First, Fluency!
Caitlin Brown
Rationale:
Fluent reading is crucial for comprehending. Students must practice expression, pace, and comprehension, in order to read effortlessly and with automaticity. The effortless word recognition will allow students to reflect on and comprehend what they are reading. Students will be able to be confident in reading and fluency with the help of reading, decoding, crosschecking, mental marking and rereading text. Students will be able to use the strategy of crosschecking after reading a decodable text and those repeated readings in order to gain fluency and independence in reading.
Materials:
· Pencils
· Timer/stopwatch for each pair
· Class set of Junie B. Jones: First Grader (at last!)
· Sample sentences on white board for teacher to model
· Peer Fluency Sheet (one for each student)
· Reading Rate forms for teacher
· Teacher Fluency Check (one for each student) with attached comprehension questions
Procedures:
Introduction:
1. Begin the lesson by saying, “Alright class, you all have been doing great at reading and getting better at reading different kinds of texts and books. Today we are going to work on taking our reading to the next level, becoming fluent readers. We know that our goal is to become fluent readers, but what does becoming a fluent reader mean? What do you think of when I say a fluent reader? (Wait for responses.) Well, fluent readers are able to read text quickly, smoothly, and with expression because they are able to recognize words automatically without having to stop and think about it. Fluency is also able to help us understand or comprehend what we are reading because we don’t have to stop and analyze or decode each word. This makes our reading more enjoyable.”
2. Say: Now let's look at a sentence written on the board: Ted saw a dog on the road. Everyone put your listening ears on. I want you to tell me if I sound like a fluent reader when I read this sentence aloud to you. “T-T-T, /e/-/e/-/e/, d-d-d, Ted, s-s-s-s /A/-/A/-/A/ w,w,w a d-d-d, /o/-/o/-/o/, g-g-g-g, on the r-r-r, /oa/ /oa/ /oa/, d, d, d, road. Ted saew a dog on the road? Hmm that doesn’t make sense, Ted wouldn’t saew, that’s not even a real word. Ted saw a dog on the road? Saw! That makes more sense!” Did you notice that when I read the sentence, I got stuck on the word in the middle? In order to figure out what that word was, I reread the sentence from the beginning and tried what I thought the word saw said the nonsense work seaw. That did not make sense, did it? So, I went back to reread to figure out what the word should read that would make sense. This strategy I used is called crosschecking, and it is very important to use when we are learning to become fluent readers! Since I was able to figure out these hard words while reading, it helped me become more fluent. Thumbs up if you think I read that like a fluent reader. (Wait for responses) Exactly, I was NOT reading like a fluent reader because I had to decode the words in the sentence in order to be able to read them. Here's how a fluent reader would read that sentence: Ted saw a dog on the road, (I read the sentence effortlessly), and it was much easier to understand! Now turn to a partner and practice reading the second sentence on the board. Dave the duck cheered, playing in the rain! Read it aloud to one another until you read fluently.
3. Say: “Now let’s think back to when I read the first sentence aloud to you and when I got stuck on the word saw. To figure out what that word was, I reread the sentence from the beginning and tried what I thought the word said, saew. That did not make sense, did it? So, I went back to the text to reread to figure out what the word should have said to make sense. This strategy is called crosschecking, and it is very important to use when we are learning to become fluent readers!”
4. Assign partners for each students’ and pass out the books. “Now we are going to practice being fluent readers by reading the Junie B. Jones book, Junie B., First Grader (at last!). Something exciting is happening in Junie B’s class. Hurray, hurray!—it is a brand new school year for Junie B., but she is not excited because, first grade means a new classroom, a new teacher, and new friends, but the worst thing of all is they write on a chalk board and Junie B. cannot read the words, she cannot seem to see what everyone else is seeing… We’ll have to read and find out what Junie will end up doing about not being able to see... ”
5. Students should read the first three pages silently to themselves. Then they should each read a chapter aloud to each other. Explain to students that while they are reading not to stop and help each other out.
6. Pass out the recording sheets and stopwatches to each group of partners. Say: “Now we are going to play a fluency game. Please put your listening ears back on to hear how to play the game! Reader 1 is going to start the game off and Reader 2 will be in control of the timer. Reader 2 is going to time Reader 1 reading the first two pages of the book, and then they will record the time on the sheet I have given to you. After recording the information, Reader 2 will swap places with reader 1 and read, and Reader 1 will swap with reader 2 and record. Do this procedure three times each. As you are listening to your partner reading the pages aloud, I want you to listen to how their reading changes each time. Does your partner remember more words, do they read with more expression? Mark the changes you notice on your paper. Let’s get started!”
7. After the student pairs have each read through the pages three times, have the students to come one at a time, read a paragraph from the first two pages. Ask them to bring their record sheet so you can attach it to the back of my assessment sheet. You will time them on the paragraph read aloud, and then use the formula given to record how many words they are able read per minute.
words x 60/ seconds read
Use a list of comprehension questions to assess how their fluency is affecting their comprehension.
References:
Abigail Rickerson, Something Smells Like Fluency
https://acr0040.wixsite.com/abbyrickerson/growing-independence-and-literacy
Emily Mitchel, A Growing Independence and Fluency Lesson
https://sites.google.com/site/thefluencyfox/
Park, Barbara. Junie B. Jones: First Grader (at last!)
