Growing
Independence & Fluency
I’m
Bananas
About
Rationale: In order for children to be
able to have
better comprehension, they must first become more fluent
readers. Without
learning all the skills needed for decoding, comprehension can become
very
difficult. Fluency must be achieved, but only after the major
correspondences have been mastered. Through repeated readings, children
can
become more fluent, and will begin to grasp the content of the story
easier,
their site vocabulary will increase, and their reading speed will also
increase.
Materials:
-one large palm
tree
with bananas at the top (class copy)
-one
large monkey (class copy)
-individual
copies of the tree and monkey for each student
-class copies of
books for the different
reading levels such as That Mean
Man and
Be Nice to Spiders from the Creative
Reading Program (group children
accordingly and
color coat books
according to levels).
-class
set of stopwatches
Procedure:
1.
"Let's
review how to blend words that we don't recognize by sight. If I see
the
letters b r u s h, but I cannot read the word, I first look at
the vowel
sound. In this word, u says /u/. Next I go to the beginning
sounds. Br
says /bbbb/ /rrrrr/. If I add the vowel sound at the end, I have
"bbrrrrruuuu." Finally, I look at the last sound. It is /sh/. So, now
I can combine all three sounds to read "bbbbrrrruuuush. Brush!" When
you see any words you don't know today, you should use
this vowel-first method to figure it out."
2.
“When
we are reading it is important for us to read very smooth, just like we
are
talking. Listen to this sentence: I a-m rea-dy f-or re-c-ess. Would you
want to
listen to me a whole story that way? Of course not! But, if I read the
sentence
like this, ‘I am ready for recess,’ it is much more interesting. In
order to be
able to read like this, we need to practice, practice, practice!” Put
children
into reading groups and pass out books for each group.
3.
“Now
that you are in your groups, I want each of you to read the book three
times
each. Now look at this tree and monkey I have here. Our goal is to read
60
words in one minute. Each time you get closer, I’m going to move the
monkey
closer to the bananas. At your desk, I want your monkey to make it to
the
bananas, or as close as you can get. Have your partners in your group
time you
with the stopwatches for one minute.” Allow the children to practice
within
their reading groups.
4.
“Tonight,
you all can take your book home with your monkey and banana tree and
see if you
can get the monkey to the top of the tree. It will be fun to see how
fast you
can read!”
5.
While
the children are working on another activity, you can pull each child
individually to do an assessment on fluency. Each child can complete
the same
task with a new book, doing one-minute reads 3 times.
References:
-“Speedy
Readers” By: Kate McMarma
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