Growing Independence and Fluency

Nothing Fishy about Fluency!

Rationale:

We can comprehend reading, but only if we are fluent readers! Students have to practice their expression, pace, and comprehension to be able to read automatically with minimal effort. When students can recognize words effortlessly, they can reflect on what we read. Students can confidently improve their reading rate and grow to be fluent readers through reading, decoding, crosschecking, mental marking, and rereading. Students will gain fluency and independence in reading as they crosscheck after reading decodable texts and repeat those readings.

Materials:

Timer/stopwatch for each pair of students
Sample sentences on poster board for teacher to model
Peer fluency sheet for each student
Reading rate forms for the teacher
Teacher Fluency Checklist for each student with attached comprehension questions
Pencil for each student
Class set of Junie B. Jones Smells Something Fishy

Procedures:

Say “Today, we are going to reach one of our goals to become a fluent reader. Does anyone know what it means to be a fluent reader? Raise your hand if you can tell me. (Calls on students to answer.) A fluent reader is someone who is able to read very quickly and smoothly because they can recognize the words they are reading. If we can recognize words, then we can understand what we are reading because we automatically know each word’s meaning. It makes reading so fun!”
Say: “Now let’s look at a sentence written on the board: I iced my eye. Everyone put your listening ears on. I want you to tell me if I sound like a fluent reader when I read this sentence aloud to you. I, I-i-i-c-c-c-e-d-d-d, i-ce-d, oh iced. I iced my e. Oh, that doesn’t make sense. It must be eye. I iced my eye. Did you notice that I got stuck on the last word when I read the sentence? I reread the sentence from the beginning and tried what I thought the word eye said, e. That did not make sense, though, so to fix myself I went back and reread the sentence to figure out which word made the most sense. This strategy of rereading is called crosschecking, and it is super important to use when we are learning to become fluent readers! Since I figured out these hard words while reading I became a fluent reader. Here's how a fluent reader would have read that sentence: I iced my eye. I read the sentence effortlessly which meant it was much easier to understand. I want you to turn to your partner and practice reading the second sentence on the board. Sarah the girl likes ice cream, she likes chocolate! Read it aloud to one another until you read the sentence fluently.”
Say: “Now class let’s think back to when I read the first sentence when I got stuck on the word eye. In order to figure out what the word was, I had to reread the sentence from the beginning and tried to figure out what the word eye said; I pronounced it like the letter E. The sentence was very confusing, but after rereading the sentence to figure out what the word should say to make the sentence sound correct, I could figure it out. This is called crosschecking, and it is very important to use when we are learning to become fluent readers!”
Now pass out the book to each pair that you have assigned. Say: Say: “Now we are going to practice being fluent readers by reading the Junie B. Jones book, Junie B. Jones Smells Something Fishy. Junie B. is so excited for pet day at school. She can’t wait to bring her dog but then she finds out, no dogs are allowed! This is the only pet she has. We will have to read to find out what Junie B. does.” Students will read the first chapter silently to themselves. Then they will reread the chapter to their partner without helping them or getting frustrated.
Pass out the recording sheets and stopwatches to each group. Say: “We are going to play a game to test everyone’s fluency. Put your listening ears back on to understand how to play. Reader 1 is going to start the game off and Reader 2 will be in control of the timer. Reader 2 is going to time how fast Reader 1 reads the first two pages. Reader 2 will then record the time on the sheet that I have handed out. You and your partner will switch places after Reader 1 is done. You will each do these three times. As you listen to your partner read aloud the pages, I want you to be listening for how their reading changes each time. Do they remember more words, do they read with more expression, meaning more facial movement and change in their voice? Please mark these changes you notice on your paper.”
When they are finished with their partner work, have one student at a time come to your desk to read the first two passages to you. They will bring their record sheet, so you can attach it to the back of their assessment sheet. As they read you will time them on the paragraph read aloud and use the formula given to record how many words per minute they read.
Walk around and ask students comprehension questions and listen as they retell the story to their partner on their own words to analyze comprehension.

Reading Comprehension Worksheet:

Who is Twitter?
What type of animal did Junie B. want to take to Pet Day after she found out she could not bring her dog?
What award did Junie B.’s pet win at Pet Day?

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

(Words x 60)/seconds= WPM

0 - - - - 10 - - - - 20 - - - - 30 - - - - 40 - - - - 50 - - - - 60 - - - - 70 - - - - 80 - - - - 90 - - - - 100

Correct Words Per Minute

References:

Book: Park, Barbara. Junie B. Jones Smells Something Fishy. Published by Random House Books for Young Readers. Chicago, IL. 1998.

Murray, Bruce. Developing Reading Fluency. Auburn University Reading Genie. http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/fluency.html

Developed from: Williams, Dawson. Fishing for Fluency. Miss Dawson’s Lesson Designs. https://dawsonannewilliams.wixsite.com/lessondesign/growing-independence-and-fluency

Baker, Ashton. Figuring Out Fluency with Charlie the Dog. Ms. Baker’s Lesson Designs. https://aebaker02.wixsite.com/lessondesigns/rentals

Click here to Return to the Advancements Page

Miss Lee's

Reading Lessons