The Fast and the Fluent

Growing Fluency Reading Design

By: Kathryn Foy

Rationale:

In order for children to really enjoy reading, and also, to better understand what they are reading, it is critical they learn to read fluently. When children can read fluently, their effort transfers to comprehension rather than the mechanics of reading. The task becomes effortless and automatic, and fluent readers read speedily and with expression. The goal of this lesson is to help children develop fluency, particularly by increasing their reading speed. They will do this using timed one-minute readings and by reading and rereading a decodable text, which is a proven necessity for fluency development.

Materials:

1. Book, Fun in the Hills (Enough for each reading pair)

2. Graph to chart reading time (per student)-- numbers count up on the side

3. Partner Check sheet (per student)

4. Speed Reading Record (per student)

5. Stop Watch (per student)

6. Dry erase board with markers

Procedures:

1. The lesson will begin by explaining the definition of fluency to the students.

SAY: “Fluency is reading smoothly and quickly, not sounding out each word. Fluency is also reading with expression in your voice! One way to become a fluent reader is to read a piece of text more than once. The more you read, the better you will become and the more familiar you will become with the words you read. Today we are going to develop our fluency by rereading a text.”

2. Using a dry erase board and markers, write a sentence. An example sentence could be “I have a cat, and his name is Cam.” Next, review the steps in decoding.

You could begin by asking a question: “What should you do if you do don’t know a word?”.…(answer: use a cover-up critter)

Say, “That’s right! You should use your cover-up critter to help you decode. Let’s practice on the word cat. Let’s all look at the word CAT on the board.”

Using the dry erase board, write the following steps down as an example:

--“We begin by finding the vowel. The rest of the word is covered up. The vowel in cat is a, but it is necessary to read on to hear if it says /a/ or /A/. There is no silent e or any other vowels in this word, so this letter a must make the crying baby /a/ sound that we learned about. I can look at the beginning of the word now, and there I see the letter c, /c/, and I add it to my crying baby /a/ to get /ca/ then blend /ca/ with the last sound /t/ and we get cccaaatttt, cat. “Now let’s check and see that I blended correctly. Let’s reread my sentence to make sure cat make sense.” (I have a cat, and his name is Cam.)

3.) Say, “Now I am going to read a sentence to you that I will write on the board. The first time I am going to read the sentence without fluency and then I will read it with fluency”. (Write “I like to play with my cat” on the board.) The teacher will then demonstrate reading with fluency and without fluency, “I l-i-c-k, I mean I l-i-k-e t-o p-l-ay w-i-th m-y c-a-t. “What did you notice about my reading?” It wasn’t very smooth, was it? Did anyone have a difficult time understanding me? —Yes, you are right. This happens a lot when we read, but the more we read the same words, the better we get at recognizing them. Now I will read the same sentence in a different way. I want each of you to listen and see if you notice a difference in my reading. This time I’ll read it fast and fluently—see if you can tell the difference. I like to play with my cat (reads sentence). Ask, “Did anyone notice anything different between the first time and second time I read it? That’s right! This time was much easier to understand because I spoke smoother. Today we will practice by decoding first and then rereading the text to enhance our fluency.

4.) Now place students in reading groups of two and hand out the book, Fun in the Hills, to every pair. The groups will also need two reading record sheets, two partner checklists, and a stopwatch. Say, “Children, the book you will be reading is called Fun in the Hills. This book is about two boys named Ted and Sam who are going on a hike in the woods. We are only going to read the first chapter. In this chapter, they decide to rest on a log. Then they hear a mysterious hissing sound. You'll have to read to see what happens and where the hissing sound is coming from!”

5.) The reading partners will take turns reading the book and practicing their decoding and fluency. The teacher should walk around the room observing and taking notes. If one group finishes, they should reread the story one more time.

6.) Say, "For this activity, each of you will have the job of being the reader and the listener. One of you will read while the other users the stopwatch to see how long it takes you to read the book. If you are the one using the stopwatch, press the button when your partner begins reading. As soon as they finish, press the button again to stop the counting and allow your partner to write down the number that's on the timer (demonstrate where to find the buttons). That number tells us how long it took them to read the story. Now the second time they read, it will be a little different. You will start and stop the timer just like you did the first time, you will also let them write down their time, but this time you will fill out your partner check sheet after they finish. If they remember more words you put a check; if they read faster, you put a check (demonstrate where to put a check). You will record on your partner’s check sheet after the second and third time reading. After the third read, you swap positions. If you were reading first, you are now in charge of the stopwatch, and if you used the stopwatch first, you are now reading."

6.) After they have completed their readings and graphed them, collect the charts. Use the charts and graphs for your assessment to see if their fluency has improvement and, if not, which students needs more help. How has it improved (read more smoothly, stopped rarely, read quickly)? I will ask questions to test their comprehension of the story. What were Ted and Sam doing? Why were they resting on the log?

References:

-KK Hines. On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!

http://kkh0010.wixsite.com/mshineslessondesigns/on-your-mark-get-set-go

-Amanda Godbee. Fluency for Fun.

http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/solutions/godbeegf.htm

Sims, Matt (2002). Fun in the Hills. High Noon Books

Partner Checklist

Bruce Murray:

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

Graph to chart time of reading