Fluency
is Fabulous
Growing
Independence and Fluency
Reading fluency is being
able to read with automatic word recognition. When readers become fluent they
will read more accurately, quickly, and with more expression. The strongest
research evidence supports the method of repeated to gain fluency. The goal of
this lesson is to improve student’s fluency through repeated readings and timed
reading.
Materials:
1. Student copies of Frog
and Toad Are Friends
2. Stopwatch or timer for
teacher and each pair
3. Fluency Checklist for
each student
4. Reading Record time
sheet for each student
5. Cover up Critter for
each student (Popsicle sticks with googly eyes)
6. Chart paper with,
“Reading is so much fun!” written on it
7. Pencils for each student
Procedures:
1. The teacher should introduce the lesson by saying “We are going to be
learning how to become better fluent readers today”. Fluent reading is important
because the better we get at reading, the easier it is to understand what we are
reading The more that you practice, the faster you’ll get and the better you’ll
get! Everyone here wants to be a good reader, right? Well today we’re going to
learn how!”
2. Put the sentence strip on the board that reads: Reading is so much fun.
First the teacher will read the sentence slowly without expression.”I-i-i-t i-i-i-s
f-u-u-u-n t-o-o-o r-e-e-e-e-a-d.” Then read it smoothly with expression. “It is
fun to read!” Then you will ask the class “can you tell a difference between the
first time I read and the second time I read?” “Which time was harder for you to
understand?” When I read the first time you could hardly understand the sentence
I was forming, this is because I was not reading fluently. Today we are really
going to focus on reading smoothly, with expression, and quickly so that others
can understand what we are reading.
3. ”When you are reading and you come across a word that you do not know you
can use your cover up critter to figure out the word” “I will show you an
example, Write the word stomp on the board. “First, I am going to find the vowel
and cover up all the other letters. The vowel is o, I know that short a
makes the /o/ sound. Then I will uncover all the letters before the vowel, which
in this case is s-t- I will pronounce that /s/t/o/ then I will
uncover the rest of the word and sound it out. /m/p/. If you still cannot
read the word after you use the cover up critter, then you can ask your partner
for help.
4. Engage Students in a book talk about the story Toad and Frog Are
Friends. Book talk: “This story is about Frog and Toad and the friendship
they have. Frog and Toad go through some hard times together. Frog gets sick,
but what will Toad do?... We’ll have to read to find out what happens! How would
you react if your best friend got really sick? Lets read to find out what Toad
does!”
6. The teacher should now tell the student about their repeated reading
activity. Say “Today you guys are going to work in pairs to read your story! You
are going to do this by doing a repeated reading, and then using your checklist
to help your partner. Repeated reading is how really good readers get better at
reading aloud. When you read something a few times, the words get much easier to
read and easier to understand!
7. The teacher should now pair up students and assign them different spots in
the room. Each pair of students should receive a copy of
Frog and Toad Are Friends, a timer,
two reading time sheets, two reading checklists and their cover up critter.
8. The teacher needs to take time to explain that one student will be the
reader and the other student will be the recorder. “You guys will just be
reading chapter one. Once you have finished reading the chapter you will switch
jobs and listen to your partner read the first chapter.” “The first person to
read will open the book a wait for their partner to tell them when to start”.
“The person that is the recorder will start the timer and let it run until their
partner has finished the first chapter.” “Be sure to stop the timer when you
partner is finished.” “I want you to record that time on your timer Record
Sheet.” “Then you will go through the fluency checklist after each time you
partner reads. Each of you will end up reading chapter one three times.” “Once
you have completed the fluency checklist and the Time Record sheet you will then
switch jobs.” “The person that was recording will now be the reader!”
11. The student will assess each student by looking over both the fluency
checklist and time sheet. The teacher should collect the Time record sheets and
use the formula: Words X 60 divided by amount of time in seconds spent reading.
This will be part of the assessment for each student.
12. Finally, the teacher
will assess the students by having each student come to the reading center and
read a passage from the book Frog and
Toad Are Friends. The teacher will time them and check for fluency and ask
them a question to assess their comprehension of the passage. The rest of the
students will be rereading the book at their desk.
References:
Campbell, Magen Fluent
Readers are Fabulous
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/awakenings/campbellgf.html
Toad and Frog Are Friends.
Lobel, Arnold. Harper Collins. 1979.
Time Record Sheet:
Name:______________________
Date:_______________________
1st Time:______________________
2nd Time:_____________________
3rd Time:______________________
Reading Checklist:
