Growing Independence & Fluency Lesson

Rationale: In order to comprehend reading, we must become fluent readers. Students must practice expression, pace, and comprehension if they want to read effortlessly and automatically. Effortless word recognition allows students to reflect on what they are reading. Through reading, decoding, crosschecking, mental marking, and rereading, students will be able to confidently improve their reading rate and grow into fluent readers. Student will gain fluency and independence in reading by crosschecking after reading decodable texts and repeat readings.

 

Materials:

1. Pencils

2. Timer/Stopwatch for each student

3. Paper

4. Coverup Critters

5. Teacher Fluency Checklist

6. Peer Checklist (one for each student)

7. Copy of Charlotte’s Web (class group set)

Procedures:

1. Say: “Today we are going to achieve one of our goals in becoming fluent readers. What does it mean to be a fluent reader? [listen to responses]. A fluent reader is someone who is able to read very quickly and smoothly because they are able to recognize words. When we read with fluency, we comprehend more of the story and the story becomes more exciting too! To become fluent readers, we must be able to recognize a large amount of site word, or words we know automatically, without having to decode them.”

2. Say: “Now let’s look at a sentence written on the board: ‘The spider spun a web.’ 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. “The s-s-p-i-i-i-d-e-e-r, s-p-i-d-e-r, oh spider. The spider spoon a web.” Wait a second, that does not make sense. It must be spun. The spider spun a web. Did you notice I got stuck on a word when I read the sentence? To figure out what the word was, I reread the sentence from the beginning and tried what I thought the word spun said, spoon. That did not make sense, did it? To correct 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, it helped me become fluent. Here’s how a fluent reader would have read the sentence: “The spider spun a web.” I read the sentence smoothly and fluently, which means that it was much easier to understand.”

3. Say: “Now lets think back to when I read the first sentence and got stuck on the word spun. To be able to figure out what the word was, I had to reread the sentence from the beginning and try to figure out what the word spun said; I pronounced it like the word spoon. This was a little confusing, so I reread the sentence to figure out what the word should say to make the sentence sound correct. This is called crosschecking and it is especially important to use when we are learning to become fluent readers!”

4. Say: “Now I want you all to read the book, Charlotte’s Web. We are going to practice being fluent readers while reading this book. In this book, a literate spider (Charlotte) discovers that a young pig (Wilbur) is in danger of being killed by the farmer. Charlotte has a plan spun in her web in order to save Wilber from the farmer and let him live. How do you think Charlotte will try and save Wilbur? You will have to keep reading to find out.

5. After the students read the first 10 pages silently to themselves, I will put them in pairs to reread the first couple of pages without helping each other or criticizing. I will give each pair a copy of the book, a timer, a fluency checklist, a pencil, and a reading time sheet. Then say, “We do repeated readings because they will help us become more fluent readers. The more we read a story, the better we will be able to read and comprehend that story.”

6. Say: “You and your partner are going to read three times each to help build fluency. You will take turns being the reader and one will be the timer. The timer will time your partner reading the book and record their time on the reading rate chart. When you are the one timing your partner, be sure to hit start as soon as they start reading and hit stop when they are done. Record all three times on the chart. After your partner has read the assigned pages, see if you are improving.” Before the students start reading, I will model how to fill in the fluency checklist and use the timer. I will then observe students reading the book. I will walk around the room and answer any questions the students may have. I will also make sure that they are filling in the correct time. I will then explain, “As you listen to your partner read the pages, I want you to be listening for how their reading changes each time. Do they remember more words? Read faster? Read smoother? Read with expression? Please mark these changes that you notice on paper.”

7. After the students are done reading with their partner, I will ask them to come to my desk one at a time to read the first two pages to me. They will bring their record sheet with them, so I can attach it to their assessment sheet. As they read, I will time them on the read-aloud and use the formula given to record how many words-per-minute they read.

8. Each day I will set a certain time for the students to get together with their partners and practice reading for fluency. After a week of reading, I will assess each student individually and give them different partners. This will allow for them to see how another student is reading and what they could learn from them.

Reading Comprehension Worksheet:

1. Why did Fern’s father decide to keep the pig and not kill it?

2. How did Wilbur stay warm at night?

3. What did Charlotte try to teach Wilbur to do?

4. Why is Charlotte feeling content and peaceful?

Fluency Checklist:

Title of Book: ______________________________

Students Name: _________________________    Date: ___________

Partner’s Name: _________________________

After 2nd Reading                        After 3rd Reading

______              __                                      ______              __                        Remembered more words

______              __                                      ________                        Read faster

______              __                                      ________                        Read smoother

________                                      ________                        Read with more expression

 

(Words x 60) / seconds = WPM

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

Correct Words Per Minute

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References:

Book: Charlotte’s Web

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Murray, Bruce. The Reading Genie, http://wp.auburn.edu/rdggenie/

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Motes, Lexie. Fishing for Fluency. Growing Independence and Fluency Design. https://lmotes0053.wixsite.com/mysite/growing-independency-and-fluency

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