SCORE
WITH FLUENCY
Growing
Rationale:
In order to
become
successful readers, students must be able to read fluently. In this
lesson
students will reread texts and practice with one minute reads to gain
the
ability to read fast, smooth, and with expression. When children become
fluent
readers, they increase their comprehension which is the ultimate goal
of
reading.
Materials:
Teacher copy
of Lee
and the Team
1 copy of Lee
and the
Team per pair of students
1 basketball
time sheet per
student numbered by 10’s
1 stopwatch
per pair of
students
Procedure:
1. “Today we
are going to
work on becoming more fluent when we read. Fluency is when someone
reads fast,
with expression and correctly. Becoming a fluent reader takes a lot of
time and
practice, so today we are going to practice and work on becoming fluent
readers. We are going to practice becoming fluent readers by reading
the same
book three times. Remember that sometimes you will not be able to read
every
word that you come across. If you come across a word you don't know try
reading
the rest of the sentence or use the cover up method to figure out the
word as
you sound it out.”
2. "Why do
you think
it is important for us to be able to read fast? I'll give you an
example. I
will read the first sentence very slow. What do you think I could do to
make
this sentence sound better and make it more fun for you to listen to?
Your
right! I can do this by adding expression to the sentence. Today we are
going
to work on reading with expression and fast. We are going to read the
story Lee
and the Team three times so that we
become very familiar with the story, this will help us be able to read
more
fluently.”
3. Next I
will split the
group up in pairs. Each pair will receive one book, one time sheet per
student
and one stopwatch per pair.
4. Tell the
students that
one person is going to read and their partner is going to record the
times.
Remember that after the first person reads they will switch places.
Each time
they read they will begin at the beginning of the story and read for
one
minute. The partner who is not reading
is in charge of the time. After the one
minute is up, the time keeper will say stop and the one who is reading
should
put their finger on the word where they stopped. The time keeper will
help the
reader will together count the words to the student's finger and write
down the
number on the time sheet. The student's
whose turn it is reading will circle the basketball with the number of
words
that they read on the time sheet. Each
of the basketballs on the time sheet is numbered by 10's. There are
blank
basketballs for them to write their score in if it their word count is
not one
of the numbers already on the basketballs. The pairs will then switch
jobs. The
child that read becomes the recorder and the recorder becomes the
reader. Each
student will then follow the same steps in their new jobs.
5. "We are
going to
do this two more times. Remember to use the same directions as before.
If you
have any questions raise your hand and I will come to your group."
6. "When you
have
completed the reading three times, I want you to talk to your partner
about how
they did. I want you to ask each other what you think you have learned
through
this exercise. I want you to remember your answers, because I want to
talk
about your answers when we get back together as a big group."
Assessment:
For
assessment I will
collect the speed sheets. I will look to see that they have increased
their
word count each time. We will also discuss the book we have read to
check for
comprehension.
References:
Brown, Mary
Cox. Speeding
into Fluency. http://www.auburn.edu/%7Emurraba/constr/browngf.html
Lee and the
Team.
Educational Insights.1990
Click here to return to Inventions