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Fast, Fluent Readers Have More Fun!

A Growing Independence and Fluency Design

By Maggie Cox

 

 

Rationale:

Fluency allows readers to focus on comprehending a text and can be recognized as faster, smoother, more expressive reading with automatic word recognition. Fluency can be developed through the practice of reading and rereading decodable words in a connected text. This lesson will help children develop fluency through reading, decoding, crosschecking, and rereading. Fluency improvements will be measured using the formula: (words read x 60 / seconds). This will determine the students’ words per minute, which will be tracked using a fun fluency chart.

 

Materials:

Partner Reading Progress Check Sheets, Reader Response Forms, Stopwatches (1 per partner group), Henry and Mudge and the Happy Cat (copy for each student), Reading Rate Charts, Stickers

 

Procedures:

  1. Explain: Good readers read fluently, which means they are able to read quickly, automatically, and effortlessly. In order to become a fluent reader, we must practice repeated reading by rereading and rereading chapters or whole books until we become familiar with them. This helps us to recognize words and improve our sight vocabulary.

  2. Model: I’m going to read a part of a book for you a few different ways and I want you to tell me which reading sounds best. (Read passage once slow and choppy, making sure to include mistakes). “I z-omed to the back- zoomed to the back- of the rom, ‘oh’ room. And I climbd- wait, I climbed- on the stol to reach the facet…Oh, I climbed on the stool to reach the faucet. But Mr. Scary bet me to it…No, he beat me to it.” (Read passage again without errors, but do not include expression.) “I zoomed to the back of the room. And I climbed on the stool to reach the faucet. But Mr. Scary beat me to it.” (Read one last time adding smoothness and expression). “I zoomed to the back of the room. And I climbed on the stool to reach the faucet. But Mr. Scary beat me to it.” Take a class poll by asking for a show of hands. “Who thought the first reading sounded the best? (Allow students to vote). What about the second? (Allow students to vote). Who thought the third reading was the best? (Allow for vote). Why was the third the best? (Allow for student response). Right! The third sounded the best because it was smoother, faster, and even included expression. When I read fluently, it was a lot easier to understand what I was reading!”

  3. Say: “During the first reading, if I came to a word I didn’t know, I did my best to decode the word and then finished the sentence. After finishing the sentence, I used context clues to help me figure out the difficult word. This self-help strategy is called crosschecking. To crosscheck, it is important that I also go back and look at the word I had trouble with so I can remember any silent letters or funny pronunciations. That way, I’ll know how to read the word next time I see it! Eventually, this word will become a sight word. The more sight words we have stored in our brains, the faster we can read and become fluent.

  4. Now, we are going to read the first chapter of Henry and Mudge and the Happy Cat. Booktalk: “This book is about Henry and his silly dog named Mudge. One day, Mudge runs to the door and begins barking wildly. What could be on the other side of that door? I want you to read and find out!”

  5. Students will read with a partner. Display directions on the board or overhead projector: Each pair will receive 2 Partner Reading Progress Check Sheets, 2 reader Response Forms, 1 stopwatch, and 2 copies of Henry and Mudge and the Happy Cat.

  • After each partner gathers the correct materials, one partner will retrieve a stopwatch while the other partner counts, and double-checks, all the words in the first chapter of the book. Write this number at the top of both Partner Reading Progress Check Sheets.

  • One partner will take a turn reading through the whole chapter one time while the other partner uses the stopwatch to time his or her friend’s reading. Then, the partners will switch jobs and the partner who has not read yet will read the whole chapter one time.

  • Pay close attention to how many mistakes your partner makes and write an X for each one. After reading, count how many X’s you wrote.

  • Then, take the total number of words (written on the top of the Partner Reading Progress Check Sheet) and subtract the number of X’s.

Total words – Number of X’s = ______ words

       Write the answer in the blank on you Partner Reading Progress Check Sheet.

  • Continue switching jobs, with one partner reading while the other partner keeps the time and listens for mistakes, until each partner has read chapter 1 THREE times.

  • Once each partner has taken three turns to read, complete all of the reading calculations and answer the two questions at the bottom of the Reading Progress Check Sheet, deciding which turn was read the smoothest with the fewest mistakes.

  • Next, go back to your desk and write the answers to the reader response questions on a separate sheet of paper. Make sure to answer with complete sentences.

  • When I call your name, bring your checklists to me so we can calculate your 3 rates. Then, we will place stickers on your fluency chart to see your improvement! Place your answers to the comprehension questions in the tray by my desk.

 

Assessment:

I will review each student's responses to the reading response questions and the Partner Reading Progress Check Sheet to assess each student using a rubric.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References:

Cooper, Lana. Reading Genie Website. “Say ‘Aloha’ to Fluency.”   <https://sites.google.com/site/mscoopersreadinglessons/home/say-aloha-to-fluency>.

 

Joa, Katherine. Reading Genie Website. “Practice Makes Perfect”.   <https://sites.google.com/site/katherinesreadinglessons/home/practice-makes-perfect>.

 

Murray, Bruce. Reading Genie Website. “Developing Reading Fluency.”     <http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/fluency>.

 

Rylant, Cynthia. Henry and Mudge and the Happy Cat. Simon spotlight. June 1996. 48 pages.

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