Shoot for the Stars With Reading
Growing Independence and Fluency
Rationale:
The goal of this lesson is to help students to gain fluency and expression will
reading. Being a fluent reader is important because it is a crucial aspect of
reading comprehension and speed. In this lesson students will read and re-read
by themselves and with a partner a decodable text. The students will have a time
limit and will try to read more fluently each time.
Materials:
White board with marker
Copy of
The Josefina Story Quilt
for each student.
I Can Read Books, 1986
Timer for each student
Reading Time Sheet for each student
Partner checklist for each student
Rocket ship with poster board with a picture of space for readers to move higher
as they read more words per minute. There would be pictures of planets lined up
on the left side of the page with the words per minute read. Each student would
have a rocket ship with their name on it and as they read more words they would
move their rocket ship up the poster through the planets and the stars.
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Reading Time Sheet
Name: __________________
Date: ________________
Time:
After 1st
read: _________
After 2nd
read: _________
After 3rd
read: _________
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Partner Reading Checklist
Name: ___________________ My partner’s name: _____________
When my partner read, he/she:
After 2nd
reading After 3rd
reading
Remembered more words
________
________
Read
faster
________ ________
Read
smoother
________ ________
Read with expression
________
________
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Procedures:
1.
Ask the class if anyone knows what fluency means. Then explain that it
means to read faster and smoother at the same time. Tell them that when we read
fluently, we also have expression in our voices. This is just like when you are
talking to your friends. We want to be good fluent readers because it will help
us remember more words and to understand what we are reading. One way to
tell if we are becoming fluent readers is to practice re-reading with timers. We
are going to practice our fluency using timers today!
2.
Does everyone remember what to do if you get stuck on a word? Good! That is
right; you use your cover up critter! Let me show you just in case you need
refreshing. Write the word stuck on
the board. Then model how to decode stuck
using vowel first, body, and coda. It would look like /u/, /s/ /t/ /u/, /s/ /t/
/u/ /ck/, stuck.
3.
Write the following sentence on the white board: The rocket shoots in the sky.
Read the sentence to the class slowly and without expression: “The rooockeeettt
ssshoootts in the ssskyyyy.” Ask the class if that sounds like an exciting part
of a story. Now read the sentence quicker and with great expression: “The
rocket shoots in the sky!” Ask the class what you did differently to make the
sentence more exciting. Explain to them that after you sounded out the
words they just jumped out the page at you so you could read with expression.
After you have finished explaining this let them try reading the sentence on the
board with you, then by themselves. The goal is to hear expression in their
voices.
4.
Distribute a copy of The Josefina Story Quilt to each student. Give
a book talk by saying that this book is about a girl and her pet hen. It was May
of 1850 and Faith’s family was moving to California in a covered wagon. Faith
wanted to take her pet hen Josefina with her. Her Pa said she could not take
Josefina. Will faith be able to convince her dad that Josefina can come? To find
out read the book with fluency!
5.
After everyone has a book and timer, explain to them that they will read the
book three times and record their time each time they read. They need to write
their time on the sheet. Explain the directions about how to move the rocket
ship on the poster of space. Tell them that after they have finished they can
move their rocket ship to the planet that corresponds with the number of how
fast they read.
6.
The next step in this is that the students pair up and pass out the Partner
Reading Checklist. Explain that one partner will listen and fill out the check
list while the other partner reads. Then they will switch. Make sure to explain
to them that they put check marks if their partner remembered more words, read
faster, read smoother, and with expression after the 2nd and 3rd
reading. Then tell them to start reading!
7.
Assessments: The teacher needs to be walking around and observing the reading
throughout the lesson. At the end she will collect and evaluate the self reading
worksheets and the partner reading worksheets. Also she will look at the kites
on the board and see where the students are.
Resources:
Barbara Jane Hall: Fly High with Reading
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/caravans/hallgf.htm
Allison Bragg: Ready Set read
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/solutions/bragggf.htm
Bruce Murray: Developing Reading Fluency
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/fluency.html
Coeer, Eleanor.
The Josefina Story Quilt.
Harper Trophy, I Can Read Books: Copyright 1986.