Vroom, Vroom to Fluency
On
our journey to become successful readers, it is important that we learn
to read fluently. Fluency is fast, smooth, and expressive reading that
sounds like speech. A good way to become a fluent reader is to read on
a regular basis and to repeat what you have read. Repeated reading
helps students gain a better understanding of the text and become more
familiar with it. Fluent readers recognize words automatically and with
this automatic recognition, students will improve their reading skills.
This lesson is designed to help students learn strategies that will
help them to read fluently and become more successful readers.
Materials
Class
set of the book Henry and Mudge and a Very Merry Christmas
Class
set of laminated banana tree illustrations with words per minute on
them from 0-85
Class
set of erasable markers
Class
set of Velcro monkeys
Class
set of stop watches
Class
set of speed record sheets
Pencil
for each student
Procedure
1.
I will start the lesson by explaining to the students the meaning of
fluency and why it is important that we become fluent readers." Today
boys and girls, we are going to learn about fluency. Fluency is fast,
smooth, and expressive reading that sounds like speech. It is important
that we read fluently, so that we can gain a better knowledge of the
text that we are reading. Reading fluently sounds like a conversation
that you may have with your friend. When we talk to our friends do we
say things like "Hiii to-to-today I -a-a-am
go-going to the ga-ga-game"? Of course not, that sounds like a
broken record. It is important that we read fast, smooth, and
expressively, so that we won't sound like a broken record and
understand what we are reading.
2. I will now model for the students how to use
repeated reading to help them read fluently. "Now I am going to read a
sentence to you. If I read the sentence fast, smooth, and with
expression, I want you to say vroom, vroom like a race car. If I
don���t read the sentence fast, smooth, and with expression, I want you
to say pit stop." During the first reading, read the sentence with
hesitation and pauses. "H-Hn-Henry's b-b-big d-dog Mud-Mudge lov-loved
Chr-Christmas t-t-time." You are correct! I need to take a pit stop! I
did not read the sentence with fluency. "Now re-read the sentence using
a fast, smooth, and expressive voice. Explain to the students that when
re-reading a sentence, they must start the sentence over to get back
into the story. "Now listen as I read the sentence a second time,
starting at the beginning of the sentence. "Henry's big dog Mudge loved
Christmas time." Vroom, vroom, you are correct! I did read the sentence
fluently using a fast, smooth, and expressive voice. This time I read
the sentence faster because it was my second time reading it. Repeating
the sentence helped me to practice and become familiar with the text.
Okay, who can raise their hand and tell me what fluency is? Right,
fluency is reading fast, smoothly, and with expression.
3. Tell the students that they are going to
work on their reading fluency by doing independent repeated reading.
"To help you improve your reading fluency, you each will independently
read
Henry and Mudge and a Very Merry Christmas two times
for one minute each. After each minute is up, you will make a tally
mark where you stopped and count how many words you read that minute.
Then write how many words you read each minute on the Speed Record
Sheet, in the section titled independent reading. After each reading,
it is important that you also move your monkey along the tree, so the
monkey can reach the bananas. This will help you to see your fluency
improving with each repeated reading. Remember, we want to read like we
are having a conversation with our friends, so try to make all the
words flow together smoothly." Pass out the class sets of Henry and Mudge and a Very Merry
Christmas, the Speed Record Sheets, and the laminated banana tree
illustrations with accompanying Velcro monkeys.
4.
Give the students a book talk to get them interested in the story.
"Henry is a young boy and he has a big dog name Mudge. Henry and Mudge
both love Christmas time and they enjoy giving Christmas gifts. Henry
and Mudge decide to make special Christmas gifts for Henry's family. To
find out what gifts Henry and Mudge make, you will have to read the
book." Model how to re-read a passage from the text. "I am going to
read a sentence from the book to you in different ways. After I am
finished, I want you to tell me which sentence was read using fluency.
During the first reading, read the sentence choppy and slow. "Hhh-Henry
and Mudge w-w-went in-into t-t-the kit-kitchen t-t-to help." During the
second reading, read the sentence fast and smoothly. "Henry and Mudge
went into the kitchen to help." Great job, I did read fluently during
the second reading because I re-read the sentence and became familiar
with the text.
5.
Teach the students about the cover up method before they start
independent reading. "it is okay if you do
not know all the words in the book. When you come across a word that is
unfamiliar to you, use the cover up method. The cover up method helps
us recognize words automatically when we see them in the future, and it
helps us improve our reading fluency. I am going to show you how to use
the cover up method." Write the word cat on the board. "If I were
reading and came across the word cat, I would use the cover up method
to help me pronounce it if I didn't know how. I would cover up every
letter except for a." Cover up the letter c and t. I know that the
letter a makes the /a/ sound. Now look at what comes before the letter
a, the letter c. Blend them together to get /ca/. Now uncover the
letter t for the students. "Now look at the letter at the end of the
word t=/t/. Put it all together and you have the word /cat/. Whenever
you see unfamiliar words use the cover up method to help you figure it
out.
6.
After the students have read the book twice independently and recorded
how many words the have read on the Speed Record Sheet, pair each of
the students in groups of two. "Now I am going to pair you in groups of
two. You each will do a one minute read to your partner, and record how
many words you have read on the Speed Record Sheet section titled
partner reading. Be sure to move your monkey up the chart to see your
words per minute progression. One student will read while the other
student operates the stopwatch and then you will switch. Try to read
with accuracy and expression." Show students how to use the stopwatch.
When your stop watch is ready and your partner is ready to read, say on
your mark get set go." Walk around the room observing the students as
they read.
7.
Assessment: I will call each student up to do a one minute read with me
to individually assess their reading fluency. I will then record how
many words the students read in that minute on the Speed Record Sheet
titled Teacher Fluency Assessment. I will collect the student's Speed
Record Sheets to see how the students have improved from reading
independently, to reading for a partner, and to reading for the teacher.
Name_________ Date___________
Speed
Record Sheet
Independent
Reading
First
Minute: _______ words read
Second
Minute: _________ words read
Partner
Reading
First Minute: _______ words read
Teacher
Fluency Assessment
First
Minute: _______ words read
References
Miller,
Tiffany. Poof Let's Become Fluent!
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/persp/millergf.html
Rylant,
Cynthia. Henry and Mudge and a Very Merry Christmas.(2004).
Scholastic Inc. New York, Ny.