Reading Fluency Selection
Dear Parents: At each grade level at Ascent Academy there are established benchmarks for
reading fluency. It is vitally important that every student meet these national benchmarks.
The benchmark for the end of 6th grade is 130 words per minute.
In an effort to help your child reach the national benchmarks, we need them to read aloud to
you at home each night. Below you will find a reading fluency selection. Each night your student
should practice reading this selection aloud several times. (Please see the back of this page for the
correction procedure.)
After your student has practiced the selection and you have helped them with any errors,
follow the steps below:
 Time your student to see how long it takes them to read the entire passage.
 While your student is reading, keep a tally of their errors.
 Record the number of errors your student made while reading the passage in the middle box.
 If your student was able to read 130 words in 1 minute (subtracting their errors), put a Y in
the bottom box. (** indicates the 130 wpm point)
 Repeat this each night of the week.
 Celebrate your child’s progress as their time and errors improve each day!
GOAL: 130 WPM
MON
TUE
WED
THU
FRI
SAT
Time:
# of Errors:
I read 130 wpm Y or N
A Theory of Plate Motion
Wilson combined what geologist knew about sea-flooring spreading, Earth’s plates, and
continental drift into a single theory—the theory of plate tectonics. A scientific theory is a welltested concept that explains a wide range of observations. Plate tectonics is a geological theory that
states that pieces of Earth’s lithosphere are in constant, slow motion, driven by convection currents
in the mantle. The theory of plate tectonics explains the formation, movement, and subduction of
Earth’s plates.
How can Earth’s plates move? The plates of lithosphere float on top of the asthenosphere.
Convection currents rise in the asthenosphere. Convection currents rise in the asthenosphere and
spread out beneath the lithosphere. Most geologists think that the flow of these currents causes the
movement of Earth’s plates.
No plate ** can budge without affecting the other plates surrounding it. As the plates move,
they collide, pull apart, or grind past each other, producing spectacular changes in Earth’s surface.
These changes include volcanoes, mountain ranges, and deep-sea trenches.
This Fluency Practice sheet is for the week of __________________ and is due_____________.
16
33
48
63
78
80
95
108
124
128
143
158
167
Error Correction Procedure
Errors include: skipping/adding a word, reading the word incorrectly (“the” instead of “this”), reading words in the wrong order,
repeating what has already been read (the dog ate… the dog ate the fish), or sounding out slowly (longer than 3 seconds per word).
All corrections should be made matter-of-factly and with NO negative emotional tone.
If the student reads accurately, or with expression, comments such as “you read that perfectly, way to go” or “excellent
inflection” or similar encouragements should be given at the end of the reading.
If a student reads the wrong word:
Example: The student reads the word “sliver” instead of “silver”.
Adult immediately says: “That word is “silver”. What word?
Student repeats: “silver”
Adult says: “Yes “silver”. Spell “silver.”
Student spells: s-i-l-v-e-r (while looking at the word)
Adult says: “Yes ‘silver’. Starting over”. (Adult points to the beginning of the sentence and the
student begins reading again back at the beginning of the sentence with “silver” in it)
When students are reading, they are imprinting the words into their brain. If they read a word
incorrectly and they are not immediately corrected, the brain creates an imprint of that word that is
incorrect. In order to correct the incorrect imprint in the brain with the correct imprint, the above
correction procedure must be followed. The above procedure gives the brain six correct imprints
for that word. When the student starts over and reads from the beginning of the sentence, it is one
more repetition of the word imprinted correctly into the brain. As more and more words are
imprinted correctly, the student’s accuracy and fluency rates will increase.
If a student is trying to sound out a word (“mountain”) but it takes longer than 3 seconds
Adult says: “That word is “mountain”. What word?”
Student repeats: “mountain”
Adult says: “Spell mountain”
Student spells: m-o-u-n-t-a-i-n (while looking at the word)
Adult says: “Yes ‘mountain’. Starting over”. (Adult points to the beginning of the sentence and
the student begins reading again back at the beginning of the sentence with “mountain” in it.)
If a student skips a word:
Point to the skipped word and say the word to the student.
Adult says: “That word is _____. What word?”
Student repeats the word
Adult says: “Starting over” (Adult points to the beginning of the sentence and the student begins
reading again at the beginning of the sentence.)
If a student adds a word or switches words around:
Stop them immediately, tell them the word they added or switched, and ask them to read the
sentence again carefully.
If a student re-reads words, stumbles or reads parts of sentences – not fluently: (ex: the dog…
the dog ran fast). Ask the student to start over at the beginning of the sentence and read it fluently.