Reading Fluency Mentor Text with Read the Punctuation Freebie!

Hey there, Teacher Friends! This week, I will be teaching my students about How To Read Punctuation as part of my Reading Fluency instruction.  I have the perfect book as a mentor text!

What is Reading Fluency?

Reading fluency is about reading the words correctly, at a smooth pace, and with expression. When readers are fluent, they don’t have to stop and sound out every word. That helps their brains focus on understanding the story or information instead of just figuring out the words.

Mentor Text for Read the Punctuation

Fluent readers pay attention to punctuation, like stopping at periods, pausing at commas, and changing their voice for questions and exclamations. This helps the reading sound natural and makes it easier to understand the story or information. A perfect mentor text for introducing this concept is Yo! Yes? By Chris Raschka. If you have never read Yo! Yes? by Chris Raschka, you really need to!

There is a lonely little boy who is approached by an outgoing new friend.  Their conversation is short, sweet, and to the point! Each page only has one or two words and punctuation marks, so it makes it a perfect book to practice How to Read Punctuation Marks in your Reading Fluency lessons!  

I read it aloud to the kiddos to start without the punctuation, and we talk about how it sounds.  I ask them what I did wrong to make it sound that way.  They always tell me that I forgot to read the punctuation.  We review our Read the Punctuation poster or work together to create an anchor chart, then I read it again. We all agree that it sounds much better this time.

It is also a sweet story about friendship. This story would be fun as a Reader’s Theater as well!

If you don’t have the book and would like to get your own, you can find it here (this is an affiliate link).

The link is an Amazon Affiliate link.  If you would like to get your own copy you can click the link and go straight to Amazon.  If you make a purchase from Amazon I will receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for your support!

And now, the part you have been waiting for…The How to Read Punctuation Marks Freebie! Click on the picture to get your free Read the Punctuation Poster and bookmark freebie in my Free Resource Library! Need the password? Click the button to sign up for my teacher newsletter and get access to all of the great freebies in my library!

This would also make a great coloring sheet.  I have my kiddos color it and add it to the fluency section of their reading notebooks!

Need a more structured approach to teaching your students how to “Read the Punctuation”? Check this out:

Pin the image below to save your freebie for later!  This is one that you don’t want to lose!

Do you have a preferred book for teaching “Read the Punctuation”?  I always love discovering new mentor texts!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Happy Teaching,