Growing Independence and Fluency

Rationale:  The main goal and objective of reading is comprehension.  In order to comprehend children need to learn to read with fluency.  There are three criteria in order to be considered a fluent reader.  They are reading with speed, automaticity, and without effort.  The main objective of this lesson plan is to help students to be successful fluent readers.  I will accomplish my goal by teaching the strategy of rereading or repeated reading of a text.  By using the rereading technique students will be able to read a text quicker by picking up more sight words into their mind’s vocabulary storage.

Materials:

• Several copies of the book: Always Be Safe  By: Kathy Schulz
• Chalk board/ white board (Write two sentences on the board.  Example sentences: My mom and I went to the store to do some shopping.  We were at our grandmother’s house really late last night.)
• Stop watch (for one-minute reads)
• 1-minute reading chart; half a piece of poster board; to show students’ progress

Procedures:

1. Introduce the lesson to the students by explaining:  The whole point of us learning how to read is to learn and understand information, whether it’s to gain knowledge or for enjoyment.  We have been learning how to sound out words and make sense of what we have read.  The quicker we read with the least effort the better readers we will become; this is called reading with fluency.  So, let’s develop our fluent reading.
2. You already know the strategies called cover-ups and cross-checking.  When you are reading a sentence and come to a word you do not know first you use the cover-up strategy.  We will use the word shock for example.  Sound out the vowel, then the first consonants, and finally the ending consonants.  (/o/ . . .  /sho/ . . .  /shock/)  Then once you say the word read the whole sentence over again to see if it makes sense.
3. Now I am going to model two different ways of reading: reading without fluency and reading with fluency.  Here is an example of disfluency: The plannn, plane will taaake off the grrrind, grouuund, ground in five minnnutes.  Now here is the same sentence, but fluent:  The plane will take off the ground in five minutes.  Do you see a difference?  In the first example it was difficult to understand what I was saying.  Also, it was hard to understand what I was trying to say, what my message was.  The second sentence was clear and fluent.  Everyone could understand what point I was making.
4. We are going to partner-up and read two sentences.  Two sentences will be on the board.  You will read one sentence and then your partner will read the other.  Keep alternating until your sentence sounds like a flowing river- all together.  (Sentences:  My mom and I went to the store to do some shopping.  We were at our grandmother’s house really late last night.)
5. Now that you had time with your partner to practice building your fluency strategy by rereading the sentences we will read a book.  I am going to see how much each of you grow in your fluency reading by charting one-minute readings.  You are going to read the story Always Be Safe.  This book teaches us different ways to be safe; From zipping up your coat to sitting properly in a chair.  You will find out why it is so important to be safe when you read the whole story. 
6. Have the students read Always Be Safe to you individually.  (Do a one-minute read as a pre-assessment.)  Ask the students some comprehension questions.  Example questions:  Why should you wash your hands before eating?  What might happen if you do not sit in your chair correctly?  What might happen if you don’t zip up your coat?  Why should you be safe?  (When you are taking one-minute readings from individual children have the rest of the class read silently.)
7. Then have the students read the story again (this time with a partner).  Then have all the students perform a coral reading by splitting up into two groups.  (The two groups will read aloud by alternating pages.)
8. Assessment:  Have the students read the story to you one last time individually.  Take a one-minute reading again.  Also, ask the same comprehension questions as asked earlier.  Chart their pre-assessed times along with their post-assessed times.  Share the data with the class to show their growth.

Reference:

Choron, Anna.  (2004.)  Read Like the Wind.

Gainor, Brandi.  (2004.)  Go, Speed Racer!!

Schulz, Kathy.  (2003.) Always Be Safe.  New York, NY: Scholastic Inc.