Rationale: Children need to read faster and smoother to
read
fluently. Reading becomes much easier when children are able to decode
words
automatically and effortlessly. Children need to read and reread
decodable
words in connected text in order to achieve fluency. This lesson will
focus
on helping children to read faster and more smoothly.
Materials: Dry erase board and marker with the sentence,
My
dog is my best friend.
Pencils
Progress checklist: I noticed that my partner… after 2nd…after
3rd
reading…
remembered more words, read faster, read smoother,
read with expression
Stopwatch
Progress chart for each student (monkey climbing the tree for the
bananas)
Kite Day at Pine Lake from Phonics Readers. Educational Insights.
Procedures:
1.) Introduce the lesson with the following: “We all
want
to become successful readers and in order to do this we need to read
fluently.
This means fluency means that you can read faster without stopping to
decode
each word. Once you become fluent reading will be more fun and you’ll
enjoy
picking up books and reading. In order to practice this we’re going to
read
and reread books until we become more familiar with the text and begin
reading
faster.”
2.) “Let’s talk about what we do when we don’t know a
word.
Who can tell me one way to figure out a word we are not familiar with?
Cover-up,
very good. Let’s take the word ‘bat’ and go through the process of
cover-up.
We start by covering up all the letters except the vowel. Remember that
a
= /a/. Next let’s uncover the b and blend it with the /a/. Now we have
/ba/.
Last let’s uncover the t and blend it with /ba/ to get ‘bat’. Very
good!
When we have the whole word we want to remember to go back and reread
the
sentence.”
3.) Have the children read the sentence on the board
to
themselves then demonstrate both fluent and non-fluent ways of reading
the
sentence. “I’m going to read this sentence as a beginner might read it.
Listen
carefully to what it sounds like. M-y d-o-g i-s m-y b-e-s-t
f-r-i-e-n-d.
Did that sound right? Now let me read it again this time with speed. My
dog
is my best friend. Did that sound better that time? When I didn’t have
to
stop on each word it sounded much better. Now we’re going to practice
so
we can enjoy reading and make it sound good.”
4.) Pass out copies of Kite Day at Pine Lake,
(which
the children have already read) and have the children get into pairs.
Explain
the checklist and how to fill it out. Make sure the children understand
how
they are to evaluate their partner. “Now I want you to read the book to
your
partner and then have them read it to you. While you’re doing this I am
going
to pass out the checklist and you’re going to continue to take turns
reading.
When your partner is done reading the second time you’re going to fill
out
the checklist. You will also do this after your partner reads the story
a
third time.” The partners will read and then switch tasks so that both
get
a chance to read the story 3 times.
5.) For assessment I will pull the children to my
desk
and have them read the story to me. I will time them so that they are
only
reading for one minute. The first time they read I will find their
baseline
and then chart their improvement each time after that with their
progress
chart. Each time they increase with words I will move their monkey
further
up the tree. These charts will be kept in the classroom so it can be
continued
throughout the year.
Reference: Gainor, Brandi. Go, Speed Racer!
http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/begin/gainorgf.html
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