Flying into Fluency!!!
Growing Independence and Fluency
Rationale: Comprehension is one of the main goals in reading.
Being a fluent reader will help students comprehend what they are
reading. Fluent readers comprehend
texts better because they do not have to decode each individual word. Reading
fluently is recognizing words automatically and accurately.
This lesson is designed to guide students to become more fluent readers
through repeated and timed readings of a text, while working in groups of two.
The goal of this lesson is to help students become fluent readers by
working on their reading speed.
Materials:
Stopwatch (1 per group)
Tiny Goes to the Library
by Cari Meister (Penguin Group USA - July 28, 2000)
Poster with "The car got hit by the truck!"
Dry Erase Board
Dry Erase Marker
Cover Critters (for all students)
Pencils for each student
Speed Reading Charts (all students)
Speed Reading Record:
Name ______________
Date: __________
Time:
·
After 1st read ______
·
After 2nd read ______
Partner Checklist (all students)--
When I listened to my partner read:
After 2nd
After 3rd
1. Remember more words
______
______
2. Read faster
______
______
3. Read smoother
______
______
4. Read with expression
______
______
Procedures:
Step 1:
Explain the concept of the lesson:
"Today we are going to be talking and working on fluency.
Fluency is the ability to read words quickly and accurately with
expression. Reading fluently
makes the story easier to comprehend.
Today we are going to be reading the same story three times with a
partner, and our partners are going to time us each time we read.
I want you to set a goal for yourself to become a faster and more
accurate reader each time you read.
Step 2: Pass out the cover critters and show the students how
these can be used when they come across a word they cannot say in their reading.
"Sometimes when we read we come across words we do not know, but do not
worry our cover critter can help us figure it out. (Write the word "dash" on the
board). I am going to use my cover
critter to figure out what this word is."
State the vowel correspondent a=/a/,
while having all of the letter covered except for a.
Then, uncover the letters before the vowel one at a time.
"/d/ /d/ /a/ /a/." Uncover
the letters after the vowel,s and
h.
"sh says /sh/.
So if we blend all of our correspondences together, /d/ /a/ /sh/, we get
the word dash.
Step 3: Model Fluency:
(Put the poster up with the sentence, The car got hit by the truck!)
Read it slow: T-t-h-h-e
c-a-a-a-r g-o-t-t-t
hit by the t-t-r-r-u-k-k.
It was hard for me to read this sentence with the unfamiliar words for
the first time. It was not smooth,
and I did not comprehend it very well."
Reread the sentence: "Th-he
car got hit by the t-t-r-r-u-c-k-k.
This time I read it a little bit smoother and quicker but with no expression."
Reread the sentence a third time: "The car got hit by the truck!
This time I read it smoothly and quickly with expression!
I enjoyed reading the sentence better when I read fluently with
expression because I understood it better.
Step 4: Place the
students with their partner and provide each student with the following
materials: Tiny Goes to the
Library, speed reading record sheet, and partner checklist (Give one
stopwatch to each group). Explain
to the students that "we are going to be reading a book three times.
Your partner is going to time your reading three times, and your partner
will record the time it takes you to read the book on the record sheet.
When timing your partner make sure you click the start button on the
timer as soon as they start reading, and hit the stop button as soon as they
finish. Record the time it takes
for each reader to read for each turn on the record sheet.
(show the students how to work the stopwatch).
For the second and third read make sure to fill out the partner checklist
by evaluating your partners reading based on the questions asked. (demonstrate
how to fill this sheet out).
Step 5: Now we are
going to read the book Tiny Goes to the Library.
Tiny goes everywhere with his human friend, but he cannot go inside the
library with his friend because dogs are not allowed.
Tiny feels sad, alone, and useless.
Will Tiny ever feel happy again? Will he feel like he belongs?
We will have to read to find out!
Step 6: Walk
around the room to observe students completing the tasks and make sure they are
on the right track.
Step 7: ASSESSMENT:
I will collect the speed reading record sheet and the partner checklist.
I will assess the students by comparing their first reading with their
third reading to see if they improved.
The students should have been able to read more words the third time.
I will use the formula words x 60/
seconds.
REFRENCES:
Long, Ali. Reading Fast is A Blast!
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/invitations/longgf.htm
Fraiser, Mallie. Blast off with Reading!.
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/realizations/frasiergf.htm
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