Spooky Fluency
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.
Materials:
Marker board
with sentence, “Halloween is here, and we will
wear a costume.”
A haunted
house for each child with numbers indicating the number of words
read. The bottom of the house begins with the lowest number
and the top of the house has the greatest number.
Small cutout
of a ghost for each child
One stopwatch
for every two children
The Night
Before Halloween by Natasha Wing
Different
books of different reading levels
Procedure:
1. Introduce
the lesson to students by telling them how
important it is for readers to read both quickly and smoothly.
“This is
very important, because the faster we can read, the easier a story will
be for
us to understand. 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.
“Halloween is her, and we will wear a costume.” Read the sentence
slowly to the
students. Sound out some words slowly and model the silent
cover-up
method that they already practice 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. “Halloween is
here, and we
will wear a costume.” 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. “Tonight I am
going to be a ghost for Halloween.” 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 The
Night Before Halloween by Natasha Wing
to the students." This is a story about some scary monsters getting
ready
for Halloween. How many of you will get
read for Halloween? Let’s see how they
get ready for their big day. 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 ghost on the correct window of the haunted
house. 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 house 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 ghost will get higher
and higher in the haunted house. Let's see. Read!”
Assessment:
I will assess the students by looking at their progress
chart. They
will mark on the house where they began and where they ended and turn
it in for
me to evaluate. This allows me to assess the students individually. I
will also
assess informally by listening to the students as I walk around the
class.
Lewis, Naomi. Growing Fluency and
Wing, Natasha (1999) The Night Before
Halloween.
Grosset and Dunlap.
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