by
Meg Hunter
Rationale:
In order for children to become expert readers and to enjoy reading, they must
become fluent readers. To increase fluency in reading, students' focus should be
on reading faster, smoother, and with more feeling rather than on accuracy. Children
should learn to recognize words effortlessly and also be able to decode
instantly. This allows children to comprehend easier and enjoy their reading.
This lesson will develop fluency through
reading and rereading.
Materials:
Class set of Book "Julius" by Syd Hoff
with marks after every ten words;
2 Sentence Strips per group:
“The tall boy went to the park.
The birds sang in the trees.”
Stopwatch for every group
Pencils to mark errors
Cover critters
Procedure:
“What is fluency? "Fluency is the ability to read smoother, faster, and with
more expression" I will give the children an example of what it sounds like when
someone is not a fluent reader. I will read the sentence "The tall boy went to
the park." I will read if very slow and choppy. I will ask the children "Do you
think this was an example of fluent reading?" Great!
“Now, how do we figure out a word that
we have trouble reading? Right, we use cover-ups. Which part of the
word do we look at first? Yes, the vowel. Then what do we add? That’s
right, the beginning sound.”
“Okay,
now I'm going to figure out this word as an example of our vowel-first
cover-ups”
(write the word park on the
chalkboard). “First, I'm going to
cover everything other than the vowel up. Okay, this vowel says /a/.
Now I'm going to look at the
beginning p. P says /p/. So far I have /p/ /a/, and now we’re
adding r. So I have, /p/ /a/ /r/, /par/.
Now the end, it says k. K says
/k/. So /par/ /k/, park. So don't forget to use the vowel-first cover-up
method when you need help figuring out a word.
“It's important to become faster at our reading because the faster we can read
the more we can understand what we're reading and we'll like reading more. Now
we're going to work on reading faster. Have you ever noticed that the
first time you read something it sounds broken up and slow, a little bit like a
robot?
Demonstrate reading the sentence, "
The tall boy went to the park,"
very slowly and haltingly. The- tall-
boy- went- to – the – park. Then say,
if you read that sentence again it
sounds better. Demonstrate reading the same sentence a bit faster. The
tall boy went to the park. Say, the
more you practice, the faster you get, and you can add feeling and different
voices. Read the sentence one more time, this time with more expression.
The birds sang in the trees. I
will also explain that it's easier every time because you learn the words in the
sentence and become familiar with them.
"Great! Now everyone get the books. I want one each person to read the first two
pages of "Julius" by Syd Hoff, to their partner. "When you finish with the two
pages, give it to your partner to read aloud to you.”
Have each student take out paper and pencil to record how many words per minute
he/she reads during each timed read. Have each student do four one-minute reads.
Now, we’re going to get with a partner. (Pass out a stop-watch to each pair of
students.) “Here are some
stopwatches. I want you to take turns reading the pages. While your partner
reads you will time them. Here is how you will do it. As soon as your partner
begins to read push the start button. When you partner reads the last word they
will say finished. When you hear them say finished press the stop button and
write down their time." "Before we begin are there any questions?" "Ok! Great!
You can begin!"
Walk around the room as students begin, making sure everyone understands the
process. Continue monitoring students as they engage in the fluency activity.
Assessment:
"Great! I am so proud of you! Now, I will call you up one at a time to read me
your pages. If you are not up here with me you should be practicing to be a more
fluent reader. I want you to continue reading "Julius" at your seat. Later, we
will be timing ourselves reading the entire book and use our time sheets to mark
our progress, so you want to be practiced!
Encourage students to choose a book from the classroom library to read several
times at home, and then show their family how well they can read. Mention
that the next day you'll be eager to have a few volunteers read their book to
the class.
References:
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/journeys/fordgf.htm
http://www.clker.com/cliparts/9/d/2/9/1237915017466196499warszawianka_Banana_tree.svg.hi.png
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/constr/brittongf.html
