"Getting Ready to Read!"

Katie Mayo

Growing Independence and Fluency

Rationale: It is very important for children to improve their fluency in order to become a good reader.  By becoming a fluent reader they are able to recognize words automatically. A fluent reader's words flow well and they are able to read with expression.   Through this lesson, students will be able to become fluent readers. In order to do this, we will do one-minute timed reading lessons.

 
Materials:  Chart paper, and pencil, time sheet for each student, stopwatch for partners, Doc in the Fog (Educational Insight)

 
Time Sheet:

Date: _________________

Your Name:_________________    Your Partner's Name:_________________    

First time:__________

Second time:___________

Third time:__________

Procedures: 

 1.  I will begin by explaining to the students the importance of reading fluency. I will show an example of this by reading fluently and non-fluently. For example, as a fluent reader I will say, "I love to read." (Making sure it is smooth, not choppy, and flows well.) Then I will read it as a non-fluent reader. "Iiiii l.oooo.ve to r.eeeea.d." (Making sure to sound choppy and slow.)  I will then explain to the students that the more they practicing reading aloud that they will develop into a fluent reader, as well as recognize words automatically.

 2.  I will then introduce the book, Doc in the Fog with a book talk. "Doc is a wizard that turns things into different things. He taps the steam to see what it changes into. Let's read to find out what happens."

 3.  I will then get the students into pairs to read aloud to one another. One student will read aloud first while the other follows along. Then the second student will do the same.

 4.  Then I will have the students stay in their pairs and time each other while they read. They will time each other for one minute, and the partner that is not reading will record the amount of words that the reader got correct. They will fill this information out on the time sheet, by recording the amount of correct words each time they read. They will do this three times each to help increase fluency.

 5.  They will then turn in their recordings of their readings to me.

 
Assessment:  I will assess the student's by checking their recordings on the one-minute reads to see if fluency is increasing in each student.

 References:

 Doc in the Fog. .  Educational Insights 1990.

Bruce Murray. Developing Reading Fluency.

www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/fluency.html

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