about my fluency minilesson. I asked her if she would like her fourth grade
students to work on speed or expression, and she said speed. Since the tongue twister activity
focuses on speed, I instantly told her that I was thinking about having the students engage in a
tongue twister activity to help with their fluency. I asked her if she preferred me to teach a whole
class, small group, or an individual, and she said that it would be great for me to take a small
group out in the hall during her reading groups. Since I would be taking a group of six to eight
students out in the hall, she told me that the students could use the schools iPads so the students
can time their partners when they read a tongue twister. When planning the activity, I typed two
tongue twisters on a page. Under each tongue twister were two blank spaces for students to
record their first and second time when they read each tongue twister. I told the children to try
and beat their first time when reading the tongue twister the second time. I feel that this activity
was appropriate for the fourth graders, since the cooperating teacher wanted me to work with
them on faster reading. The text of the tongue twisters seemed to be pretty easy for the fourth
graders to read, which is a good thing, because fluency instruction should include easy text for
children.
A week after talking with my cooperating teacher, I conducted my fluency minilesson.
Before reading groups began, I briefly introduced the activity to the whole class. I asked students
if anyone knew what a tongue twister was, and I instantly saw arms shoot up as the children

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raised their hands. As I called on one student, he said, A tongue twister is like, Peter Piper
picked a peck of pickled peppers. They seemed to all be familiar with the term, tongue twister.
The class split up into three reading groups. For each reading group, I carefully explained to the
students what they were going to do. I told the students that they were going to work on reading
faster by reading the tongue twister once, while a partner records the time. Then, I told the
students to try and beat their first time, when they read the tongue twister the second time. After
one partner reads the tongue twister twice, the other partner will do the same. Each student had
two tongue twisters to read. Before allowing them to start, I modeled what they were to do, by
reading a tongue twister and having a student time me. Once the students began and started
completing this activity they were laughing and having a lot of fun! I believe this activity made
every child smile. It was great to observe the students as they read the tongue twisters. The
students said they had a lot of fun trying to beat their own times. After the pairs finished, I gave
each pair a list of more tongue twisters they could practice reading for fun. The students enjoyed
this as well. The students really enjoyed reading the tongue twister that read: Toy boat, toy boat,
toy boat.
As I observed the students read the tongue twisters, it was really interesting to see the
differences in reading. Some students read the tongue twisters really fast, while others, were
struggling to say the words quickly. While evaluating the worksheets where the students
recorded their times, I gathered that the majority of students had a lower time on their second try,
which means that they were becoming more fluent when reading the tongue twister.
Next time I did this lesson, there could be a lot or things I could do differently. If I had to
make this activity a whole class activity, then I could just have students partner up and do the
same thing in a whole class setting. The noise level could greatly increase by making it a whole

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class activity, but I would tell students to say the tongue twisters in a conversation level voice. I
would also have to use more iPads so each pair would have a stopwatch. Using iPads during
lessons could be distracting for some students. During my minilesson, some students were
tempted to play iPad games after they finished reading their tongue twisters. Next time, I may
have to find a less distracting tool for a stopwatch, or I could simply tell students that if I see
them playing a game, there will be a consequence. Whenever I instruct fluency, I will be sure to
model for the students. If students have trouble pronouncing or recognizing a word, I will be sure
to help them identify the word. A strong foundation in basic vocabulary is one of the primary
components of fluency. This tongue twister activity serves as a repetitive oral reading where
children pair together for repetitive oral reading practice. Next time I do this activity, I will
consider student personalities as well as reading abilities. I will try to pair children with low
fluency rates with students who are above grade level in their fluency.
In my own classroom, I plan to incorporate fluency in a variety of ways. I plan on having
the students experience fluency instruction on a whole class, small group, and individual level. I
plan on using poems, excerpts of stories, tongue twisters, mad-libs, and readers theater in my
future classroom to instruct fluency. At the beginning of the school year, I plan on looking at
each students PALS and SOL test scores to evaluate their reading abilities. It will be beneficial
to know the reading interests and background knowledge of each student. I plan on using the
Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI) to assess the students. I will gather each students
independent, instructional, and frustration level. I will make sure that I work with children on
their individual instructional level in class. I will group my students in homogeneous grouping
for reading. The groups will be based on the students reading level (words read correctly,
comprehension, and fluency) and personalities. I will create equalized group names to value

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judgment. The materials I will need for fluency instruction include the students previous PALS
and SOL scores and their scores on the QRI. I will have books for each child to read in the
classroom. This will include books across grade levels that include a variety of genres and topics
that will cater to each students interest. Other materials I will have for fluency instruction
include, readers theater scripts, poems, mad-libs, and tongue twisters. Lastly, I will have an
organized scheduling for fluency instruction. For example, if I have three reading groups, I will
always meet with my middle-level reading group first, so students do not know which group is
the high reading group and which group is the low reading group. I will always plan to schedule
different activities for fluency instruction to keep students engaged and interested.