Race to the Finish Line!
Growing independence
and fluency
Rationale: “Good readers
decode rapidly and automatically” (Adams 92).
In order to gain fluency repeated readings have been found to
aid in this matter. Repeated readings help readers
develop skills such as reading faster, smoother, and with expression.
The goal is to help children to become fluent readers in order
to increase their comprehension of the text.
Materials: class set of
decodable books, Bud the Sub, stopwatch for every two
children, post-it notes, progress charts of monkey and banana for each
child and my own personal one for one-minute reads, repeated reading
checklists, pencils.
Procedures:
- Start the lesson
by explaining to the students the importance of fluency. Explain how
rereading the text helps with comprehending it. “Today
we are going to learn a something new that will help us read faster and
with more expression. This is called repeated
readings. Can you tell me what repeated means?
Great job explaining it! Repeated
reading means to read a text over again. We are
going to practice this together! Are you ready?
Yeah!”
- Model how to
reread a passage from the text. “I am going to read
a sentence to you in two different ways. When I am
finished I want you to tell me which way sounded the best to you.”
Bud the sub is not big. First read the
sentence like a beginning reader, choppy and slow emphasizing each
phoneme. Then read it again smoothing the words
together with more expression. “Okay, which way
sounded the best to you? Me too, I think the second
way was the best! Could you tell how my reading improved the second
time I read the passage?” Now the children will
practice becoming more fluent readers.
- “Now it is your
turn to practice rereading the text like I just did.” Pass out, Bud the
Sub, the decodable book to each student. “Please
read the book quietly to yourself. If you miss more
than one word on a page you might want to choose a new book to read.”
- Introduce the
fluency checklist to the class. “You will listen to
your partner read the story through once. On the
second time your partner rereads the story you check the boxes that
tell how they read. For example, if they read
smoother check that box, if they read faster check that box, and if
they read with more expression check that box. You
will do the same thing for the third time they read. Once
you are finished switch with your partner and do the same thing.”
- Put the students
into pairs and allow them to time each other for one minute as they
read a book. Pass out stopwatches, post-it notes,
repeated reading checklist, and a chart with a monkey and bananas.
“You and your partner are going to read for a minute.
You will take turns timing each other. Once
your minute is up and your partner says stop you will mark the place
where you stopped with a post-it note. Then you
will count the number of words you have read and place the monkey next
to the correct number. You will do the same thing
for the second and third time you read. Your
partner will also fill out the checklist for you. Once
you are done with all three reading switch with your partner.
I will be walking around to help you, as you need help.
Okay, let’s start!”
- I will assess
the children as I walk around the classroom observing them do their
one-minute reads with their partner. Their chart
with the monkey will indicate the progress they are making on their
one-minute repeated readings. I will also assess
them by having each child read to me for one minute and then I will
record their progress on my chart. For one-minute
reads use the formula: words times 60 divided
by seconds.
References:
Adams,
M.J. Beginning to Read: Thinking and Learning about Print.
Department of
Education,
University of Illinois:
1990.
Bud
the Sub. Educational Insights. 1990.
Lunceford, Valerie.
Hop into Speedy Reading! www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/guides/luncefordgf.html
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