Slither into Reading with Snakes
Growing
Independence and Fluency
Rationale:
Reading fluency plays a very important role in a child���s reading
development and success. A child is considered a fluent reader when
they are able to recognize words automatically, and with ease. This
lesson is designed to help students increase their fluency by reading
and rereading text to become familiar with it. Children will be able to
recognize the importance of being a fluent reader. They will see how
much easier it is to gain meaning and understanding from what they are
reading when they don���t have to struggle to pronounce each word.
Materials:
Dry
erase board and markers
Example
sentences
A
copy of Great Snakes for each student.
Timer
or stopwatch for each group.
Procedure:
1.
Class
today we will be learning how to become for fluent readers. A fluent
reader is someone who knows words when they see them. The more fluent
readers we are, the better we will understand what we read because we
won���t have to stop to sound out words! Today
we are going to be reading and rereading the book
Great Snakes. When we reread a book it helps us to become familiar
with the book. This helps us read the book more fluently.
2.
Well I am going to show you. Look at the sentence I have
written on the dry erase board. (Sentence written on dry erase board
���Snakes eat bugs and rats and fish.) Snnnaaakkkeees eeeat buuugggs
and raats annndd fish. Do you think I read that fluently or not?
That���s right; I did not read that sentence fluently. Now listen as I
read the sentence again. Snakes eat bugs and rats and fish. Now
doesn���t that sound better! Can everyone hear the difference in the
way I read the sentence the first time and the way I read it the second
time? The second time I read it smoothly and with expression like a
fluent reader.
3.
Today we are going to read Great Snakes. This book is
all about snakes. It will teach you all kinds of interesting stuff
about snakes. For example did you know that a snake can eat a
crocodile? We are going to find out more interesting facts about snakes
when we read this book.
Don���t forget, that if you come to a word you don���t know,
it's ok. Take your time and sound out the word, cross check to make
sure it fits in the sentence, and re-read the sentence to make sure you
can understand its meaning.
4.have
been chosen I will hand out a fluency chart and stopwatch to each
group. I will explain to the students how to use the checklists and
give them a set time of one minute to read to each other. I will make
sure students understand that when they are not reading they should be
following along in the story with their partner so they will be able to
make the proper marks on their checklists. They will also have to count
how many words their partner read in one minute and write it on their
checklist.
Click here to return to solutions:
Assessment:
I will have the students re-read a portion of the book to me, and
compare my findings with the checklists given to me from their partner.
This will help me determine what reading level the student is on, and
what steps I need to take to move them to the next reading level.
References:
Robinson,
Faye (1996). Great Snakes. New York: Scholastic
Pickelsimer,Caitlin(2009)
Fluent Reading with Frog and Toad
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/projects/pickelsimergf.html
Blevins,
Hanna Lane(2009) Amphibian Friends
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/projects/blevinsgf.html