In his book The Fluent Reader, Timothy Rasinski writes, “Reading fluency refers to the ability of readers to read quickly, effortlessly, and efficiently with good, meaningful expression.” To build fluency, it’s important for students to practice repeated readings of text. Plays easily lend themselves to repeated readings since they are meant to be rehearsed and to be read aloud. When readers spend less energy on decoding, they are able to infuse words and phrases with expression, making sense of the text and deepening comprehension. Following are specific features of the plays in this book that make them well suited for fluency practice:
• The length and reading level of the plays has been carefully considered to match the needs of young readers.
• Large print, rhyme, repetition, and predictable text support word recognition.
• Varied punctuation helps teach proper phrasing.
• Text arrangement on the page helps children chunk text, reading phrases rather than word by word.