How Fast Can YOU GO??!!

Fluency Design

Rationale: At this stage in reading, students are able to decode words and certain books, but they still cannot read in a fluent manner. In reading, fluency is a very important component of reading comprehension. Fluency includes the ability to decode words automatically and effortlessly. In order to comprehend a text, a reader must be able to read fast enough to hold all of the words in short-term memory by the end of the sentence. It is very important for word-by-word readers to transform into fluent readers, so they reach the goal of reading instruction: reading comprehension.

Materials:

Bud the Sub (class set) and Liz is Six(class set)
Stopwatch for every student pair
Pencils for each student
One minute read charts for each child (Speed Record Sheet)
Decodable sentences for each student. (Ex - James ate some toast for a snack. The cat jumped in the air. The girl ran home in the rain) Make sure that each student in the pairs have a different sentence than one another.
Fluency checklist (1 per student) (picture below)

Speed Record Sheet

Name:________________ Date:__________

1st time:______

2nd time:______

3rd time:______

Procedures:

Explain Why –

We will begin the lesson by explaining how important fluency is when reading. “Today we are going to learn how to be a fluent readers by reading words correctly and as fast as we can.” Explain to the students what it means to be a fluent reader and the steps they must take to become a fluent in their reading. "The word fluency means being able to read words correctly, automatically, and swiftly. Then, once you become a fluent reader, you will enjoy reading so much more because you will have a better understanding of the information in your books.”

Review –

For the review, the teacher will read a sentence to the class implementing a non-fluent reader, and then read it again using fluency. “I am going to read a sentence to you as if I was not a fluent reader. Thhhheeee cccccaaaaaattttttt jjjjjuuumppeeddd iiiinnnn thhhhee aaaaiiirr. This is not how we want to sound when we read. Did you notice how slow and choppy it was? This is how we want to read – The cat jumped in the air. See how well it flows? Doesn’t it make more sense now that you can understand the sentence? This how we read when we become great readers because we read fast and smoothly. I read with speed and accuracy because I knew the words and I paid attention and look at the text as I read.

Explain How –

“Now class it is your turn to practice becoming fluent and we will accomplish this by having partners and sentences that you will read 3 times.”

Model –

“ This is called speed-reading. We want to see how fast your time improves with each read aloud. Whoever reads, the other person will time and see how fast the first read aloud takes, then the 2^nd, and then the 3^rd. You all should improve greatly from your first read aloud to your 3^rd because by that time you are familiar with the words and can focus on saying then faster.”

Simple Practice -

While being able to read fast is important, it’s not the only thing we want to accomplish with this lesson. After you are finished with the speed-reading, I want the pairs to read to each other a decodable book (either Liz is Six or Bud the Sub). With this activity I want you to read it three times, like you did with the sentences, and see if you have made any other improvements besides becoming faster (did you remember more words, was your reading smoother, etc.). The observer needs to fill out the fluency check list when their partner reads.

6. Whole Text –

The students will read the selected books ( each pair should have one copy of each book, and the student should choose what book they each want to read, if they have a preference). We will stop when they have filled in all of the charts. When they are finished, each student will talk to their partner to see how they did.

7. Assessment –

I will take up the Speed Record Sheet and the Fluency Literary Rubric and compare the first and last readings. All of the students should have increased each time dramatically and have a better understanding of what fluency should sound like. The class will also have a discussion about Liz is Six and Bud the Sub to make sure they comprehended the text correctly.

References:

Moore, Micah. Ready Set Go! http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/constr/mooregf.html

Murray, Bruce. Reading Genie Website. “Developing Reading Fluency.” http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/fluency.html

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