Growing independence and fluency

Materials:  Stopwatches (one per pair), pencils, and flash cards of the following words:  christened, magnificent, fairy, bestows, burst, and wicked.  Copies of Sleeping Beauty ?
Fairy Tale Favorites pop-up book [that is the one I used to get the questions from (one per pair)], and Record sheet (every child need to have one of these).
 

Record Sheet
Sleeping Beauty

Name:________________________  Date:________________________

1st time:___________

2nd time:___________

3rd time:___________
 

Procedure:
1. Introduce the lesson by saying that reading accurately is important but you will also want to read fluently.  Fluently means that you read faster, smoother, and more expressive.
2. Read the sentence, "The sixth fairy was just about to bestow her gift when in burst the seventh fairy" from Sleeping Beauty. (read the sentence one time with feeling and the next time without).  Ask students which sentence has feeling? Next read the same sentence and ask them to tell you which time did you read fast. (1 time slow, 1 time fast).  Also do the same for choppy and smoother.
3. Have the children partner up with their neighbor.  Give every pair a copy of Sleeping Beauty, and a stopwatch. Give every person a record sheet.  (Do not give the handout, it is the assessment)
4. Tell students that one of them is the reader and the other one is the recorder.  They will switch up after the other read.  The reader is to be accurately and sound out word that they do not know.  The student is to only read the first page (stress only the 1st page). The recorder is to begin when the reader starts and to end when the reader finishes reading the first page.  The recorder will then write down the time and they will switch jobs.  The recorder will become the reader and the reader will become the recorder.  Speed and accuracy is very important in this first trial.
5. After each pair have finished the 1st trial, get out the flash card and model saying the words on each card (these words are the words that the children will have the most trouble with).  Let the students say it a few times to ensure success and memorization.
6. Have the students to reread the 1st page and record their times.  Their time should have decreased. Speed, accuracy and comprehension are important in the 2nd trial.
7. Lastly have the students reread the 1st page again and record the time.  Tell the students that are recording to check for expressiveness, speed, and accuracy.
8. After the third time, talk about their times. (The time should have decreased a little every time).  Point out what rereading can do.  Rereading can make you read faster.  Reading faster, expressively, accurately, and comprehending what you are reading is very important.  The more you read the more fluently you will become.
     9.  Assessment:  Ask each student to assess his or her partner.  Did their partner decrease the time it took for them to read each time?

Give them a few minutes to answer the question and then go over the answers.
Tell them that it is important to reread books because it will increase speed.

Reference:
www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/fluency.html

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