Ready, Set, Read
Growing Independence and Fluency
Rationale: For children to be able
to read adequately, they need to be able to read fluently and
skillfully. A reader that is fluent can recognize words automatically,
rapidly and accurately. Not only do fluent readers learn to read
quickly and smoothly but also with expression. The goal of this
lesson is to help students develop reading fluency using timed reading.
Materials: stopwatches, reading logs, frog reading sheet with
Velcro strips to the frog can hop to lily pad to lily pad, the book If
You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff.
Procedures:
1.
I will
introduce what it means to be a fluent reader and how important it is
to read with ease. It is very important that you read accurately
because fluent readers can better understand the text. We are going to
use some procedures that will help you read easier. To help increase
your speed and accuracy, we will do quick reads.
2.
I am going
to read two sentences. I want you to listen to both of the
sentences and hear the differences in them. Read one sentence by
sounding out every phoneme and the other one by reading it quickly and
smoothly. Ask which one was choppy and which was smooth. Read two more
sentences but this time make one dull and monotone and read the other
with expression. Ask which one they better understood the text. Explain
that by reading with expression and emotion reading can be fun and can
be easier to understand.
3.
Our first
activity will be to read If You Give a
Mouse a Cookie. We will be practicing increasing your
reading speed. We will be reading this book quite a few times to
increase your fluency along with reading faster. Book Talk: A little
mouse wants a cookie. While eating this cookie he wants a glass of
milk. He keeps wanting more and more. Read to find out what all the
little mouse gets into!
4.
I will set
the timer for one minute to begin the one-minute reading.
When I say stop I want you to write down how many pages you read. Do
not rush and write down words just to finish. Remember you are reading
for accuracy and fluency. Model what a one minute reading looks like. I
will read for one minute as quickly as possible reading as many pages
as I can. I will set the timer for one minute and I will stop when I
hear the timer go off. Then I will record my performance in my reading
log (one minute) (six pages). Lastly, I will move my frog on the six
page marker.
5.
Pass out a
copy of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie to each
student. Have the students do a quick read of the book. Have students
cross check when rereading the sentence to see if it makes sense. When
the buzzer goes off have students record their time and number of pages
read.
6.
Next, group
the students into pairs and have them do quick read with
their partner. Give each pair a stopwatch and have one person be the
timer and the other the reader. After a minute of reading switch roles.
Remind the students that they are reading for fluency and accuracy.
7.
To assess
every student, I would take up their reading logs to see
where they are in their speed readings.
Sources:
Ready, Set, Read by Beth Tyler
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/openings/tylergf.html