Keep on Rollin'…
A Lesson on Repeated, Faster Readings
Growing Independence and Fluency
By Haley Thomas
Rationale:
Children must be able to quickly and effortlessly organize words to become
fluent readers. The recognition of these words may be learned by decoding and
then sped up through the use of repeated readings. If students are fluent
readers and do not have to individually decode each individual word, they will
be able to spend more time deciphering the message and retaining it for
comprehension. If a student is unfamiliar with a particular word and unable to
decode it, perhaps he could figure out the word by crosschecking. Children who
use both decoding and crosschecking are becoming more able to recognize words
automatically, read with expression, and understand the context and thus are on
the path to becoming fluent readers.
Materials:
"A Firefighter's Thanksgiving" (enough for all students and the teacher),
whiteboard, dry erase markers, fluency checklist, stopwatches for each pair of
students
Procedures:
1.
This lesson begins with the teacher explaining the concept of fluency to the
students. Say: Does anyone know what fluency means? [Listen to responses.] Say:
Those are great guesses! When someone is a fluent reader, they can read a
passage quickly while remembering what a story is about, and they also put
expression into their reading. A fluent reader does not stop while he is reading
to figure out individual words. How do you think we can improve our fluency?
[Wait for responses.] Say: We can improve our fluency through repeated readings,
or reading the passage over and over again. Today we are going to read a passage
about a firefighter several times and see how much we can improve our fluency. I
want to use a strategy called crosschecking that will help us if we stumble upon
a word we don't know.
2.
Say: Who can tell me what cross checking is? [Wait.] Crosschecking is a strategy
we use to make sure what we are reading makes sense and also it helps us if we
find a word we don't know. We can use context clues to crosscheck. Let's try. I
am going to write a sentence on the board and we will read it together. Write: I
have a big dog who likes to run fast. Say: I have a bag dig who likes to ran
fast. A bag dig who likes to ran fast? Hmmm, no that doesn't sound right. Oh
wait, I have a BIG DOG who likes to RUN fast! That's right.
3.
Say: Since we now have reviewed crosschecking, let's see how to read fluently. I
will write a sentence on the board and read it a few times. Tell me which one
sounds the best. Write: Glenn taps his toe lightly. Say: /g/ /l/ /e/ /n/ /t/ /a/
/p/ /s/ /h/ /i/ /s/ /t/ /O/ /l/ /I/ /t/ /ly/. Next, I will read the sentence
with all of the phonemes blended and with expression. Lastly, I will read the
sentence with all of the phonemes blended and with expression. Now let's all
decide which one sounds the best. Let's take a vote. [Write a tally chart on the
board.] Say: If you chose the third reading, I agree with you. It is more
entertaining to listen to someone read who does so smoothly and adds expression.
Let's read it a few more times so that you can hear the difference. Let's add
expression as we read. Glenn taps his toe lightly!
4.
Pass out a copy of "A Firefighter's Thanksgiving" to each student.
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Speed Reading Record |
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Name:
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Date:
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After 1st Read
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Time:
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After 2nd Read:
Remembered more words: _____
Read faster: _____
Read smoother: _____
Read with expression: _____ |
Time:
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After 3rd Read:
Remembered more words: _____
Read faster: _____
Read smoother: _____
Read with expression: _____ |
Time:
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Webber, Lisa. "A Firefighter's Thanksgiving" http://www.freereading.net/images/d/d8/FireFighters_ThanksGiving_BW.pdf