Smoothing Out the Bumps
Growing Independence and Fluency
Rational:
It is not enough to be able to read; you must be able to read
fluently to best comprehend the message. The main goal of
reading is comprehension and therefore fluency is a very
important component to being a good reader. Comprehension
requires so much of the reader's attention that you must
decrease the time you spend on decoding. Reading fluency
has three parts: reading with expression, speed, and
accuracy. This lesson will use repeated reads and
reading checklists to help the reader become more fluent by
reading more smoothly. Being
a more fluent reader will mean more fun reading!
Materials:
Whiteboard and expo
marker for teacher
Check-sheets for each
student found on next page
Pencils
Clipboards
Multiple copies of
various Junie B. Jones books.
Junie B. Jones is a Graduation Girl,
Junie B. Jones First
Grade (at last!), Junie B. Jones First grader: Boss of Lunch
Junie B. Jones First
Grader: Toothless Wonder
Copy of
What will the Seal Eat?
Procedures
1. “Today
we are going to talk about correct and incorrect ways to read a
book. First I will read a book called What Will the
Seal Eat? The book is about a seal that is hungry but
can't seem to find anything to eat. Do you believe he will
eventually find something to eat? Let's read and see if he
does.” (Begin reading the first half of the book
smoothly. Then read the second half slow and choppy) Now
ask the students if they noticed anything funny about how you
read the book. Ask
them which part of the book was easier to understand, the first
part (the part read fluently) or the second part (the part read
poorly).
Hopefully they will notice the difference in your reading
and you can discuss that with them. “It sure is easier to understand what I am
reading to you when it is smooth and not too slow right?” It is the same way
when you are reading to yourself.
You will understand the book a lot better if you can read
it without stopping or sounding out words”. Then explain to the
students that “In order to comprehend what we read, we must
become fluent readers. We can do this by reading and then
rereading the same page of a book. For example: I want you
to read the sentence on the board slow and choppy.” (Write the
sentence I want to go to Disneyland for my next birthday! on the
board) Now read the sentence smoothly and with
expression. “Which one sounds better?”
“The second one! Because
the words went smoothly together just like if you were saying
that sentence in a conversation.”
2.
“Before we starting reading, I would love for us to review what
we do when we get stuck on a word. First, we take a shot by
covering up part of the word to make it easier to sound
out. If this doesn’t work we read to the end of the
sentence to see what word would make sense. You can use
the sentence to help you figure out the word you don’t know,
it’s called crosschecking.
Can someone tell me what we do after we know the correct
word? Read the sentence again. Right! Always
reread the sentence from the beginning so that you can pay
attention to what the sentence says and how it fits into the
story. Very good class!”
3. “Class
I have a stack of books here that you can choose from.
They are all from the same series of books about a girl
about your age.
In each book she gets into trouble and has to figure out
how to get out of the dilemma.
One of the books here is called Junie B. Jones First
Grader: Boss of Lunch and in this book Junie B. gets to help
with lunch. She
gets to wear a hair net and help the lunch lady.
Will Junie B. become the boss of the whole schools lunch?
You will have to read and find out!
Each of you will pick out a book and before you do that I
will tell you a little about the book series.” Can someone tell me
how we go about selecting a book when we have not heard a book
talk on it? Is it by the book's cover? No it sure
isn’t! You choose a book by reading a few passages from it and
don’t forget the two finger test. If, while reading, there
are more than two words on a page that you can’t read, the book
is not right for you. Now I want each of you to choose a
book to read.”
4. “I want to
show you how to reread. Teacher
turns to the whiteboard and reads the sentence on the board out
loud: “Christmas is such a happy holiday that everyone is
happy!”
(read the sentence slowly and sound out/blend the word
holiday and everyone). “Now
I did not read that sentence very smoothly so I am going to
reread the sentence. (reread the sentence smoothly). “Now that
everyone has a book, I want you to find a spot in the room where
you will be comfortable. I want you to whisper read just
the first chapter of the book for fifteen minutes. If you finish before
fifteen minutes is over then reread the chapter. Each time
you read make sure to reread the sentences you struggle with.
Also make sure you think about reading smoothly.”
Assessment:
(repeated reads) “Now we are going to play a game. I want
each of you to pick a partner. Your partner will be
responsible for completing a check sheet after each reading.
Remember you can't skip a word. Practice cover-ups and
rereading to understand a word. Now let's read the first
five page of the book.” That is great boys and
girls. Now let's switch whose reading. Your partner
will read his/her book while you fill out the check sheet.”
(Repeat the procedure three times) “Now we will see who
read more smoothly”.
Comprehension Questions:
What kind of trouble
did Junie B. get into in the section you read?
How did she solve or
fix the problem she got into?
References:
TheReadingGenie:http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/fluency.html
Park, Barbara.
Junie B. Jones is a Graduation Girl.
Random House Books for Young Readers;
2001
Park, Barbara.
Junie B., First Grader (At Last!). Random House Books for Young Readers; 2001
Park, Barbara.
Junie
B., First Grader: Boss of Lunch. Random House Books for Young Readers; 2001
Park, Barbara.
Junie B., First Grader: Toothless
Wonder.
Random House Books for Young Readers;
2001
Windgard, Natalie.
Speed Racers:
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/persp/wingardgf.html
“What Will the Seal
Eat?” By: Hoff, S: Educational Insights, 1990
Check sheets:
Name__________________________
First read:
Read the words correctly (circle yes or write the number of
words they got wrong)
Yes
No________
Could you understand the
reader has they read outloud?
Yes
No
Second read:
Read the words correctly (circle yes or write the number of
words they got wrong)
Yes
No________
Could you understand the
reader has they read outloud?
Yes
No
Third Read:
Read the words correctly (circle yes or write the number of
words they got wrong)
Yes
No________
Could you understand the
reader has they read out loud?
Yes
No