Flying Into Fluency

Growing Independence and Fluency Design 

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Rationale: This lesson aims to help students develop fluency in longer, more developed texts. Fluent readers can read quickly, accurately using blending, and read automatically. We want readers to be able to read with expression and emphasis, and comprehend what they’re reading. Students will be practice fluency by decoding, crosschecking, mental marking, and rereading. Through these steps, student will gain confidence in their reading and become fluent readers. 

 

Materials:  

            -      Pencils

            -      Stopwatch/timer for each pair

            -      Copy of Junie B., First Grader: Aloha-ha-ha! for each student

            -      Sample sentences on white board for modeling

            -      Peer fluency sheet (one for each student)

 

Procedure:

1. Say: Today we are going to become fluent readers! A fluent reader is someone who can read quickly and easily. They automatically recognize each word, which helps them understand what is going on in the story! We can practice this by reading a story more than once (rereading).  This will help us become familiar with the story and allow us to read with emphasis and expression. 

 

2. Say: Now let’s read the sentence I’ve written on the board. [Jack likes to play with the dog.] I’m going to read it and I want you to tell me if I sound like a fluent reader. J-j-j, /a/-/a/, ck, Jack, l-l-l, /i/-/i/-/i/, /k/-/k/-/k/, s-s-s, Jack licks to, p-p-p, l-l-l /a/-/a/-/a/, y-y-y, Jack licks to play with the, d-d-d, /o/-/o/-/o/, g-g-g, Jack licks to play with the dog. Wait, that doesn’t make sense. Oh! It says likes, not licks. Jack likes to play with the dog. Did you notice that when I read the sentence, I got stuck on the second word? To figure out what that word was, I reread the sentence from the beginning and tried to figure out what I thought the word “likes” said, since licks didn’t make sense. So I went back and reread the sentence to figure out what the word should read that would make sense. This strategy is called crosschecking.  Crosschecking is a very important step in becoming a fluent reader.  You should always crosscheck when you get stuck on a word. 

 

3. Say: Did I sound like a fluent reader when I read that sentence? No, I didn’t! I had to decode most of the words and it took me a long time. Here’s how a fluent reader would read that sentence: Jack likes to play with the dog. See how I read that sentence quickly and effortlessly?

 

4. Say: Today we are going to read Junie B., First Grader: Aloha-ha-ha! to practice our fluency.  This story is about Junie B. Jones and her vacation to Hawaii with her family!  Her teacher gives her a camera to capture some perfect pictures for a photo journal from her trip, but taking the perfect photo is not always easy.  Will Junie B. get enough perfect photos of Hawaii for her journal? Let’s read the book to find out!

 

5. Say: Okay, now we are going to get into pairs with our partners and show each other our great fluency skills! [Give each student a peer fluency sheet and give each pair of students a stopwatch or timer.] One partner will be reading first and the other partner will be tracking the time. The first partner is going to read the story three times. The reader will read the first chapter of Junie B., First Grader: Aloha-ha-ha!. The first read through will not be timed. The second and third time I want the second partner to keep track of the time it takes their partner to read it and also notice if your partner reads with fluency and if they are reading with expression. Also note if they change how they read after they have read each text a few times through. You should be able to see changes in fluency and expression. Now I want everyone to be a good partner and participate. Be encouraging to your partner and I will be walking around if you need any help. Remember to keep track of the time it takes your partner to read and what changes that they make. These will be turned into me at the end. Everyone start now! 

 

6. [Teacher collects peer fluency sheets after repeated readings are complete; assess each student’s fluency by using the following formula]:                                  words x 60                                                                                                        

                seconds

The teacher will have each student (working individually) write a short paragraph about what they learned in the story. They will also answer comprehension questions:

1. What all did Junie B. see and do while she was in Hawaii?

2. How does Junie B. act on the airplane? Is it appropriate to act this way? Why or why not?

3. Did Junie B. end up getting good pictures for her photo journal?

 

After using the formula to assess each student’s fluency, call each student up individually to read a few pages while the class is working on their writing assignment. The teacher will take note of words per minute and how the students’ fluency has improved.

 

Reference:

http://mjm0065.wixsite.com/melissamurphree/growing-independency-and-fluency

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

Park, Barbara.  Junie B., First Grader: Aloha-ha-ha!. New York: Random House, 2006.

Entries Index: http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/Entries.html

 

Peer Fluency Sheet

Fluency Checklist:

Title of Book: __________________________________

Student’s Name: ____________   Date___________

Partner's Name: ______________________________

After 2nd Reading       After 3rd Reading

_________                    _________                   Remembered more words

_________                    _________                   Read faster

_________                    _________                   Read smoother

_________                    _________                   Read with expression