Go, Speed Reader, Go!
Stephanie McLure
Rational: In order for students to read in a timely manner, fluency is
needed. Gaining fluency is an important part of reading education.
Reading fluency includes automatically recognizing words. The goal of
this lesson is to increase fluency with timed one minute readings.
Materials: stopwatches, timer, reading logs to track reading
"distances", charts to track their progression (bar graphs that the
students can color in to see their speed changing), the book Authurâs
Reading Race by Marc Brown.
Procedure:
1. I will begin this lesson by explaining the importance of being able
to read fluently. It is important for you to read fluently because when
you do you understand the material easier. Today we will learn and
practice techniques to make us fluent readers.
2. Model for the students the following sentence by reading like a
non-fluent and fluent reader would read the sentences. I love to watch
the cars go around the track. They go very fast. Ask students if this
is how to read a story aloud: I l-o-ve t-o w-a-t-ch the c-a-rs g-o
a-rou-n-d the tr-a-ck. Th-ey g-o v-e-ry f-a-st. Did that sound good to
ya'll? Why didn't it? Now model to the students how a fluent reader
would read the sentences: I love to watch the cars go around the track.
They go very fast. Ask the student: Which way did yaâll prefer to hear
these sentences read? Which way was easier to understand? Why was it
easier?Reread the sentence with expression and enthusiasm, and explain
to the children how reading with expression can make reading fun and
easier to understand.
3. Explain to the children that we will be reading the book Authurâs
Reading Race. We re going to try and read this story several times and
see if our speed or fluency can increase. Give the children a book talk
on the book. In this book Authur learns how to read. He enjoys reading
so much that he reads all of the time. He reads so much that he reads
to his sister, in the car, to the dog, and when he goes to bed. Authur
wants to teach is sister D.W. how to read, but she says that she
already knows how to read. Authur does not believe D.W. and so they set
out to see if D.W. could really read. Do you think that D.W. can or
cannot read? You will have to read and find out.
4. Begin the students in the one minute read process. Explain that they
are going to read for one minute and then they need to write down how
far they got The goal is to read smoothly and accurately not to make up
the words and try and beat the clock. Model for the students a
one-minute read. Tell the students I will read as many pages as I
possibly can in one minute. I want each of you to time me while I read.
Remember to pay attention to the steps I take as I do my one-minute
read because each of you will be asked to do the same steps. Read the
book for one minute. I will now record my results in my reading log and
make the first column of my reading bar graph.
5. Give each student a copy of the book Authurâs Reading Race and their
reading logs and charts. Tell the students that you want them to do a
one-minute read like you modeled before. Remind the students to
cross-check when a word does not make sense or they do not know. Set
the timer. Announce, Go Speed Reader, Go! When the buzzer goes off stop
the students. Remind them to record the time and pages read in their
reading logs and color the first bar of their graph.
6. Divide the students into pairs. Have the students do one-minute
reads. Have one student read while the other operates the stopwatch.
Tell the students we will do the same one-minute reads in your groups.
Tell them we will do this five times. Remind them to record in their
reading logs and color their chart to see how they improve. Remind the
students to read with accuracy and also with expression. The teacher
should walk around the room observing the students and taking notes on
the studentâs progress.
7. For assessment I will take up the reading logs and the charts. I
will review each students work. I will pay close attention to see how
much each student has increased in fluency throughout the lesson. I
will also look to see if any students need individual help. I will also
take my notes from group observations during my assessment.
References:
Tyler, Beth.ãReady, Set, Read!ä
www.auburn.edu/`murraba/openings/tyle
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