Ready! Set! Read Fluently!

Growing Independence & Fluency

Schaefer Bradford

Rationale: On our journey to become successful readers, it is important that we learn to read fluently. Fluency is fast, smooth, and expressive reading that sounds like speech. A good way to become a fluent reader is to read on a regular basis and to repeat what you have read. Repeated reading helps students gain a better understanding of the text and become more familiar with it. Fluent readers recognize words automatically and with this automatic recognition, students will improve their reading skills. This lesson is designed to help students learn strategies that will help them to read fluently and become more successful readers.

Materials:

Set of A Job for Zack books for the class

Timers for each partner group

"Speed Reading Record" for every student

"Partner Check Sheet" for every student

Procedures:

1. Introduce the lesson by saying, "In order to become a successful reader you must learn to read fluently. Fluency is the ability to read words quickly, smoothly, and with expression.  Fluency is a sign of automaticity, which means that the words jump off the page at you and you don't have to figure them out by breaking the word down.  When you read fluently, it should sound almost like you are talking with another person rather than reading.  Fluency is important because it makes reading more fun for you and the person listening can understand the meaning of the story better.

2. "Sometimes when we read a passage we may get ahead of ourselves and read a word incorrectly, but we can fix that mistake by cross-checking.  Cross-checking is when you get to the end of the sentence and realize that what you just read didn't quite make sense." Read the following sentence on the board: "Pat pot the dish in the sink." "Hm… That didn't make sense. I better reread the sentence again to see if I read it correctly." "Pat put the dish in the sink." "Oh, put that makes more sense.  Remember to use this strategy when you are reading so the sentence will make more sense."

3.  Write the following sentence on the board: Bugs were mixed with rugs.  "I will read the sentence written on the board aloud and you all pay very close attention to how I read it. Ready?" Read the sentence slowly, lacking fluency.  "Bbbuugs were miiixed wiiith ruuugs. Did you notice that because I read the sentence so slowly that is was hard for me to understand was it was about? Now, I am going to try reading the sentence again and remember how the words are said." Read the sentence with fluency. "Bugs were mixed with rugs. Awesome! That was so much easier to understand that time, wasn't it?"  "Do we understand how reading a sentence a second or even third time can make it sound better and help us understand better? Rereading also helped me read the sentence much faster than the first time."

4. "Now I am going to give everyone a copy of the book, A Job for Zack.  In this book, Zack is going to get groceries for his mom when he spots a box that had fallen out of a delivery truck.  Zack thinks it is his job to get this box to its owner and so Zack sets off on an adventure to get this box back to its owner.  Zack has many obstacles that come into play while he is trying to get this box delivered and you will have to read to see if he ever gets the box to its owner.

5. Next, students will break into groups of two.  Each group will get a timer and each student will be given a "Speed Reading Record" and a "Partner Check Sheet".  Explain to the students that they will read the book to themselves three times and record their time for each reading.  The students will record their individual reading times on the "Speed Reading Record" sheet.  Before the students begin recording their time, allow each of them time to read over the passage for practice.

6. After each of the students are done with their individual readings, the students will pair up and read to each other using the "Partner Reading Checklist".  "Each one of you will turn to the person next to you and one at a time you will read the story to your partner. As your partner is reading you should be looking for the following things: Does your partner remember the words? Do they read faster than the last time they read it? Do they read it smoother than the last time they read it? The first time your partner reads the story you will not mark anything down but the second and the third times they read the story you will complete the chart to show where they have improved."

7. Assessments: The teacher should be walking around and observing each student's reading throughout the lesson.  At the end, the teacher will need to collect and evaluate the "Speed Reading Record" and the "Partner Check Sheet".

Cain, Britney. "Galloping to Fluency"

http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/invitations/caingf.htm

Houlton, Allyson. "3, 2, 1… Blast-Off into Reading!"

http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/invitations/houltongf.htm

Lyles, Camellia. "Vroom, Vroom to Fluency"

http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/realizations/lylesgf.htm

Sims, Matt. A Job for Zack. 2002, High Noon Books

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