Fluent reading is crucial for comprehending. Students must practice expression, pace, and comprehension, in order to read effortlessly and with automaticity. The effortless word recognition will allow students to reflect on and comprehend what they are reading. Students will be able to be confident in reading and fluency with the help of reading, decoding, crosschecking, mental marking and rereading text. Students will be able to use the strategy of crosschecking after reading a decodable text and those repeated readings in order to gain fluency and independence in reading.
Materials:
· Pencils
· Timer/stopwatch for each pair
· Class set of Junie B. Jones: First Grader (at last!)
· Sample sentences on white board for teacher to model
· Peer Fluency Sheet (one for each student)
· Reading Rate forms for teacher
· Teacher Fluency Check (one for each student) with attached comprehension questions
Procedures:
Introduction:
1. Begin the lesson by saying, “Alright class, you all have been doing great at reading and getting better at reading different kinds of texts and books. Today we are going to work on taking our reading to the next level, becoming fluent readers. We know that our goal is to become fluent readers, but what does becoming a fluent reader mean? What do you think of when I say a fluent reader? (Wait for responses.) Well, fluent readers are able to read text quickly, smoothly, and with expression because they are able to recognize words automatically without having to stop and think about it. Fluency is also able to help us understand or comprehend what we are reading because we don’t have to stop and analyze or decode each word. This makes our reading more enjoyable.”
2. Say: Now let's look at a sentence written on the board: Ted saw a dog on the road. Everyone put your listening ears on. I want you to tell me if I sound like a fluent reader when I read this sentence aloud to you. “T-T-T, /e/-/e/-/e/, d-d-d, Ted, s-s-s-s /A/-/A/-/A/ w,w,w a d-d-d, /o/-/o/-/o/, g-g-g-g, on the r-r-r, /oa/ /oa/ /oa/, d, d, d, road. Ted saew a dog on the road? Hmm that doesn’t make sense, Ted wouldn’t saew, that’s not even a real word. Ted saw a dog on the road? Saw! That makes more sense!” Did you notice that when I read the sentence, I got stuck on the word in the middle? In order to figure out what that word was, I reread the sentence from the beginning and tried what I thought the word saw said the nonsense work seaw. That did not make sense, did it? So, I went back to reread to figure out what the word should read that would make sense. This strategy I used is called crosschecking, and it is very important to use when we are learning to become fluent readers! Since I was able to figure out these hard words while reading, it helped me become more fluent. Thumbs up if you think I read that like a fluent reader. (Wait for responses) Exactly, I was NOT reading like a fluent reader because I had to decode the words in the sentence in order to be able to read them. Here's how a fluent reader would read that sentence: Ted saw a dog on the road, (I read the sentence effortlessly), and it was much easier to understand! Now turn to a partner and practice reading the second sentence on the board. Dave the duck cheered, playing in the rain! Read it aloud to one another until you read fluently.
3. Say: “Now let’s think back to when I read the first sentence aloud to you and when I got stuck on the word saw. To figure out what that word was, I reread the sentence from the beginning and tried what I thought the word said, saew. That did not make sense, did it? So, I went back to the text to reread to figure out what the word should have said to make sense. This strategy is called crosschecking, and it is very important to use when we are learning to become fluent readers!”
4. Assign partners for each students’ and pass out the books. “Now we are going to practice being fluent readers by reading the Junie B. Jones book, Junie B., First Grader (at last!). Something exciting is happening in Junie B’s class. Hurray, hurray!—it is a brand new school year for Junie B., but she is not excited because, first grade means a new classroom, a new teacher, and new friends, but the worst thing of all is they write on a chalk board and Junie B. cannot read the words, she cannot seem to see what everyone else is seeing… We’ll have to read and find out what Junie will end up doing about not being able to see... ”
5. Students should read the first three pages silently to themselves. Then they should each read a chapter aloud to each other. Explain to students that while they are reading not to stop and help each other out.
6. Pass out the recording sheets and stopwatches to each group of partners. Say: “Now we are going to play a fluency game. Please put your listening ears back on to hear how to play the game! Reader 1 is going to start the game off and Reader 2 will be in control of the timer. Reader 2 is going to time Reader 1 reading the first two pages of the book, and then they will record the time on the sheet I have given to you. After recording the information, Reader 2 will swap places with reader 1 and read, and Reader 1 will swap with reader 2 and record. Do this procedure three times each. As you are listening to your partner reading the pages aloud, I want you to listen to how their reading changes each time. Does your partner remember more words, do they read with more expression? Mark the changes you notice on your paper. Let’s get started!”
7. After the student pairs have each read through the pages three times, have the students to come one at a time, read a paragraph from the first two pages. Ask them to bring their record sheet so you can attach it to the back of my assessment sheet. You will time them on the paragraph read aloud, and then use the formula given to record how many words they are able read per minute.
words x 60/ seconds read
Use a list of comprehension questions to assess how their fluency is affecting their comprehension.
References:
Abigail Rickerson, Something Smells Like Fluency
https://acr0040.wixsite.com/abbyrickerson/growing-independence-and-literacy
Emily Mitchel, A Growing Independence and Fluency Lesson
https://sites.google.com/site/thefluencyfox/
Park, Barbara. Junie B. Jones: First Grader (at last!)