Fluency Strips for Reading Practice | Contractions, Past Tense Verbs, Phrasal Verbs & More

Help students develop automaticity and confidence with important word patterns through short, focused fluency practice!

These Fluency Strips were created for students who need additional practice reading specific types of words quickly and accurately. They are intended as a review and fluency-building tool rather than a first introduction to the concepts being practiced.

Originally designed for English learners, these strips provide an easy way for students to repeatedly practice targeted word groups for just a few minutes each day. Students can choose a set to practice independently or teachers can assign specific strips based on individual learning needs.

What’s Included

This resource includes fluency strips for:

• Contractions:
  • will contractions
  • is contractions
  • not contractions
  • are contractions
  • did contractions
  • have contractions
• Regular Past Tense Verbs sorted by ending sound:
  • /id/
  • /d/
  • /t/
• Irregular Past Tense Verbs paired with their present tense forms
• Plural Words with -es
• Phrasal Verbs
• Past Participles used with:
  • have
  • has
  • had

Skills Covered

• Reading fluency
• Word recognition
• Morphological awareness
• Verb tense recognition
• Contractions
• Plural word endings
• Academic vocabulary development
• English language development

Ways to Use This Resource

• Daily fluency practice
• Small-group intervention
• English learner support
• Literacy centers
• Independent review
• Warm-ups and bell ringers
• Progress monitoring
• Targeted remediation

Why Teachers Love It

• Quick and easy to implement
• Provides focused practice on specific word patterns
• Supports English learners and struggling readers
• Encourages repeated reading for increased automaticity
• Flexible for individual, partner, or small-group work
• Makes fluency practice manageable and purposeful

Give your students the extra practice they need to build reading fluency, strengthen word recognition, and develop confidence with common English word patterns through consistent, targeted review.