Just “Itching” to Read
More Fluently!
Growing Independence
& Fluency
Heather Lewis
Rationale:
Although beginning readers are able to use their
decoding skills to read words in a connected text, they are often
unable to
comprehend what they have read because so much effort is being spent on
decoding the words, making it extremely difficult to retain entire
sentences so
that their meanings can be understood. In order for comprehension to be
achieved, students must learn to read fluently—accurately,
automatically, and
rapidly. Building fluency is incredibly important, as it not only
boosts
a student’s confidence in his or her reading ability, but also helps
students
achieve
the main goal of reading instruction—comprehension. This lesson will
help
students learn to read more fluently through utilizing one-minute reads
of
repeated readings, as the more a student rereads a passage, the more
fluently
he or she will read it.
Materials:
Procedures:
1. Explain to the
students why reading with fluency is so important: “When we read books,
we want
to be able to understand what we are reading. If we read the words in a
book
slowly with a lot of spaces between the words, it will be very
difficult to
remember the things we read about. If we read quickly, though, we can
understand what we are reading much more easily. A good way for us to
help our
reading get faster is to practice by reading the same book over and
over again.
Each time we reread something, it gets easier and easier, so our
reading
becomes faster, and when we are reading more quickly, we will do a
better job
at understanding what we are reading.
2. Tell the
students: “Let me show you how rereading something helps us to become
faster
readers. (Read the sentence off of the poster very slowly and with
separations
between some of the words.) I h-h-ha-have… aaannn i-i-itch… onnn mmmy
h-h-ha-hand. Did that sentence make sense to you? Why not? (Wait for
response.)
That sentence did not make much sense to me because I read it so
slowly. If we
read quickly, though, we can understand what we are reading much more
easily.
(Read the sentence again, a little more fluently this time.) I
hhhaaavvve an
iiitch on mmmy hhaannd. Wasn’t that a little easier to understand? I
think so!
I bet if I read the sentence one more time it will be even better! Let
me see.
(Read the sentence again, with complete fluency.) I have an itch on my
hand.
Wow! I think that was the best time yet. It was a lot easier to read
that time
and I could really understand what I was reading!”
3. Tell the
students: “Let’s practice a little bit together.” (Hold up the posters
with the
following sentences, and have the students read each sentence three
times along
with the teacher, getting more fluent each time: (1) I have red spots
on my
back. (2) I wish I did not have an itch. (3) I do not want to be sick!)
4. Tell the
students: “Some things that are very important to remember when we are
trying
to read words quickly are our decoding strategies. When you come to a
new or
difficult word, don’t forget to use cross-checking or cover-ups. First
take a
guess at the word and read to the end of the sentence to see if it
makes sense.
If it doesn’t make sense, use your finger to cover-up the word so that
you can
take a closer look at each of the letters. When you are reading with
your
partner, you can use these strategies to help you.”
5. Tell the
students: “Now it is your turn to become faster readers! (Put students
in pairs
and pass out one copy of Sam’s Trip to
the Doc and a one-minute sand timer to each group. Pass out fluency
chart
and red stickers to each individual student.) You and your partner are
going to
take turns reading and rereading Sam’s
Trip to the Doc. This story is about a little boy who has a
terrible itch
and he doesn’t know why, so his parents have to take him to the doctor!
Have
you ever had something wrong with you and had to go to the doctor? What
do you
think is wrong with Sam? You will have to read the book with your
partner to
find out! What I would like for you to do is take turns with your
partner.
First, one of you will read the story as quickly as you can while your
partner
times you. To time your partner, just flip over the timer, and tell
them ‘go!”
When the sand runs out, tell them ‘stop!’ You will get to do this two
more
times, with your partner timing you each time. The first time you read,
you
will put red spots on the first Sam. Count how many words you read. The
more
words you read, the more red spots you get to put on him! Each spot is
worth
five words, so count by fives to see how many spots you need to put on
him.
Raise your hand if you need help figuring out how many spots to put on
Sam! Make
sure you also write the number of words you read on the blank below
each Sam. The
second time you read, you will put your spots on the second Sam, and
the third
time, on the third Sam. After one partner reads three times, you will
need to
switch, and the partner who just finished reading will be the timer.
(Walk
around while students are reading to monitor their progress and help
with the
placement of the spots.)”
6. Once the students have completed the repeated readings with their partners, pass out a blank sheet of paper and a sheet of primary paper to each student. Have them write a sentence about something from the story and draw a picture to illustrate their sentence. This, along with each student’s fluency chart with the spots, will be used to evaluate their progress, checking to see that the student’s number of words per minute improved with each reading of the story and that the student was able to comprehend what he or she read.
References:
Hopkins, Ivy. Spooky fluency. Retrieved April 1, 2007, from:
http:// www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/persp/hopkinsgf.html
Lewis, Heather. Sam’s trip to the doc. Retrieved
April
1, 2007, from: