Rational:
Materials:
-Stopwatch for each
group of students
-Tree reading chart for each student. Each student will have a
tree with
numbers counting by 5’s going up the tree. A monkey figure that
can move
up the tree (Velcro). Each time the student reads, calculate the
number
of words read correctly in one minute. Then move the monkey up
the tree
to the number of words read correctly.
-Chalk and chalkboard
-Book: Lee and the Team (Educational Insights book)
-Pencil and paper
Procedures:
1. Begin by explaining to students how important it is for readers to
be fluent
and give examples of a fluent and non-fluent reader. "Today we are
going
to practice reading passages fluently. When we read fluently we
read
quickly, smoothly, and with expression. When we read fluently our
reading
sounds good and reading becomes much more fun! Now, I'm going to
read a
sentence to you like a beginning reader would. I-I-I-I w-w-w-went
t-t-t-o
t-t-the s-s-s-store f-f-f-for m-m-m-my m-m-m-mom. That really did
not
sound smooth, did it? Now, I'm going to try and say it smoothly.
I went
to the store for my mom . Okay, that sounds much better. How
did I
make the sentence sound better?" (The kids should say...you read
it
quickly and smoothly. This time I read the sentence faster because it
was not
the first time I had read these words. Rereading the sentence
gave me
practice and helped me read the sentence fluently this time."
2.
I will do a book talk: "The seal is very
hungry and has a hard time picking out what to eat. He doesn't
really
like human food. What will he eat? Okay, you have to read
the book
to find out."
3. Pair students up. "Read the first sentence out of our book to
your partner. Then each of you read the sentence 5 times to
yourself. By
reading it over and over you will be able to understand it better and
read it
quickly and smoothly. Now, read the sentence to each other out
loud
again. Notice how each other reads the sentence." (Read sentence
out
loud to students.)
4. I
will give stopwatches to each pair of students. I
will tell them they are going to read the books to one another.
"One
person is to read the book while the other times for one minute.
Then
count the number of words read in one minute. Write down the
number of
words to keep track. The student then should move their monkey up the
tree to
the number of words in the book. Keep reading the same passage and book
3
times. Practice makes perfect." There are 102 words in the
book. Before turning the students loose to do the activity, model
timing
and reading for one minute. “Tommy is going to read the passage for me
while I
time him. When I say go, he is going to start reading and I am going to
push
the start button on the watch. After one minute, I am going to tell
Tommy to
stop while I push the stop button. Ready, go! Ok, stop! I stopped it at
one
minute and Tommy stopped reading. Now I am going to record the number
of words
that he read to keep track. Tommy will now move his monkey to the
number of
words that he read on the tree. He will reread the passage 3 more times
to
practice. Now it is your turn.”
5.
"Now that everyone has gotten all a turn to read
the story three times to practice write your name on the paper where
you wrote
down the number of words you read per minute."
6.
Assessment: Have students turn in paper with number of
words read correctly in one minute. There should be a steady
increase in
the number of words they were able to read in one minute.
References:
Cushman,
Shelia and Kornblum, Rona. Lee and the
Team Phonics Readers. Educational Insights, 1990.
Homan,
Amy. Crazy Racers!
<http://www.auburn.edu/reading_genie/innov/homangf.html>