Growing Fluency and Independence Lesson Design

Emma Kirkpatrick

 

Rationale:

In order for a reader to be successful, he/she must read fluently. Fluency in reading is when nearly all of the words you read are sight vocabulary. Some other results that come with fluency are expression and speed. Readers are able to achieve fluency by rereading text over and over again. A student must take part in repeated readings, where they decode words and begin to recognize words automatically. By doing this, students become fluent readers. In this lesson, students will become fluent readers by testing their reading speed. The fluency formula used to measure their reading speed is “words x 60 / seconds”. As the students are able to read faster, the teacher will chart the student’s reading time. Being able to read fluently allows readers to comprehend texts better, which leads them to better understandings of the text and successful reading.

 

Materials:

Pencils

Sentence strip “We ate a large lunch at school” (One for class)

Repeated Reading Checklist (One per student)

Stopwatch (One per group)

A copy of The Berenstain Bear’s Lemonade Standby Mike Berenstain (One per student)

Reading Chart (One per student) / Child-Friendly Graph

Teacher Fluency Checklist

Fluency Graph

 

Reading Checklist (One Per student)

 

Partner Reading Checklist

Total # of Words in Chapter: __________

Reader: ___________________________

Checker: __________________________

1: ___ words in ___ seconds

2: ___ words in ___ seconds

3: ___ words in ___ seconds

Which turn sounded the smoothest? _____

Which turn had the least amount of errors? ____

 

Teacher Fluency Checklist (One Per student)

Name of Reader: _________________________

Date: ___________________________________

Time: ___________

Words x 60 / time in seconds: ____________ WPM

Comprehension:

1. Who was the first-person Brother, Sister, and Honey Bear gave lemonade to?

2. How much money did they receive every time a person bought lemonade?

3. What did Brother, Sister, and Honey Bear make to let people know they had lemonade?

 

Fluency Graph

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Child-Friendly Graph

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Procedures:

1. Say: “For anyone to be a great reader, you have to be able to read fluently. Reading fluently means you can read words quickly, correctly, and with expression. If you are reading fluently, it sounds like you are talking to a friend or listening to a movie! This will help you understand what is happening in the story and recognize important events. Instead of worrying about how to read the words, the words come to me effortlessly and I am able to focus more on the story itself. I am able to read quickly and correctly. Do you think you all can be fluent readers? I think so too! Let’s begin!”

2. Say: “Have you ever been reading a great book, and suddenly you get to a word that you don’t recognize? This causes you to stop and sound out each part of the word. When this happens, you might forget what was happening in the story. If this happens to you, try finishing the sentence then returning to the word you don’t recognize to try and figure it out. After you read the new word, reread it several more times so that it is easier to recognize later when reading.”

3. Say: “What do I do if I read a sentence and it doesn’t quite make sense? Crosschecking. That’s correct! I am going to crosscheck to see which word makes sense. Let’s look at the sentence strip on the board. I want you to listen to me as I read the sentence. ‘We ate a larg lunch at school.’ We are a larg lunch at school? What? OH! We are a LARGE lunch at school. So this means the sentence says, ‘We are a large lunch at school.’ That’s funny! We thought the word was larg, but it’s actually large! When reading today, make sure you are practicing crosschecking. You never know whether or not you will be able to identify a word unless you finish the sentence and think about the meaning. Once you uncover the new word, make sure to reread the sentence so you can remember what you were reading before, and store the word in your memory for later.

4. Say: “Sometimes when we pick a new book to read, there are words we don’t recognize. But that’s okay! I am going to show you how to read a sentence from the book The Berenstain Bears Play Football! It’s time for f-oo-t-b-a-ll, football in Bear C-o-w-n-try, Country. It’s tim for football in Bear Country? Tim, t-iii-m? Oh! That word is time. If you noticed, I had to stop a few times to read a few words in the sentence. Let’s see if I can try again. It’s tiiiimme for foot-ball in Bear Coun-try. So much better! Let me try one more time. It’s time for football in Bear Country. Look at that! Now I am going to read this sentence with expression. (Read sentence with expression). Which time did you prefer my reading? The first time I read or the last time? The last time! Did you understand what I was reading better? That’s right! It sounds just like I am having a conversation with someone. When I read the sentence over and over again, I got a little bit faster, read it correctly, and with expression. Now I want you all to try repeated readings to see if you can become a fluent reader just like me.”

5. Say: “Now everyone, I would like you to open your book The Berenstain Bear’s Lemonade Stand. One morning Brother, Sister and Honey Bear were playing outside. That day it was getting very hot, so Mama decided to bring them some lemonade to cool them off. It was delicious! As they were drinking their lemonade, Mailbear Bob stopped by while dropping off their mail. He was very hot; he was sweating! He saw that Brother, Sister, and Honey Bear were all enjoying some cool lemonade, so he asked for some. But! He told them he’d pay them a quarter if they shared some with him. I wonder what Brother, Sister, and Honey Bear will do! Will they give him some lemonade? Do you think they’ll spend their quarter? You’ll just have to keep reading to find out!”

6. Say: “I would like you all to read silently at your desk until my timer goes off. See if you can get to page 15. If you get to page 15, start over and read it again. Keep going until you hear the timer.” (Depending on students reading abilities, set the timer to 10-15 minutes).

7. Say: “Next, I would like you all to get a partner and read the book to your partner. (Pass out timers/stopwatches to each student group). While one of you reads to page 15, the other partner will time the reader using the stopwatch. Read the 15 pages 3 times to your partner. Make sure after each time you read, write down the time that they scored on their reading chart. Next, use the reading checklist to see how well your partner did while they read to you each time. I’m hoping you get better each time you read! Mark the words you remembered, read faster, read smoother, and read with expression!”

8. Assessment: Say: “During your reading with your partner, I will bring each of you up to my desk one at a time. Here, you will read 10 pages to me. Make sure you try hard and do your very best. I am going to time you to also see how fast you are reading. (Use fluency formula). To see if you are becoming a fluent reader, I will also be giving you a list of questions: “Who was the first person Brother, Sister, and Honey Bear gave lemonade to?” “How much money did they receive every time a person bought lemonade?” “What did Brother, Sister, and Honey Bear make to let people know they had lemonade?” This will also show me how many words you can read per minute.” (Chart the student’s score to see improvement).

 

References:

Berenstain, Mike (2014). Berenstain Bears’ Lemonade Stand. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers. 

Carly Grisham, Swimming to Fluency

Sara Smith, Riding into Fluency

Madeline Langley, Dancing into Fluency

Lauren Henson, I Can’t “Bear” to Read without Fluency

Bear Gif

 

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