Speedy
Growing Independence & Fluency
Meg Betbeze
Rationale:
In order for a child to read fluently he or she should be
able to read faster and smoother than when they first started to
read.
-Marker
board with sentence (My Granny had a horrible cold with a sneeze louder
than a
train.)
-a
piece of cardboard with a track drawn on it for each student
-small
cutout of a runner
-one
stopwatch for every two children
-Alexander
and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
-different
books of different reading levels
1. Introduce the
lesson to
students by saying how important it is for readers to read both quickly
and
smoothly. “Not only does it sound better when we read this way,
but it
also helps us to make more sense of what we are reading. This
means that
the stories are more interesting and fun to read. Let me show
you.”
2. “I am going to
read a
sentence one time through just like a beginning reader would and then I
am
going to read it again like a really good reader would read it.”
Write
the sentence on the board. (My Granny had a horrible cold with a
sneeze
louder than a train.) Read the sentence slowly to the
students. “Listen
closely to the difference M-y G-G-G-r-a-n-n-y h-a-d a h-o-o-r-i-b-l-e
c-o-l-d
w-i-t-h a s-n-e-e-z-e l-o-u-d-e-r t-h-a-n a t-r-a-a-i-n.” Sound out
some words
slowly and model the silent cover-up method on some words. “That
didn't
sound quite right did it? Now let me read it again. Notice
my speed
this time.” Read the sentence a second time more smoothly. “My
Granny had
a horrible cold with a sneeze louder than a train. That sounds much
better
doesn't it? What are some things that I did differently in the
second
sentence than in the first sentence?”
3. Write another
sentence on the board. (The school bell rang and we all
packed our bags to go home.) Divide students into pairs and have them
practice
reading the sentence to one another until they can read it
smoothly. “I
want you to read the sentence through for the first time out loud to
each
other. Listen to the way that it sounds the first time that you
read it.
Then I want you to read the sentence silently to yourself at least five
times
through. Reading the sentence repeatedly will help you with
your
speed. Then I want you to read the sentence again out loud to
your
partner. Notice how different it sounds this time. What
makes it
sound better?” “Did it sound better when you read it fast or
slow?” “Great
job!!!” Explain, “The reason we practice our reading is to become good
at it!”
4. Read Alexander
and the
Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst to the
students." This is the story of Alexander. Poor Alexander is
having a horrible day. First he goes to sleep with gum in
his mouth and wakes up with it in his hair, as Alexander's day
progresses he gets smushed in the middle seat of the car, receives a
dessertless lunch sack, discovers a cavity at the dentist's
office, witnesses kissing on television, and is forced to sleep
in railroad-train pajamas. We'll have to read to find out if
Alexander's day gets any better! Model
timed reading.
5. “Now it is your
time to
try reading your own book! I am going to give each group a book
to
read. While one of you reads the book the other one is going to
be the
timer. You will be timed for one minute. Read as many words
as you
can. If you come to a word that you don’t know, use the cover up
method
to try to figure it out. If you still can’t figure it out look at
the
rest of the sentence. If that doesn't work, ask your partner for
help. I will also be walking around to help you. We are
going to do
this several times so that you can become a faster and faster reader!”
6. “After one
minute is up
you will count how many words you read and place your runner on that
number on
the track. Then you will switch and your partner will do the same
thing. Before you start all over, make a star with your pencil on
your
track on the first number of words that you read so that we can see how
much
faster you are getting. I bet after a couple of times reading the
book,
your runner will get farther and farther on the track. Let's see.
On your
mark, get set, read!”
References:
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