Fluency Circle vs Reading Circle
So maybe the answer is:
#1 we need to decide which words are the fluency words and center our
curriculums on those words. Once those words are mastered by the majority
of students we can focus on “expanding their fluency circles.”
#2 we can continue to present big circle words to them in the context of
reading and discussion and use translation when needed to clarify them.
Students will add those words to their own fluency circles at their own pace
and many students may never add those to their fluency circles.
#3 When testing, we can assess only the use of fluency circle structures in
terms of student output (communication), but when we are testing
comprehension it is ok to include some of the reading circle structures
since they are necessary for students to comprehend other people.
I think I am still going back to my initial problem I had when I found out I
had to teach level 3 this year. I have a really hard time knowing just what
my expectations should be for them. I gave a vocabulary test last week and
many students aced it and many failed it. Most of the structures were
reading circle for sure.
I am using a book that I co-authored to teach my 3s. Now that I look at it,
I feel that I am seeing it with new eyes as a result of this discussion. I
am realizing that it is FULL of fluency circle structures but also full of
reading circle structures. I am thinking that I can expose my students to
both types of structures with an emphasis on helping them acquire the
fluency structures for their own use. But I wouldn’t really want to take
out the reading structures and “dumb it down” because that would eliminate
the i+1 concept. You never know which kids are ready to accept a certain
structure into their own fluency circle at a given time.
It seems to me that the “fluency circle” concept might be a highly personal
thing by level 3-4, while at levels 1-2 it might be fairly predictable.
I hope we can really keep this discussion going. I am finding it really
valuable! I hope others are too!
Happy Turkey Day!
Kristy
placido@cablespeed.com
www.msu.edu/~sandinkr/
