Flying for Fluency

By: Abbey Jenkins

 

 

 

Rationale: In order to comprehend reading, you have to be a fluent reader. 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. Students will gain fluency and independence in reading by crosschecking after reading decodable texts and repeat readings. 

 

Materials: 

1. Timer/stopwatch for each pair

2. Sample sentences on white board for teacher to model 

3. Peer fluency sheet (one for each student) 

4. Reading rate forms for teacher 

5. Teacher Fluency Checklist (one for each student) with attached comprehension questions

6. Pencil for each student 

7. Class set of Kite Day at Pine Lake, by Phonics Readers

 

Procedures: 

1. Say “We are going to achieve one of our goals in becoming a fluent reader in class today. Does anyone know what a fluent reader is? (Calls on students to answer.)A fluent reader is someone who is able to read smoothly and quickly. They are able to recognize and blend words. If we can recognize the word, then we can better understand what we are reading because we instantly know each word’s meaning. It makes reading much more enjoyable!” 

2. Say: “Now let’s look at a sentence written on the board: Being a fluent reader makes me love reading. 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. B-eeeee-i-nnn-gg, oh being. Being a fluent read makes me love reading. Oh, that doesn’t make sense. It must be reader. Being a fluent reader makes me love reading.  Did you notice that I got stuck on the word reader? To figure out what that word was, I reread the sentence from the beginning and tried what I thought the word might be. That did not make sense, did it? To fix this 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! These hard words help you to become more fluent and learn how to figure out the words. Here's how a fluent reader would have read that sentence: Being a fluent reader makes me love reading. 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. I love to read out loud. Read it aloud to one another until you read the sentence fluently.”

3. Say: “Now class let’s think back to when I read the first sentence when I got stuck on the word reader. 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 readersaid; I pronounced it like the word read, the word I pulled out from the spelling. The sentence was very 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 very important to use when we are learning to become fluent readers!”

4. Now pass out the book to each pair that you have assigned. Say: “We are going to practice being fluent readers by reading Kite Day at Pine Lake. Jeff, Fay, Ike, Jan, and Bob all get their kites and go to Pine Lake. All of their kites are different sizes and shapes. We are going to read to see which kite fly’s the best. Who do you think will fly the best? Which kind of kite is best for flying? How will the children change their kites?

5. Students will read the whole book silently to themselves. Then they will read the book to their partner without helping them or getting frustrated. 

6. 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. Reader 2 will be in charge of the stop watch. 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.”

7. 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. You will also have the students answer the worksheet questions to make sure they not only read the passage, but understood it.

 

 

 

Reading Comprehension Worksheet: 

 

1. Who’s kite is wide?

2. What does Fay’s kite do to Ike’s?

3. How many sides does Jan’s kite have?

4. Who does not have a kite?

 

 

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

 

 

Book: Kite Day at Pine Lake

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