An Interesting Discovery About Our Brains and Fluency
After we’ve spent a couple of weeks having fun imagining surfing the word wave through a sentence and/or spreading peanut butter from the capital letter to the end mark to develop fluency, I’m ready to teach them a new concept to even further improve their fluency.
I share that I discovered something very interesting about how everyone’s brains work.
“When we begin to read a sentence in a choppy manner, such as: ‘I saw - a big - dog - in - the park’, we send a message to our brain that we will continue to read the rest of the sentence in that same choppy manner. Since our brain received that message, we continue like this: ‘playing - with - a little boy - and girl - with - a frisbee.’
“The whole sentence will sound like this: ‘I saw - a big - dog - in - the park - playing - with - a little boy - and girl - with - a frisbee.’”
I ask them how that sentence sounds when read that way. They always have answers such as, “Not good. It’s too choppy. You sound like a robot, not a real person.”
We discuss that when we hear or read a sentence in that way, it can be difficult to stay with the meaning of the sentence. In other words, our comprehension of what we are hearing or reading is slowed way down.
I continue sharing, “It also works the other way around. When we begin to read the first three or four words in a sentence in a smooth manner, we send a message to our brain that we are going to read the rest of the sentence in that same smooth manner.
“The whole sentence will sound like this: ‘I saw a big dog in the park playing with a little boy and girl with a frisbee.’”
We take a moment to realize and discuss that hearing or reading that sentence in a smooth way makes it easy to understand, to comprehend.
I continue, “The control we have over how our brain works is amazing! By just reading the first three or four words in a sentence in a smooth manner, we truly send a message to our brain that we are going to read the rest of the sentence in a smooth manner.”
I tell them, “You are going to be amazed at how much your reading fluency will increase just by sending this message of reading smoothly to your brain every time you begin to read a sentence!
“Now, let’s practice our newest reading fluency tool together as we read a sentence.
After they have practiced this new tool with a few sentences I have them reflect, “Did you notice that by just realizing this science fact about how your brain helps you relax into reading the rest of the sentence smoothly, you actually did read smoothly?”
They are always so pleased to realize how smoothly they read and how well they understood what they read.
It’s fun to begin this lesson by recording a child who reads in a choppy manner reading a sentence. After you have taught this skill and they are feeling strong with concentrating on just reading the first three or four words smoothly, record them again.
You and they will be amazed at the improvement! They will love how easy it is to increase their fluency and comprehension.
You and your students will have fun using this technique on unfamiliar sentences also to prove to yourself and to them that just by initially reading the first three or four words smoothly, their brain will send a message to read the entire sentence smoothly.
Now one more small and powerful step, as your kids develop this skill and after you have taught them what a verb is, their fluency will increase even further when they concentrate on reaching the verb smoothly, as the rest of the sentence will just flow!
Have fun with these techniques! Watch how their fluency scores on school tests such as Dibles shoot up. 😊 And, more importantly, enjoy how they are comprehending all they are reading.
I’d love for you to share your experience with me!
If you have any questions about fluency and comprehension, please contact us.