Growing Fluency

Driving Towards Fluency

Rationale: When a child reads fluently, he or she is able to read words automatically and accurately. After they are able to read the words fluently, they can then read faster, smoother, and with more expression. Fluency is also important because when they are fluent, they can focus more on comprehension. This lesson strives to improve the student’s fluency through repeated and timed reading.

Materials:

Projector (to put sentences on the board)
Sentences for the teacher to model (on the board)
Stopwatch for each group
Fluency chart to record student’s times
Fluency Checklist
Reading comprehension worksheets
Cover-up critters for each student.
Class set of Even More Parts by Tedd Arnold

Procedure:

1. Say: “Today we are going to work on getting more fluent in reading! We are going to get really good at reading words quickly and correctly. This will help us make our reading more interesting, exciting, and easier to understand! We will work on this by reading the same book more than one time. Each time we read the book, we will get more familiar with the words and reading it will get easier. This is called repeated reading! Are you ready to give it a try? Let’s go!”

2. The teacher will now model how to crosscheck and decode by modeling with a sentence on the board. Say: “Everyone look at this sentence.” (sample sentence: Nate drives his car home.) “Now let’s read it together. ‘Nnnnnaaaatttte dddrr….” When I get stuck on a word I will go on to finish the rest of the sentence…. “hhhiiisss ccaaarrr hoooommme”. If I still do not know the word, then I will try my cover-up critter. First, I uncover the first letter of the word. I continue this with each letter in the word. “Ohhhh, drives! My parents drive home too! The sentence says that Nate drives his car home! I used crosschecking to reread the sentence to try to figure the word out. Now that I know the correct word, I can mentally mark the spelling so I remember it for next time!”

3. Say: “Let’s see if we can tell the difference between a fluent reader and a non-fluent reader. I am going to read a sentence on the board: “Driving home in the car is faster than walking.” This is how I may read the sentence the first time I see it: “Dddrrrriiiivvviing hhhoooommmeee iiinn thhhee cccaaarrr iiisss ffffffaaaassssttteeerr tthhhhaann wwwaallkkiiing.” When I stretch it out and read slow, it can be harder to understand what I am saying. Now I will read it again and try to read faster and smoother: “D-r-i-v-i-n-g h-o-m-e in the c-a-r is f-a-s-t-e-r than w-a-l-k-i-n-g.” That was better, but still not perfect. (Now reads faster, smoother, and with more expression.) “Driving home in the car is faster than walking!” That time, it was easier to understand what I read and was much smoother. This is how fluent readers should read the sentence. Now you try to read the sentence fluently. (Have students read the sentence aloud and practice adding expression.)

4. Say: “Practice makes perfect! All good readers got better with practice. When I first read the sentence it was difficult because I had never read it before. The second time I read the sentence, it was easier because I knew the words. By the third time I read the sentence, I was able to say it smoothly and add expression! I became fluent in reading by rereading the sentence until I understood it. That is how you will become fluent readers, too!”

5. Say: “To get better at reading fluently, we are going to read the book ‘Even More Parts’. This book is about a boy who hears people say all kinds of crazy things like “I lost my head” and he gets worried he is going to start falling apart. See if you have heard any of these things, and see if he is actually falling apart.

6. Children will be given a copy of the book, a cover-up critter, a fluency chart, fluency checklists, reading comprehension worksheets, and a stopwatch. Say: “Now we are going to practice reading fluently by working with a partner. Your partner will be the person across from you, and you will take turns reading the story. You will each need to read it three times. Make sure you are crosschecking and using your critter when you need it. When your partner is reading, time them and enter their times on the fluency worksheet. You need to also make sure your partner is reading smoother and with more expression. Use kind words, though, we do not want to hurt our friend’s feelings. Once you have finished reading and filling out your chart, start to talk about the book with your partner. After discussing it, fill out the comprehension worksheet by yourself at your desk.

The fluency worksheet and checklist that I pass around will have a spot for the student’s name and for their partner to record their speed the first, second, and third reading of the story. It will also have a spot that says "My partner..." "remembered words, read faster, read smoother, and read with expression" and there will be a spot for them to fill this in the second and third time of reading the passage.

Assessment: Be observing different groups while they do their repeated readings. Then have students turn in their completed comprehension worksheet and fluency worksheet. Take a note of the student’s fluency with the formula words x 60/ seconds. Then call each student up individually to read a passage, while you check for increased fluency. The goal would be 85 words per minute. Make sure to go over the correct answers for the comprehension sheet.

Reading Comprehension Worksheet:

1. Why did the boy keep a list of sayings he heard?

2. What keeps running?

3. What does he make for himself to keep him safe at school?

4. Who sends the boy off to school?

Fluency Checklist:

My partner remembered words. Yes or No?

My partner read faster. Yes or No?

My partner read smoother. Yes or No?

My partner read with more expression. Yes or No?

Fluency chart:

Students can move an animal, athlete, or something that interests them along a number line with velcro to chart their fluency.

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105

Resources:

Sherell Brown. Flying into Fluency. https://sites.google.com/view/readingwithmsbrown/growing-independence-fluency

Book:

Arnold, T. (2007). Even More Parts: Idioms from Head to Toe. New York: Puffin Books.

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