Miss. Clark's Lesson Designs

Fall into Fluency

 

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Growing Independence and Fluency Design

 

Rationale: This lesson is designed to help students develop fluency in longer, more developed texts. These fluent readers will be able to read and cognize words quickly, automatically, and accurately. Fluency is very important to comprehend the reading and make it more enjoyable. We know that we want readers to be able to read and reread decodable words in text, which will help improve both fluency and speed. Throughout this lesson, students will practice their reading fluency with their repeated reading of “Junie B. Jones is (Almost) a Flower Girl”. Students will use the strategy of crosschecking after readings to gain fluency and independence in reading.

 

Materials:

• Pencils

• Stopwatch/timer

• Class set of Junie B. Jones is (Almost) a Flower Girl

• Sample sentences on white board for teacher to model

• Reading rate forms for teacher

• Peer Fluency Sheet (one for each student)

• Teacher Fluency Sheet (one for each student) with attached comprehension questions

 

Procedures:

1. Begin the lesson my saying, “Good morning class, today we will be working on becoming fluent readers. We know that our goal is to become fluent readers, but what does that really mean? What do you think of when I say ‘fluent reader’? Wait for class responses. Fluent readers are able to learn quickly, smoothly, and with expression because they can recognize words automatically. This also helps us understand what we are reading, because we don’t have to stop and inspect each word. This makes reading more enjoyable.”

2. Say: Now, lets look at a sentence that is written on the board: Jan had bad ham for a snack. Okay class, be ready with your listening ears. I want you to tell me if I sound like a fluent reader with I read this sentence out loud. “J-j-j, /a/-/a/-/a/, n-n-n, Jan, h-h-h, /A/-/A/-/A/, d-d-d, had, b-b-b, /a/-/a/-/a/, d-d-d, bad, h-h-h, /a/-/a/-/a/, m-m-m, ham, f-f-f, /o/-/o/-/o/, r-r-r, for a s-s-s, n-n-n, /a/-/a/-/a/, ck-ck-ck, snack. Jan hade bad ham for a snack? Lets try that again. Jan had bad  ham for a snack. That does make sense. Did you notice when I read the sentence, how I sounded it out? To figure out what that word was, I reread the sentence for the beginning and tried to see what the word I was struggling on was and if it made sense after. Hade didn’t make sense, so I went back amd reread to figure out what the word should be. This strategy is called crosschecking, and it is every important to use when learning to become fluent readers. Since I figured out these difficult words while reading it helped me to become more fluent. Hold your hand up if you think I read that like a fluent reader, Correct, I did not read like a fluent reader because I had to decode each of the words in the sentence. Here’s how a fluent reader would read that sentence: Jan had bad ham for a snack, that time I read the sentence effortlessly and it was much easier to understand! Now I would like you to turn to a partner and practice reading the second sentence on the board. Sam found a blue ball in the street. Read it aloud to one another until you read it fluently.

3. Say: “Now, think back to when I read the first sentence when I got stuck on the word had. To figure out what that word was, I reread the sentence from the beginning and tried what I thought the word was, hade. That didn’t make sense, did it? So I went back to the text to reread to figure out what the word should say that would make sense. This strategy is called crosschecking, and it is very important to use when we are learning to become fluent readers.”

4. Give partners to each student and pass out the book. “Okay class, now we are going to practice being fluent readers by reading the book- Junie B. Jones is (Almost) a Flower Girl. Something exciting is happening in Junie B.’s life! Her Aunt Flo is getting married! Junie B. has never been in a wedding before. This is a great start to show how grown up she is becoming. The only problem is, Junie B. wasn’t picked to be the flower girl. I’m sure there is some way she can share the spotlight. We’ll have to read to find out what happens next!

5. 5. Students should read the first three pages silently to themselves. After that, they should be able to read each chapter aloud to their partner. Explain to the students that while they are reading to not correct their partner.

6. Pass out recording sheets and timers to each group of students. Say: “Now, we are going to play a fluency game. Have your listening ears on to hear how to play. The first reader is going to start the game off and the second reader will be in control of the timer. The second reader will time the first reader while they read the first two pages. Then, the second reader will record the time on the sheet that I have given each group. After recording the information, the second reader will read and the first reader will record. Do this three times in a row. As you listen to your partner read the pages out loud, I want you to be listening for how their reading will change every time. Do they remember the words they had a hard time with the first time reading? Do they read more excitedly? Make sure to mark the changes on your paper. Time to begin!”

7. After the student groups have read each passage three times, have the students come one at a time, to read the paragraph from the first two pages. Ask them to bring their record sheets so you can staple them to the back of the assessment sheet. You will instruct them to read the paragraph aloud, and use the formula given to record how many words they have read pre minute. The formula is words x 60/ seconds read. Use a list of comprehensive questions to assess how well their fluency is affecting their comprehension.

 

References:

 

Park, Barbara. Junie B. Jones is (Almost) a Flower Girl. https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/books/junie-b-jones-is-almost-a-flower-girl-by-barbara-park/

 

Rickerson, Abagail. Something Smells Like Fluency! https://acr0040.wixsite.com/abbyrickerson/growing-independence-and-literacy

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Return to Horizons Website

http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/horizons.html