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It may be a little tricky explaining what fluency is to a group of third-graders; but they can recognize it when they hear it. Working with teacher Lisa Gregory's students in their classroom, Debbie introduces the concept of fluency and gives them a rubric so they can self-assess and score their fluency on a four-step scale. To help students become conscious of what fluent and not-so fluent readers sound like, Debbie reads passages, modeling the four levels of fluency contained in the rubric. About the author: Debbie Diller has been a national consultant since 2000, but she still has "those 'back-to-school' dreams in the fall." After playing school in the basement of her childhood home in Lititz, Pennsylvania, she earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in education from Millersville University and Temple University and spent the next thirty years as an educator. Debbie's ideas for her books also come from her work with teachers. She listens for frequently asked questions, patterns, teachers' needs and keeps a writer's notebook to collect ideas, thoughts, and notes. "Often, the old joke comes to mind: 'how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.' That's how I write: bit by bit, on planes, in hotel rooms, in my office on a rare day. Teachers' questions and comments spur me on through my daily, ongoing work in classrooms, which sustains my work."

Originally produced by Stenhouse Publishers in 2007

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