Zoom Into Fluent
Reading
Growing Fluency
Rationale:
When students learn to automatically recognize words they can
read faster, more smoothly, and with more expression. To become more
fluent readers, students must read and reread decodable words in
connected text. When students read fluently, they are able to connect
more with the text that they are reading. This lesson is designed to
help readers increase their fluency and reading ability.
Materials:
Copies
of Slim's Outing by Geri Murray (one for each student)
Sentence
on the board: The rocket zooms past the moon.
Stopwatch for each group of students
Cover-up
Critters (one per student) *directions at bottom
Rocket
Targets for each student (directions at bottom)
Procedure:
1.
Say: Good morning boys and
girls! Today we are going to learn about how to become more fluent
readers. This is when we can read words without having to stop and
decode each one of them. This is going to
help you understand what you are reading better.
2.
Say: When we come to a word we
do not know it is important for us to figure out what that word is
instead of skipping it and going to the next word. Today we are going
to use our cover-up critters to help us figure out difficult words.
Write the word flick
on the board. If I was reading a book
and did not know what this word was, I would first start with figuring
out what my vowel says. I do this by using my cover-up critter and my
fingers to cover every letter but the i. I know the i says /i/. Next I uncover the letters f
and
l. Now I have /fli/. Last I uncover the last two
letters, ck, and add them to the first part. I now
know my word is
flick. You can use your cover-up critter to help
anytime you get stuck on a word.
3.
Say: I am going to read a
sentence out loud and I want you to pay attention to which one is the
most fluent. I will write the sentence: The rocket zooms past the moon. On the board.
First read the sentence as if you were
decoding it: ttthhheee rrrooocckkeeettt zoooommss paaasstt tthhee
mmmooonnn.
Next read the sentence a little faster. Finally read the
sentence in the way you normally would.
Say: The last way was the easiest to understand because
it was read the most fluent. When we read fluently people can
understand what we are reading.
4.
Now it is your turn to
practice reading fluently. I want everyone to take a copy of the book
Slim's Outing. I want you to practice reading it a few
times because practicing is the only way to make perfect.
The book that we are reading today is
Slim's Outing. This book is about a pig named Slim who
gets out of his pen when no one is watching. Do you think Slim behaves
himself while he is out of the pen? Let's read to find out. Don't
forget to try to make the words as fluent as possible.
5.
When they have had a
chance to read the book a few times say:
now that you have had the opportunity to practice let's come back to
the center and I will pair you with a partner to read to each other.
You will read the book 3 times a piece. I want you to use the stopwatch
and time your partner for one minute while you listen to the read the
book. At the end of the minute you will count how many words they read.
You will have a piece of paper to record the results on. As soon as one
partner has read 3 times you will switch partners and do the same thing.
6.
While the students are
timing each other, walk around and make sure they are all assessing
each other correctly and following all directions.
7.
After all of the groups
are finished I will take turns calling the students up to my desk to
give them their results from the readings and help them set reasonable
goals. We will graph their results on their rocket targets. After we
graph where they are today we will set a goal for where they need to
get to by the next time we do the activity.
(These targets need
to have a space background with increments of 5 going from the ground
to the moon. The rocket will need to have Velcro on the back and be
easily moved from target to target.)
Directions for cover
up critter:
You will need a thin Popsicle stick and two googly eyes for each
cover-up critter. Turn the Popsicle stick horizontally and glue the
eyes on one end.
Assessment: Their movement or lack
thereof on the rocket target will assess the students. You can keep
this documented for easy recovery.
References:
Fishing
for Fluency- Kathleen Griffin
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/solutions/griffingf.htm
Slim's Outing- Geri Murray
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/bookindex.html
Timing
Worksheet:
|
Trial # |
Words
per Minute |
|
1 |
|
|
2 |
|
|
3 |
|