If necessary, I would help them come up with phrases for our anchor chart like 'two kids sitting side-by-side', 'quiet voices', 'giving strategy suggestions to help classmates read a difficult word', etc. When we had finished reading the script, I would ask students to create an anchor chart with me of what Partner Reading should look like and sound like, asking them to keep in mind that I will be working with small groups like normal. Then I would invite a student to model with me how to read the script.

During Minilesson #1, I would introduce the partner plays by showing a script using the document camera. My classroom vision is that teachers could introduce partner plays by conducting two minilessons with the entire class at the beginning of reading over two consecutive days.

One of the things I like most about partner plays is that they need very little teacher support! Busy teachers who need to spend time working with students on comprehension, decoding, and vocabulary can continue to do just that without feeling guilty that they are missing fluency. Believe me, they both had plenty of feedback for me, too! Once Kayla told me, 'Mom, fourth graders don't use that word.' Here are the finished bundles, although I also have mini sets of 5 available in my store, also. maybe I should create a partner play pack for upper elementary students! I started with a 2nd-3rd grade bundle, and I had so much fun writing them that I went ahead and created a 4th-5th grade bundle over the summer, as well! My daughters, Kayla (now a fourth grader) and Brooke (now a second grader) actually looked forward to reading the scripts with me!! It was a win-win situation! They were having fun getting some summer-reading in, and I was able to check the readability of my partner plays. She was full of expression! Plus, it was fun. Brooke and I read it together, and I was surprised by how fluently Brooke read the script. Her teacher implemented Daily Five, and Brooke was telling me about how she and Morgan read it during 'Read to Someone'.

One day last spring, my then-first grade daughter came home with a partner play. Has this ever happened in your classroom? So many of my upper elementary readers were still needing help with vocabulary development, decoding, and comprehension that my time would tick away focusing on those skills. I didn't blatantly choose to ignore the skill (fluency activities are usually FUN, after all!). I know fluency is super-important, but I rarely made time to truly focus on this critical reading skill.

Free printable play scripts 6th grade