Touchdown to Reading!
Growing Independence and Fluency
By: Morgan Warner
Rational:
Students become fluent readers by reading the same books over and over. These
are called repeated readings. It is important for students to re-read words that
are unfamiliar and by practicing with the same books, they increase their
fluency and comprehension. This lesson is designed to help students with
fluency.
Materials:
- 1 stopwatch
- Book: Brown, J.
Stanley and the Magic Lamp, 2003.
Harper Trophy. New York.
- Book: Viorst, Judith. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad
Day, 1972. Simon and Schuster. New York.
- Poster of a football field
- Moveable football that can be moved along the yard lines
- Checklist paper (3 for the 3 different readings, with My partner remembered
more, read faster, smoother, and with more expression)
- Pencils for each student
Procedure:
1) Introduction: Introduce the lesson by expressing how important it is
for students to become more fluent readers. “Today we are going to look at one
book and see how fast, and accurate we can read it. We are going to use a
football field that will measure your accuracy in reading the story. Have you
ever played the game of foot ball? (It not, explain how moving down the field to
a touchdown works). Also, have you ever had a bad day? This story is all about
one kid, with red hair and how he had a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad
Day. I think you will really like it. ”
2) Model the lesson by taking a different book (so as not to give away the words
in the story they will read, in this case it will be
Stanley and the Magic Lamp) and read
it once. Have a student record how many mistakes were made and how long it took
to read it. Then re-read the story and have the student make notes on the
checklist sheet and count the mistakes as well as see how long it takes to read
the story. Show how the football moves (once for every difference in the number
mistakes made from the first reading to the second, and then again with the
third)
3) Work one on one with a student or have all the students work in pairs. The
students will read books to you or to each other. After the class is all
finished reading, place all the footballs on the football field so that they are
displayed. Then every week, move the footballs so that the students can see how
much they improve from week to week. If it works better for your class, have
each student make their own football field.
4) Have the students also do reflection writing on what they would do if they
had a bad day like Alexander. Have them write three sentences expressing what
they would do if they were in Alexander’s shows during his bad day. Use this as
the assessment.
Reference
Website for where I found the story:
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/persp/crumpgf.html
Website for a similar lesson:
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/odysseys/faingf.html