ALL
WE DO IS READ, READ, READ, NO MATTER WHAT!
Growing Independence and
Fluency
By: DeDe Carroll
Rational: Reading
fluency is very important for kids to develop. They must learn to read quickly,
effortlessly, and with emotion. Fluency is developed after learning many
correspondences and becoming automatic with words that are read. Reading
fluently does not just mean one can read really quickly. It means that the
reader can keep himself, as well as an audience, entertained and being able to
read for comprehension. Once a child is a fluent reader, reading becomes more
enjoyable. This lesson will help the students more fully understand what it
means to be a good fluent reader and how they can improve their fluency.
Materials:
- Book- Robert
the Rose Horse
- Document
camera
- Copies of the
pages they are going to read (one for each student)
-
Stopwatch
-
Pencils
-
Crayons
- Fluency
chart
Procedure:
1. Say: “Today we are going to work on becoming fluent
readers.” Who knows what reading fluently means?” Let them give a few
answers and then tell them: “Fluency is not just how fast you read, but it is
reading smoothly, with expression, kind of like you are having a conversation.
The words should flow and you should be able to enjoy the book. So now, I am
going to read two pages from the book, Robert the Rose Horse; I want you
to pay close attention to how I read these pages.” I will proceed to read
the pages from the book. Just read page one and two. I am going to read the page
very choppy and sound out most words that I am trying to read. You may even want
to struggle with a sentence and then re-read it. Then ask: “So, did you enjoy me
reading this story? Did I read good?
Did you notice how I got stuck on some words? Didn’t everyone have
a difficult time understanding me? Yes, you are right. This happens
a lot when we read, but the more we read the same words, the better we become at
recognizing them. Ok, now I am going to read the same thing to you a second
time.” I will begin to read the same pages a second time. This time I will read
regularly, with fluency and expression. “How about that time? Did you
enjoy me reading that to you? Why was this time so much better than last
time? Did you understand the pages more? Now we are going to work on
some strategies to help you practice your reading so that each of you will read
fluently and with expression, just like I did.”
2. I will write a model sentence on the board after
introducing fluency to the students. My dog loves to swim in the
water. “I want you to read this sentence with me, and we are going to
sound out each letter in each word slowly.” Do this together as a class.
“Did this sentence sound good to you?” “Ok, I am going to read it to you
tremendously fast.” My dog loves to swim in the water. “Whoa!
I barely could understand myself! That was TOO fast! Now, I am going to read
this sentence to you using good reader fluency.” Read the sentence like it
should be read. “I want you to read it with me this time.” The
students join in and we read the sentence together using fluency and saying each
word correctly.
3. “Before we move on, let’s think back to when we learned
about how to use decoding skills to help us read. What if I was reading a story
and came across a word I didn’t know? Let’s say the word was fast. (Write the word fast on the
white board). What could I do to figure it out? That’s right; I can use my
cover-up critter to help me! (Model for students how to use cover-ups). Cover
all of the letters except for a; leave it by itself. We know that the
letter a makes an aaaaa sound. Now look at the rest of the word and let’s sound
out the rest of it together. FFFFF-AAAAAA-SSSSS-TTTT. Good job! Now you can use
this strategy to help you if you get stuck.”
4. Now it is time for their partner reading. I am going
to explain to the students that they will be paired up with a partner, and they
are going to read a chapter from “Robert the Rose Horse”, until they are reading
it fluently (it will actually just be 3 pages out of the book, since it is not a
chapter book). “Your partner is going to keep time for you. When you get
through reading the pages, your partner will tell you how long it took you to
read it. Chart your time on the graph (hold up graph to show them). Let me show
you an example: Say that Libby and I are partners. She is going to have the
stopwatch and I am going to read until I finish the passage. When I am done she
will tell me my time. Say it took my 2 minutes to read this. I am going to chart
2 minutes on my graph. Then Libby will read and do the same thing that I did
when she is done. You will take turns and keep going until you both have read
THREE times. Color in your time with a different color each reading round. The
reason we are doing this is for you to be able to read the same passage over and
over so you can become familiar with how reading with fluency sounds.
After you read this a few times, you should start getting familiar with the text
and with the story.”
5. Pass out the fluency chart and break the students
into pairs. Each student will be given a copy of the pages that they will
be reading and a stopwatch. By having the students color in the different
numbers for each time they have completed reading, they will begin to see their
progress in fluency because they have become familiar with it. This will be a
good visual motivator for them.
Assessment: The first assessment will be a quick
scan. I will walk around the room to not only monitor, but to listen in on each
group to make sure they are completing the task. The main assessment piece will
be looking and interpreting the charts they make. I will collect the charts at
the end of our time and analyze each one. If I had time, I could calculate their
time by using the formula (wordsX60/seconds it took to read). I will make sure
each student is on the level they need to be on (depending on their learning
level). We will have a group discussion to see if they comprehended what they
read.
Resources:
“Robert the Rose Horse” by By Joan Heilbroner, P. D. Eastman
- Random House
Children's Books (1962)