Objective: Students will be
able build fluency by reading poetry by cross checking or cover-up; the
students will use a time sheet to check for fluency and a sheet to
check their partner’s skills in increasing fluency.
Rationale: To learn to read and
spell words, students must not only learn that letters are symbols that
stand for phonemes, or vocal gestures, but also use their knowledge of
those letter sound relationships to decode and recognize words.
However, this is simply the beginning. In order to read fluently,
students have to recognize words effortlessly and automatically.
Because they do not have to concentrate on draining word identification
strategies, students will read faster, more accurately, and will
comprehend what they read. This lesson will help students build
fluency by concentrating on faster reading. Research shows that faster
reading is developed by repeated readings. Therefore, in this
lesson the students will practice fluency by reading and rereading
texts with a partner. They will then assess each other by giving
one minute reads.
Materials:
-White
board/markers
-Document Poster
with Text written on it for modeling.
-Bud is a sub.
-Bud the sub is not big.
-stop watches
(one per pair of students)
-paper for
making notes
-Decodable book:
Cushman, Sheila. Bud the Sub. (1990). Educational Insights. Carson,
California. (text used to model)
-Copies of the
Time Sheet (one copy per student)
-What I noticed
about my partner form (one copy per student)
My Honey Bear Book of Rhymes (1980) A Division of Unisystems, Inc.
The 20th Century Children’s Poetry Treasury by Jack Prelutsky (1999)
Random House Children's Books
The Random House Book of Poetry by Jack Prelutsky (1983) Random House
Children's Books
Procedures:
1. Introduce the
lesson by explaining the importance of fluent reading, “Today we are
going to practice our reading fluency. In order to become fluent
readers, you must become automatic with your words. Fluent
readers do not too much time figuring out the different sounds in each
word, they recognize them more quickly. Doing this makes reading much
faster, and it helps us to remember what we read. We are going to
work on reading faster today by reading poems many times to present in
The Reading and Poetry Theatre.”
2. Model
the strategies good readers use when they come to a word they do not
know (ex: cross checking, vowel first body/coda blending, and cover
ups.) “Let’s talk a little bit about what makes a good reader.
Some of the things that make a good reader are reading fast, smoothly
and with expression. I know you all know the difference of
reading fast and reading slow, but what about reading smoothly?
Reading smoothly means that you do not stumble over words by trying to
decode or figure out what the word is. Your words are to have a
constant flow that allows the sentence to make sense. Do you know what
reading with expressions mean? When you read with expressions,
you act out the words in the sentences. For instance, if you read
the sentence: She screamed, “No!” you would say it they way you
think she would have said it. If the girl screamed “No” you would
say it with more emotions than the girl just saying “No”. Let us
talk about some strategies that can help us become a better
reader. What would you do if you read a word and you did not know
what the word says? A good way to figure out that word is
to cover up part of the word leaving only the vowel. (Model reading the
word blunt. Cover up the –bl and the –nt. Leave only the u and
say ‘/u/’.) Once you know what the vowel says, you can add the
first part of the word. (Model: -blu. Say ‘/b/l/u/’). After you
blend the first part with the vowel, you can add on the last part of
the word. (Model: uncover the whole word. Say ‘/b/l/u/n/t/.’ If you
can’t figure out that tricky word this way, you can try another
strategy. A good way to figure the word out is to finish reading
the sentence.” I will allow the children to give some input on
how to decode unknown words.
3. I will
model how to reread a sentence to help increase fluency. Using a poster
with the words written displayed for all of the students to see.
“I am going to read a sentence from this book, Bud the Sub. I want you
to play close attention to how I am reading the sentence and tell me
what you notice about my reading after I am finished.” The first time I
will model reading the sentence slowly by decoding each individual
phoneme. “Bbbbuuuddd iiisss a s…s… (model the cover up strategy for the
word sub.) I will cover up the s and the b. I know that the letter u in
this word says /u/. I will add back the first part /s/u/.
/su/. Then I will add the last part, /su/ /b/. Oh sub, like a
boat that goes underwater! What did you notice about my reading? It was
slow. It took a lot of energy to read. I had to sound out each
word. It was choppy.” The second time I will model reading a little
faster by chunking the words, but I will not change the tone in my
voice. “I am going to read this sentence again, and I will try to speed
up my reading. Bud is a sub. What did you notice about my reading this
time? It is still choppy. It could be faster. I could add
expression.” The third time I will model reading fast and with
expression by changing my tone. “Bud is a sub (emphasize sub). Who can
tell me the difference between the first and last time that I read the
sentence? Which time did I read the most fluently? Notice
that each time I read the sentence, I read a little bit faster and with
more expression. This rereading skill is what you will be
practicing today.”
4. Guided
Practice: “To see if your fluency can improve by simply re-reading a
text, turn to the person next to you and take turns reading this
sentence three times. ‘Bud the sub is not big.’ In pairs, I want you to
discuss the differences you notice when your partner read the sentence
the first time and during the third time.”
5. Activity:
“You just saw how you’re reading improved by re-reading the same
sentence only three times. Now you are going to get a chance to speed
up your reading by reading a poem of your choice many times. I
know you will read faster every time you read your poem, because you
read faster when reading the sentence only three times. I want you to
read this poem enough times that you will feel comfortable in reading
all of the words faster and with lot of expression to be sure that you
keep the audience interested. After repeatedly reading your poem
to yourself, you will recite your poem to the class in the ‘Reading and
Poetry Theatre.’ Remember when reading to the class, you will want to
read your words fast and automatic.”
6. Show the
students several poetry books from which to choose their poem.
Have them take a book to their desk and select a poem. Once they
have chosen a poem, they must show the poem to me to ensure it is
consistent with their ability level range. After their poem is
approved, they may begin reading individually. After ten to
fifteen minutes, the children will chose a partner to practice reading
their poem. Have the students take turns timing each other while
they read their poems. They must write the time it took them to
read for each practice read they perform with their partner. “I am
going to give each pair a stopwatch. Take turns being the reader
and being the timer. The timer will time how long the reader
takes to read his or her poem and write it on their time sheet. Then,
take turns. I want you to do this at least five times for each
person. I would suggest reading your poem more than just five
times; I just want you to write down the time for reading at least five
times.” Walk around and monitor the pairs as they read to one another.
7. When the
students are finished reading their poems and timing each other in
partners, we will start Reading and Poetry Theatre. Volunteers
will read first, to help children get over the fear of being called on
and to allow them to calm themselves of any last minute jitters.
8. When the
students have presented their poem, they will receive a different poem
to read repeatedly to help increase their reading speed. After
the children have practiced repeatedly and they are comfortable with
the poem, I will have them read the poem to me individually for a timed
assessment. During the timed assessment, the students will fill
out the I noticed my partner form to get them to see the affect
re-reading has on fluency.
Assessment: -I will assess
the students’ time sheet and presentation using anecdotal notes I make
during the presentation. I will write suggestions for improvement
as well as praise to the students in these notes. -I will have
each student come to the table and perform a one-minute read for me
using the poem I gave them. I will note miscues, but first and
foremost I will assess how many words per minute they read.
Reference:
-Bud the
Sub. Educational Insights.
-Samuels, S. Jay
(1979). “The Method of Repeated Readings.” The Reading
Teacher. January. pp.403-408.
