Growing Independence and Fluency

Ellie Mulvaney

Rationale: In order for students to become successful readers they must learn to read fluently. The goal of this lesson is to provide opportunities for students to begin developing their reading fluency skills. Fluency is characterized by automatic, effortless word recognition, which influences comprehension and speed. This lesson will allow students to practice reading silently, and then to a partner during a round-robin repeated reading activity. Reading silently is about twice as fast as oral reading, and while true that round-robin repeated reading is oral it becomes a familiar text that students are comfortable with which decreases embarrassment and inattention. Both help build fluency, and comprehension.  

Materials:

•    Paper

•    Pencil

•    White-board

•    Dry erase marks

•    Stopwatches

•    Peer Fluency Rubrics

•  Copies of Fox and the Jumping Contest by Corey R. Tabor

 

 Procedures:

1. Say: In order to be the very best readers we can be we must be able to read fluently. Reading fluently means we read smoothly, rapidly, and with great expression. When we read fluently we do not struggle to decode or sound out words, instead we read at ease and spend more time enjoying and understanding what we are reading.

2. Say: So today, we are going to practice developing our fluency skills. We will practice becoming more fluent by reading a few pages of a book more than once. Each time you read the book you will understand the text better, and you will slowly be able to read faster and faster. This is how you develop your fluency skills. But first I will model reading fluently.

3. Say: Listen carefully while I model how to check to see if I am reading fluently. Everyone look at a sentence written on the board: Kate ran fast in the big race. Listen as I read this sentence aloud and let me know if it sounds like I am reading fluently or not. K-k-k, /a/-/a/-/a/, t-t-t, kat, oh wait a_e makes /A/. K-/A/-t,  Kate ran  f-f-a-a-s-s-t-t-, fa-s-t, fa-st, fast. Kate ran fast in the big r-/A/-k-e, Kate ran fast in the big rake. That doesn't make sense. It must be race. Kate ran fast in the big race. Did I sound like a fluent reader? No, I didn't. I had to decode the words in the sentence, which took away from me enjoying reading the sentence. Here's how to read that sentence fluently (read with excitement): Kate ran fast in the big race! This time I did not have to sound out any of the words. I read smoothly and it was easier to understand; I also read with great expression. Didn’t I sound happy? Now it’s your turn! Turn to a partner and practice reading the second sentence on the board. Jane played in the grass, she kicked the ball. Read it aloud to your partner repeatedly until you ran read it fluently. When each partner has read the sentence three times both partners put two thumbs up!

4. Say: Now let’s think back to when I read my practice sentence. I got stuck on the word race. In order to figure out how to read it, I had to go back and reread the sentence from the beginning to check to see if my pronunciation made sense. When I read “ran fast in the big rake” I knew that didn’t sound right, and that it did not make sense. When I re-read the sentence, I realized the word actually said “race”. This strategy is called crosschecking; you can use it to check our pronunciation of unfamiliar words.

5. Say: Now you are going to practice developing your fluency by reading Fox and the Jumping Contest. The sneaky fox wants to win the jumping contest in the forest. He builds a jetpack and camouflages it to his fur so the other animals wont know he’s cheating.  His jetpack makes him jump too high and he ends up in space! The fox doesn’t have a parachute! How will he get back to earth? Who will win the jumping contest now? Will the other animals know he cheated? Will they forgive him?  You’ll have to read to find out! I want everyone to read the story once silently to him or herself to see what happens to the fox!

6. [Give each student a Peer Fluency Sheet and give each pair of students a stopwatch] Say: Okay now we are going to get into pairs with our partners and show each other our great fluency skills! You will take turns reading. One person will read the story 3 times out loud while their partner times them. I want everyone to be a good partner and give your friend encouragement as they read to you! During the first reading, your partner only needs to use the stopwatch and listen. But during the second and third reading, I want the listener to use the stopwatch to time their partner and also listen for the following things: Does the reader read faster than their last reading? Does the reader read smoother than their last time? Does the reader read with expression? Does the reader remember more words than their last reading? Once you read the story 3 times, switch turns and let your partner read 3 times! [Have one pair of students model for the class to make sure that everyone knows what they are doing and how to work the stopwatches] I’ll be walking around if you need any help.

7. [Teacher collects Peer Fluency Sheets after repeated readings are complete; assess each student’s fluency by using the following formula: words x 60 / seconds]

9. The teacher will have each student (working individually) write a short paragraph about what they learned in the story. After using the formula to assess each student’s fluency, call each student up individually to read a few pages to the teacher while the class is working on their writing assignment. The teacher will take note of words per minute and how the students’ fluency has improved.  They will also answer three comprehension questions: 1. How will he get back to earth? 2. Who will win the jumping contest now? 3. Will the other animals know he cheated? 4. Will they forgive him?

 

References:

 

Word Count Sheet:

 

Name: ­­­­­­­­­­­__________                      Date: ___________

The first time I read ___________ words.

The second time I read__________ words.

The third time I read__________ words.

 

Flying to Fluency by. Amber Wright http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/voyages/wrightgf.html

 

Book: Tabor, Corey  Fox and the Jumping Contest