Growing Independence and Fluency

Don't Be A Chicken, Fly High with Fluency!

GROWING INDEPENDENCE AND FLUENCY

Landry Foster

Rationale: For children to enjoy reading they must be successful. They feel more successful when they understand what they are reading and can read fluently. When children read fluently, their effort is now directed towards comprehension rather than decoding. The task of reading becomes effortless and automatic. Fluent readers read quickly and smoothly, and they can even add expression to their text. The goal of this lesson is to help children develop fluency, specifically by increasing their reading speed. They will do this by reading and then rereading a decodable text. Students’ improvement in reading fluency during this lesson will be tracked through repeated readings and charting reading times.

Materials:

Whiteboard and marker to write.
Cover-up critters.
Book by Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road? Jon Agee. (Dial books, 2006).
Projector
Partner Progress Checklist Sheet (per student)
Partner Reading Record (per student)
Stopwatch
Assessment Rubric (per student)
Reading Rate Progress chart (per student)
Stickers for graph

Procedures:

1. The lesson will begin asking students their favorite superhero. SAY: “What is your

favorite superhero’s super power? Does anyone like Superman? How fast can he fly? Did you know that as readers, our superpower is fluency? We can all become fluent readers and read fast.”

2. Explain to students what fluency in reading is.

SAY: “Fluent readers are able to read quickly, smoothly, and with expression because they recognize each word automatically. We also want to be able to read with expression! We can help our level of fluency by rereading passages multiple times. Every time we read, we become more fluent. We need to practice our readings so we can read smoother and quicker. Once we read faster, we want to add more expression to how we read, kind of like a storyteller! Today, we are going to work on our super power of fluency.”

3. Explain that now we are going to work on how we handle tough words when we read. Write a sentence on the board. An example is “I can see Superman fly fast in the air.”

SAY: “Okay, now we are all going to recall how to decode words in a sentence. What might we do if we don’t know a word? (Wait for an answer.) Right, we should use a cover-up critter! Let us practice with the word “fast.” Using the whiteboard write down these steps as you say them.

“First, we find our vowel. After we find the vowel, we cover up the rest of the word. The vowel in “fast” is a but it is necessary to continue reading to see if it says /a/ or /A/. There is not a silent e or any other vowels in this word, so this vowel must make our crying baby sound /a/. Now, I will look to the beginning of the word and I see the letter f, /f/. I add the /f/ to my crying baby /a/ to get /fa/. Now I have the beginning of my word and I can uncover the end to see /s/ and /t/. These two letters blend to say /st/. I can then blend /fa/ with /st/ to get /fffaaaasssttt/. Faassstt, fast.” Now let’s check to make sure I blended correctly. Let’s reread the sentence to make sure makes sense. Read with me.” (Point to the words as you read.) “I can see Superman fly fast in the air. That makes sense! Good Job.”

4. Say, “Now I am going read a sentence from Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road? By Jon Agee.”(Show page on a projector so that everyone can follow along.)

The teacher will model how to read with fluency and without fluency, “Why Did the Chi-ck-en cross the r-o-d. Cross the rod? That doesn’t make sense? Oh, cross the road. “To get to the oth-er si-de.” “What did we all notice about my reading? It was not very smooth or fast, was it? It does not sound like a superpower at all. This can happen when we read, but when we reread text we get better at recognizing it. Now I am going to read the sentence again. Tell me if you notice a difference in my reading.” Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road? To get to the other side. (Reads sentence.) “Did anyone notice a difference in how I read the second time? Right! It was easier to understand because when I read the second time, it was smoother and faster. I also was able to read with expression because I knew what I was reading. So, today we are going to practice decoding first and then we will reread to work on our fluency.”

5. SAY: “Now, we are going to pair up and read the book together.” Pair up students and

give a copy of Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road? Along with two reading record sheets, two partner checklists, and a stopwatch. “Okay! Everyone should have a copy of our book. This book is a fun story of why a chicken might have to cross the road. Can we think of some reasons why? (wait for answers.) All of those are great ideas! Let’s read to find out.” Explain to students that the first time they read the book, it may not sound perfect. But, as we reread the second time we get better and smoother, and by the third time we can even add expression. Flip to a page and model for the students. The first time read somewhat slowly and roughly. The second time, read a little faster. On the third read, read it with expression. “Now it is your turn to read! Read the whole story one at a time. Then reread it two more times like I did.”

6. Reading partners will take turns reading the book to practice their decoding and fluency.

The teacher will walk around to observe and take notes. If a group finishes early, they should reread once again.

7. (Pass out one stopwatch and partner reading progress checklist per student).

SAY: “Now, we are going to practice for speed. One partner will be the reader and one will be the listener. The listener will use the stopwatch to see how long it takes their friend to read the book.

- If you are using the stopwatch, press the button when your partner begins reading. Pay attention and make sure that you mark your partner’s mistakes as they are reading aloud. Make sure to place a tally mark for each mistake. (Demonstrate tally method on the board with projector).

- As soon as they finish, press the button to stop the timer. The partner that read will write down the number that is on the timer (Demonstrate how to use buttons and read result). The number on the stopwatch is how long it took them to read the story.

- Now we are going to do a math problem to solve for fluency. The subtraction problem is the total number of words minus number of checkmarks for each reading. This will be done each time you read. So, you have three different spots for a subtraction problem.

-Each partner will also fill out a checklist for their partner. As your partner reads, try and see if they improve with their reading after each turn. This sheet is only for kind comments; we aren’t critiquing each other! Look for remembering more words, reading faster, reading smoother, and reading with expression (like I showed you earlier).

- After the third time, you will swap positions. If you read first, now you will use the stopwatch. If you were the listener first, now you will read.

8. After both partners have read and recorded their results in the check sheets the teacher

will collect them. Pass out graphs and stickers for each student. (Allow each student to individually come up to the teacher and read the book out loud.) Use the charts and graphs for your assessment to see if their fluency has improved. The teacher will calculate WPM with the equation (number of wordsx60)/number of seconds. The teacher will encourage students to keep practicing by moving their superhero higher and higher each time they increase their words per minute. The teacher will also fill out the assessment rubric for each student to get an overview of the improvement in their reading. To ensure that students are also comprehending what they are reading, the teacher will also ask each student 3 comprehension questions:

1. What is one reason the chicken crossed the road?

2. What animals helped the chicken cross the road?

3. Who does the chicken run from to cross the road?

Partner Checklist