"Speed Racing to the Bottom of the Hill!"
Lesson Design 3- Growing Independence and Fluency
Rationale:
The goal for this lesson is for a group of second grade students to read a
passage with fluency. Being a fluent reader means that one can read with
automatic word recognition. Automatic word recognition begins with decoding
words, crosschecking, mentally marking irregularities, and re-reading passages
until students can store those words in their sight vocabulary. In order to help
students become more fluent readers, they will be assessed using a repeated
reading exercise, where students will be evaluated on reading faster under a
time pressure. Students will be working with a partner, who will keep track of
the time and how many mistakes the child misses by graphing their progress on a
chart.
Materials:
-Student copies of A Day at the Lake by:
Matt Sims
-Word count sheet for each student (see example below)
-Reading evaluation form for each student (see example below)
-Minute timer for each pair of students
-Progress chart for each student (This will be a movable bike that the children
can move from one side of the hill to the other. Each time the child advances in
the number of words that he or she read correctly, that child will get to move
their toy bike to the correct number on the board. When the child has read every
word correctly, their bike should be all the way down the hill).
Word Count Sheet:
Reading Evaluation Form:
Procedure:
1. Model: Say: Today we are going
to practice reading faster and more smoothly. This means that we are going to
correctly read as many words as we can and do it as quickly as we can. This is
called fluency. Our goal is to read fluently so that we can we can become more
skilled readers. Let me model an example with you: Open your book, A Day at the
Lake, to page 1 and read along with me. "We /h/ /a/ /d/, oh had /o/ /u/ /r/ (oh
yeah sometimes ou=ow, so this word is our) meals (/m/, then oh yeah ea= /E/,
/l/, /s/ Okay so that word is meals) in /s/ /a/ /k/ /s/. Since I had to decode
so many words in this sentence, which slowed me down, I would reread this
sentence. This time I want to read it more quickly and more accurately. "We had
our meals in sacks." Did I read it more smoothly that time? What about faster?
Those are our goals for fluent reading. We want to reread our text, especially
after we have missed a word so that we can become faster and smoother readers.
This is called crosschecking, which is a strategy we have been using to help us
read to the end of the sentence to see if our decoding attempt makes sense. Make
sure you practice doing this. The better we become at reading, the more we will
enjoy it as well!
2. Explain the activity: Today,
we are going to work on reading using speed and fluency. We will do this by
rereading our text, A Day at the Lake, three times in a row to our partner. With
each new try, we should start to become more familiar with the words in the
text, which will help us read faster and more accurately.
3. Give a book talk. A Day at the
Lake tells a story about Pat, Jim, and Jean as they go to the lake one day. They
pack their lunches, but soon come to find out that a dog nearby has taken all of
their lunch sacks! Where did this
dog come from? Who does it belong to? And why did it steal their lunches? Read
on to hear about what happens during this exciting adventure at the lake! Then,
I would say: "First, let me read the book all the way through while you follow
along silently. I will ask a few questions at the end, so make sure you are
paying attention. Then, I want you and your partner to read the book to each
other once before we begin the timing."
4. Divide the class in half and
give each student a partner. Then, pass out one copy of A Day at the Lake to
each pair along with a timer, 2 copies of the word count sheet, and 2 copies of
the reading evaluation forms.
5. Give the directions: "For this
activity, you and your partner will take turns. One of you will read, while the
other controls the time and the amount of words your partner gets correct. Make
sure you are paying close attention so that you can record your information when
your partner is done. Then, you and your partner switch roles. You will each
read the book three times, and you will always start on the chapter that you
left off with. The first partner reads one chapter, while the listener records
the time it took to read the chapter as well as the number of words read on the
word count sheet. Switch roles each time your partner finishes a chapter, and
once you have been through this process three times, each of you need to fill
out a reading evaluation form for your partner. I want to know if your partner
did better on the second or the third time through the book."
6. Once, the children have all of
their forms, I will then pass out their progress charts. Each pair of students
will have one chart, but two toy bikes. Say, "Okay, I am giving you this chart
so that you can keep track of your progress better. Whenever you are finished
with your reading and your partner has recorded the number of words that you
read, you may move your bike to the correct number on the board. Your goal
should be to make it down the hill to the other side! You and your partner will
both put your bikes on the chart, so it sort of feels like a race. Remember to
always be honest and to try your best. Good luck!"
7. Then, once all of this has
been completed, I will ask the students to put their names on all of our forms
and charts, which I will collect first. Then, I will gather their toy bikes,
progress charts, timers, and books.
Assessments:
Use the word count sheet as an assessment by comparing the number of words the
child read from their first reading all the way up to their third. Hopefully,
their numbers will have increased with each new reading. Also, use the reading
evaluation form as an assessment to compare the child's progress in speed and
smoothness. However, since the children are the ones grading their partner, if
some of the numbers look way off, the teacher should do an individual assessment
on that child. Also, test comprehension
by asking some questions from the text and keep a checklist of students who
answered those. Questions can be: What happened at the lake? Who does the dog
belong to? What do the children do first? How does the story end?
References:
Sims, Matt. A Day at the Lake. Novato, CA. High Noon Books 2002
The Reading Genie:
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/odys.html
(On your Mark, Get Set, Go, Race Into Fluency, and Speedy Reading)