Ready, Set, Read!
Growing Independency and Fluency
Rationale:
One of the primary goals of reading instruction is for students to comprehend
the text and read automatically. This lesson focuses specifically on fluency.
For students to become fluent readers they must read words quickly, smoothly,
and with expression. One way to improve reading is to reread decodable words in
connectable texts several times. The more a student works with a particular
text, the more familiar they will become and this will help fluency. In this
lesson, students will practice with repeated readings and reading fluently.
Materials:
∙Stopwatches for each pair
of students
∙Speed Reading Record sheet
for each student (see below)
∙Fluency Literacy Rubric
for each student (see below)
∙Class set of
Fuzz and Buzz
∙Class set of
Tin Man Fix It
∙White Board
∙Cover-up critter for
teacher to model
∙Popsicle stick for each
student
∙2 googly eyes for each
student
∙Glue for the students to
use with their cover-up critter
∙Pencils
∙Paper for teacher to
record assessment notes
Speed Reading Record Sheet:
Name:
______________________________
Date: _________________________
1st time:
____________ 2nd
time: ______________
3rd time: _________________
Fluency Literacy Rubric:
Name/(Reader):
___________________________
Date: _________________________________
Evaluator/(Recorder):
__________________________________________
I noticed that my partner:
1st observation
2nd
observation
3rd observation
Remembered more words
__________________
___________________
Read Faster (with time)
__________________
___________________
Read Smoother
__________________
___________________
Read with Expression
__________________
___________________
Procedure:
1. I will start off the
lesson by explaining to the students what it means to be a fluent reader and why
this is important to be a fluent reader. Today we are all going to practice
reading with accuracy and speed. Both of these things help us to be more fluent
readers. Reading a story multiple times will also help us to become fluent
readers. If we become fluent readers it will help us to read things easily and
with an appropriate speed. Another thing that fluent readers do is they are able
to focus on the meaning of the words and this will help us to understand the
comprehension of what we are reading better.
2. After discussing why fluency is important to
have as readers I will go over the cover-up technique with the students. I will
remind them how we use our cover-up critter and how these help to decode words
that we are unsure of. (Cover-up critter is made out of a Popsicle stick with
googly eyes on it.) We sometime come across words that we just don't know and we
can use our cover-up critter to help us figure out these words. I will show the
class what the cover-up critter is, and I will model how we use the cover-up
critter to decode words. Let's see if we can use our cover-up critter to help us
figure out this word. I will write the word
strike on the board. Now I want you
all to watch what I do. I will cover up everything but the vowel
i. I will cover up
str and the
k. I know that i_e=/I/, so next I
will sound out what comes before the vowel, which is
str. I will say each sound that these
letters make and then blend them together to get
stri. Last I will look at the end of
the word, k and I will blend
stri together with
k. When I read it all together the
word is strike.
This strategy of covering up the letters and starting with the vowel sound will
help us figure out tricky words more easily. Therefore, next time you come
across a word that does not look familiar to you, you can use your cover-up
critter. (I will distribute the cover-up critter materials to each student and
they will make their own to help them decode words.)
3. Next, I will show the students the difference between reading with and
without fluency. I am going to show you how important it is to read with
fluency. Listen to me read a sentence with fluency and read a sentence without
fluency. I will write the following sentence on the board: The big kid took a
jump in the pool. First, I will demonstrate how a non-fluent reader would read
the sentence. Look at this sentence (point to the sentence on the board). I'm
going to read it first without fluency. T-th-the b-b-bi-bi-g-g-big k-ki-i-d-d-kid
t-t-to-too-k-took a j-j-ju-m--jum-jump i-i-n-in t-th-the p-p-pp-poo-pool. Did
you notice how slowly I read the sentence and how there was hardly any
expression in my reading? I am going to read it again, but this time I am going
to read the sentence with fluency. I will read the sentence more smoothly, and
with a lot more expression. The big kid took a jump in the pool. Did you notice
that my words were closer together and they were a lot smoother? Which time was
easier to understand? The students will respond (hopefully saying the second
time I read the sentence it was easier to understand.) Right! It is much easier
to understand text when you read it fluently. I will explain to the class that
it was hard to understand the non-fluent sentence is because the words were all
chopped up and did not flow together to make sense; also I will explain to the
students that I got better when I was modeling fluently because I learned all
the tricky words.
4. I will distribute the book, Fuzz and
Buzz to each student. Fuzz and Buzz is about a bear cub that gets into
mischief and gets stung by a lot of bees! What do you think the cub is going to
do when he gets stung by so many bees? Let's read and find out how he gets out
of this interesting situation. The students will read the book individually, and
we will then discuss the story as a class to assess their comprehension on the
book.
5. I will split the students up into groups of two. I will explain the Speed
Reading Record Sheet and Fluency Literacy Rubric. Then, I will explain and model
how we are going to do our class activity. Now that you all have heard me read
the book as a fluent reader, I want you all try. You are going to be reading
fluently with a partner. I will divide the students into pairs and give them one
stopwatch and two copies of the book. Explain to the students that one will be
the reader and the other will be the recorder and then they will switch roles.
When you are the reader, see how many words you can read smoothly in one minute.
Remember not to skip any words. Place a sticker where you left off at the end of
one minute. Then continue reading the book without the timer. Now go back and
then count the number of words that you read in one minute and write that number
down on your speed reading record sheet. Then switch with your partner until you
have both read the book three times each.
6. After the students have recorded the one minute read aloud, they will fill
out a fluency literacy sheet about their partner's performance. I will be
walking around the room listening and providing assistance where needed.
7. In order to assess each student, I will call them up to me one by one and
have them read Tin Man Fix It aloud
as monitor their fluency by taking notes on their ability read smoothly and
quickly. I will also record the student's miscues. After the student has read
the book I will ask the following questions to check for comprehension:
1. Who is Tim?
2. What was the kid riding on that hit Tim?
3. Were they able to put Tim back together?
I will also assess the students by recording their first reading and comparing
it with their last reading. The students should have been able to read more
words per minute during their last read. While each student is doing their
assessment with me, the rest of the students will be at their desks practicing
their fluency while reading a decodable book.
References:
∙Montgomery,
Greer "Read Fast to Win the Race!"
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/projects/montgomerygf.html
∙Murray,
Bruce. "Developing Reading Fluency"
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/fluency.html
∙Cushman,
S (1990). Fuzz and the Buzz. Carson, CA: Educational
Insights.
∙Tin
Man Fix It.
(1990) Phonics Readers Short Vowels. Carson, CA (USA): Educational Insights.