Fast, Fluent Reading is Fun!
Growing Independence and Fluency
Rationale:
Fluent reading is essential in comprehending. Fluency is
characterized by effortless word recognition, which influences
speed. Effortless
word recognition allows students to no longer focus on decoding
word by word; instead they are able to reflect on what they are
reading. Reading
quickly also allows the reader to remember what they have read
in order to make connections and not forget what they have
previously read.
Through reading, decoding, crosschecking, mental marking, and
rereading, students will be able to confidently improve fluency
and grow into improved readers.
Children will be assessed in improvement by the formula
(words read x 60/seconds) to determine the child's words read
per minute (wpm).
Materials:
North Meets South
chapter book for each student, peer rereading checklist for each
child, rereading checklist for each student for teacher use,
pencil for each student; each student's personal fluency graph;
stopwatch for teacher
Procedure:
1. Say:
Today, we are
going to practice reading fluently, with good expression and at
a good speed. To do
this, we have to know most of the words by just looking at them.
Notice how I said "most" because even great readers
sometimes come to words they do not know. Good readers then use
strategies like crosschecking and mental marking that will help
them know the unfamiliar word the next time they see it.
This means that when I come to a word I do not know, I
sound it out, and then finish the sentence to see if it makes
sense. After I
think about whether the word I sounded out is right or I notice
the real word, I think about how the spelling of the word is
like or not like the punctuation, this is called mental marking.
After I notice the spelling, I go back and reread the
sentence to make sure that I have all the information in my
brain and to get me back into the story.
2. Say:
I am going to practice
using this skill by reading these sentences (have "The sun
beat down on the men as they went down the road." written on the
board or on an overhead, be sure to read slowly and hesitant,
improving a little with each reading).
"The…sun..bet…don…bet down…beat down (oh ea says /E/ and that ow
says /ow/)……on..the men as they went don, oh wait, that's the
same word with the /ow/, down…as they went down the road."
From reading this, I see that ow says /ow/ in down and ea
says /E/. Next time
I read this, I should be able to remember these words. Let's try
it again, "The sun beat…um, down… on the men as they went down
the …road." See
that was a little better.
Let's try again.
"The sun beat down on the men as they went down the
road." Do you guys
see how each time I read it, I know more words and it sounds
more natural? This
also works when we read whole pages, chapters, or stories.
Sometimes we reread entire texts to see if we can read it
faster, with more expression, which will allow us to comprehend
better. We do not
reread because we read bad the first time, even great readers
reread!
3. Say:
Our book today is called
North Meets South.
This story takes place in the Civil War times, when the North,
who were called the "Yankees" and South of the United States,
who were called the "Rebels" were fighting. One day, two young
boys run into each other as they are cooling off by a creek, but
the problem is, that one boy was from the North and one boy is
from the South, and they are not supposed to be talking with
each other, instead they are supposed to fight each other.
Do you think that the two boys will fight each other, or
will they get out safely? Everyone open the book to page one,
and we will read the first chapter as a class. I want each
person to follow along with their finger.
Read the chapter one time through.
Now, let's read the
chapter again, and I want each person to whisper read with me.
Read the chapter through a second time.
4. Say:
Now I want you guys to
practice using your skills with partners to read. Each person
should find a partner.
I want one person to read the chapter one time.
Then, read it again. (While holding up the peer
review sheet)
After you read it a second time, I want your partner to
mark on the peer sheet whether the person remembered more words
like the elephant, whether your partner read faster like the
cheetah, whether their reading was smoother like the swan, and
whether your partner read with more expression like the silly
monkey. Then I want
you to read the chapter a third time, and again your partner
will mark you peer sheet.
Now, switch positions and this time the other partner
reads while the person who read the first time marks the sheet.
Make sure you are thinking about the words that give you trouble
between each reading.
While you guys are doing this, I will call each student
to come to my desk to practice reading a few times with me. If
you and your partner finish early, you may write what you
believe will happen next in the story.
This is called predicting.
We will read the next chapter tomorrow to see if our
predictions were correct.
As each student comes to the teacher's desk, the
teacher fills out the assessment worksheet on the following
page. The student will
fill out their personal fluency graph they made in an earlier
math lesson.
5. Once
everyone has had an opportunity to do a formal evaluation and
reading and rereading with the teacher, come back together as a
group and discuss what happened in the first chapter. Continue
with this routine throughout the rest of the chapters of the
book, finishing at the end of the week.
Assessment:
Each student will be assessed
individually at the teacher's desk on words per minute,
expression, and smoothness. Each
child will have a words per minute goal that he or she will be
working towards meeting by the end of the week (approximately
10-20 wpm faster than at the beginning of the week).
Reference:
Dennis,
Maegan, "Rocket into Fluency."
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/awakenings/dennisgf.htm
Book: Sims,
Matt. North Meets South.
Illus. Rick Hackney.
High Noon Books. Novato, CA. 2001.
I noticed that my partner…
After
2nd Reading
After 3rd Reading
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Remembered more words
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Read Faster
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Read Smoother
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Read with expression
Student
Name__________________________________________________________________
Book or Chapter
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