Ready, Set, Read!
Reading Fluently
Rationale:
For children to read fluently they must learn to read quickly
and smoothly. Their fluency should
increase over time with practice. Once children can decode words
automatically and effortlessly reading will become more enjoyable for
them.
This lesson will help children with fluency by having them
practice reading more smoothly and quickly.
Materials:
Marker board with the sentence ���The dog played with the boy in
the woods.��� written on it, individual pieces of paper with the
sentence ���The cat took a nap in the sun listening to the birds in the
park.���, a piece of cardboard with a track drawn on it for each
student, a small cutout of a race car for each student, a stopwatch for
each pair of students, several different books at different reading
levels, pencils
Procedure:
1.Let���s begin by
talking about how important it is for readers to read both quickly and
smoothly.
It sounds better when we read this way and helps us make sense
of what we are reading. When we understand what we are reading it makes
stories more fun to read. Let me show you
the difference. I am going to read a
sentence like a beginning reader would, than read the same sentence
like a good reader. Listen closely.
���T-he d-o-g p-l-ay-ed w-i-th the b-o-y i-n the w-oo-d-s.���
That didn���t sound right did it?
Could you easily understand what I was reading?
Let me read it again like a good reader.
���The dog played with the boy in the woods.���
Did that sound better? What was the
difference?
2.Now I want you to
get in groups of two. I am going to give
you a piece of paper with a sentence on it (The cat took a nap in the
sun listening to the birds in the park).
Read the sentence out loud to each other and pay close attention
to how it sounds. Then, read the sentence
silently to yourself five times. Reading to yourself several times will
help you with speed. Then, read the
sentence out loud to your partner again and notice the difference.
Which time sounded better?
Great job!
3.Now we are going
to try it with a real book. I will give
each pair a book. While one of you is
reading the other will 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!
4.After one minute
is up you will count how many words you read and place your race car on
that number on the track. 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 track 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 race car will get
farther and farther on the track. Ready, set, read!
Assessment: I will assess the students by looking
at their progress chart. They will mark on the track where they
began and where they ended and turn it in for me to evaluate.
References:
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/discov/orsogf.html