The Fluency Buzz

 

  

 

Fluency Lesson Plan

 

By: Pamela Gaddis

 

 

Rationale: To become a successful reader, students must learn to read fluently.  This lesson will provide students with techniques for becoming a more fluent reader as well as provide them with repeated reading practice and partner feedback to help them increase their fluency level. By becoming a fluent reader a child increases his or her comprehension of text.

 

Materials: Chart paper, Markers, Pencils

 

Partner assessment sheet for each student: Did my partner read faster the third time? Did my partner read with expression? How many words did my partner read the second time? How many words did my partner read the third time?

 

Copy of Fuzz and the Buzz for each student by Shelia Cushman and published by Educational Insights in 1990.

 

Assessment Page: Fluency ratings; read smoothly, quickly, expressively, stopped frequently and miscue notes. Comprehension questions: Who is Fuzz? What does Fuzz do to get away from the bugs? What would you do?

 

 

Procedure:

  1. Explain to the students what it means to be a fluent reader and the importance. Being a fluent reader means you can read a story and recognize a majority of the words as they read. Remember when your parents read to you and when I read to you? People in this situation easily and quickly recognize words as they read them. They read with expression, they also read fast without sounding like a robot. They understand and remember everything they read. Becoming a more fluent reader you will be able to do this as well.

 

 

2.  Modeling fluent reading: Using chart paper, write the sentence: Ed took a nap. Begin by reading the sentence as a beginning reader. Remember to start with vowels when you are decoding then add the front and the back of the word. Edddd ttt-oo-kkk a nnn-aaa-ppp. Now that I have read the words and figured out the ones I did not know I am going to reread the sentence. Reread the sentence smoothly as a fluent reader, Ed took a nap. Since I have seen the words before and I have decoded them I am able to read the words in the sentence with less difficulty. This is why we read books over and over in our class. The more times you read it, the better and faster you can read it. When someone is making a speech in front of the whole school, they read their speech over and over. They have to practice a lot in order to be good.

 

  1. Today we are going to read in partners. Remember to use your word worm to help you decode any words you may not recognize.

 

  1. The Students will be divided into groups of two and give each student copies of the partner assessment sheet listed in the materials section to record the students reading progress. Each group will be given a copy of Fuzz and the Buzz.  Model how to use the assessment sheet by reading the book four times. During the first time read slowly stumbling over several words and having to decode them thoroughly. During the second time read less slow and decode only a few words. Then thirdly read a little faster and decode a few more words. For the last time read quickly and decode some words. Now pretend that you are the partner and check off the my partner read faster box. Explain other options to check briefly modeling/giving examples of each.

 

  1. Book Talk: Fuzz goes for a walk one day. So along the way he finds some nuts and tugs on them. As the nuts fall they hit Fuzz on his head and boy does he gets mad. Bees start to buzz around Fuzz and soon chase him. To find out what happens to Fuzz you must read the rest of the book.

 

  1. The students will begin reading Fuzz and the Buzz  out loud together to become familiar with this book. Next they will read approximately three more times to there partner. As they read the partner will put a mark on their assessment page to remember how many times that the story was read. Each partner will evaluate the other based on the assessment sheet that was given to them.

 

  1. I will walk around the room to help and monitor as they read to their partner.

 

 

Assessment: To start I will review the students progress chart that they filled out while sitting with their partner. I will pull any students having trouble reading Fuzz and the Buzz  and they will read to me. As the student reads I will make fluency notes about how they are reading like if they read smoothly, read with expression or stopped rarely. Individual assessments will require me to ask the students questions  to test comprehension of the story.

Question: Who was Fuzz trying to get away from? What did Fuzz do to escape?

 

Resources:

 

Cushman, S (1990). Fuzz and the Buzz. Carson, CA: Educational Insights.

Ashley Keel-Read, Read, Red Dog!

 

http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/

 

Yopp, H.K.&Yopp, R.H. (2000) Supporting Phonemic Awareness Development in the Classroom. The Reading Teacher, p. 54, 130-143.

              

 

 

 

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