Phrase Reading

Activity Type: Build Fluency

Activity Form: Standard

Grade: 1

Group Size: Individual, Pair, Small Group

Length: 5 minutes

Materials: Index cards, a pen or pencil

Goal: Given a set of high-frequency words, the student can read the words fluently.

Items: High-frequency words

What to do

Write the following words on your index cards: The, little, boy, ran, home, and fast.
Place the first two index cards (The and little) in front of the child in order and ask him or her to read them out loud.
Add the index card with boy to the phrase and have the child read the entire string of words ("The little boy").
Add the next index card (ran) to the phrase and have the child read the entire string of words ("The little boy ran").
Repeat the previous step for all the remaining word cards until the child has read the entire sentence ("The little boy ran home fast").
You may wish to repeat the above steps with other sentences that contain high-frequency words. Follow up with comprehension questions to make sure the child understands what he or she has read. For children who struggle, give them help and note their problems in an Activity Log.