Rationale: Fluent reading is essential in comprehending. In order for students to read effortlessly and with automaticity, they must practice expression, pace, and comprehension. They must also read and reread decodable words in a connected text in order to become fluent. 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 use the strategy of crosschecking after readings of a decodable text and repeated readings to gain fluency and independence in reading. This lesson aims to improve the student’s fluency through repeated and timed reading.
Materials:
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Pencils
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Timer/stopwatch (one for every two children)
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Class set of The Magic School Bus: The Fishy Field Trip
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Sample sentences on white board for teacher to model
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Peer fluency sheet (one for each student)
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Reading rate forms for teacher
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Teacher fluency check (one for each student) with attached comprehension questions
Procedures:
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Say: Begin the lesson by saying, “Good morning class, today we are going to work on becoming fluent readers. We know that our goal is to become fluent readers, but what exactly does that mean? What do you think of when I say a fluent reader?” Wait for responses from class. “Fluent means ‘smooth’ So, fluent readers are able to read quickly, smoothly, and with expression because they recognize words right away without having to sound out or think about the word too much, it automatically comes out of their mouth! This also helps us understand what we are reading because we don’t have to stop and think about each word. This makes reading more fun.”
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Say: “Now let's look at a sentence written on the board: Sam swims with the fish. 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. S-s-a-a-m-m, Sam s-w-w-i-i-m-m-s, swims with the f-f-i-i-/s/-/s/-/h/-/h/, fis/h/. Sam swims with the fis/h/? Hmm, that doesn’t sound right. Oh! Sam swims with the fish! Did you notice that when I read the sentence, I got stuck on the last word? To figure out what that word was, I reread the sentence from the beginning and tried what I thought the word said, fis/h/. That did not make sense, did it? People don’t swim with fis, they swim with fish! So, I went back and reread the sentence with the correct word. This strategy, going back to reread to see if our guess makes sense, is called crosschecking and it is so important to use when we are learning to become fluent readers! Since I figured out these hard words while reading it helped me become a fluent reader. Raise your hand if you think that I sounded like a fluent reader when I read that sentence. That’s right, I wasn’t reading like a fluent reader because I had to figure out some of the words in the sentence. Here's how a fluent reader would read that sentence: Sam swims with the fish. I read the sentence with no problems, and it was much easier to understand! Now turn to a partner and practice reading the second sentence on the board. (The waves crash along the sea) Read the sentence to your partner until you sound like a fluent reader.”
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Say: “Let’s think back to when I read the first sentence when I got stuck on the word fish. To figure out what that word was, I reread the sentence from the beginning and tried what I thought the word fish said, fis. That did not make sense, did it? So, I went back to the text to reread to figure out what the word should say that would make sense. This strategy is called crosschecking, and in order for us to become fluent readers, we must use crosschecking!”
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Say: “Practice makes perfect! All good readers get 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!”
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Say: “Earlier, I mentioned that fluent readers also read with expression. Can anyone tell me what that means? (wait for responses). Reading with expression means we are reading with feeling that matches what the word means. When we talk normally, we add expression without realizing, but when we read, sometimes we sound a little like robots. I am going to read the second sentence on the board (the one they read earlier with a partner) and I want you to tell me which one sounds better. (Read the second sentence once with expression and once without) Which one sounded better? That’s right! The one with expression. Once we can read fluently, we add expression because it is more enjoyable for the listeners to hear and it makes whatever we are reading easier to understand.”
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Say: “Let’s practice becoming fluent readers with a friend!” Assign partners for each student and pass out the books. “Now we are going to practice being fluent readers by reading The Magic School Bus book, The Magic School Bus: The Fishy Field Trip. The students in this story are joining Mrs. Frizzle on a trip into the ocean to see the coral reef. To learn more about the coral reef and the creatures that live there, we have to read the story!
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Students should read the first three pages silently to themselves. Then they should each read a chapter aloud to each other. Tell the students that while they are listening to each other read to not help their partner out.
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Pass out recording sheets and stopwatches to each group. Say: “Now we are going to play the fluency game. Put your listening ears on to hear 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 Reader 1 reading the first two pages, and then he/she will record the time on the sheet I have handed out to you. After recording the information, Reader 2 will read and Reader 1 will record. Read and record the time three times each. 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? Write down the changes that you see on your paper.”
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After the student pairs have each read through the passage three times, have the students, come one at a time, read a paragraph from the first two pages. Ask them to bring their record sheet so you can attach it to the back of the assessment sheet that you have. You will time them on the paragraph read aloud, and use the formula given to record how many words they have read per minute.
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Formula: Words x 60 seconds / seconds read
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Assessment: Use a list of comprehension questions (listed below) to understand how fluency is affecting their comprehension.
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References:
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Flying into Fluency by Sherell Brown https://sites.google.com/view/readingwithmsbrown/growing-independence-fluency
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Finish Line Race to Fluency by Meredith Worley https://mdw0036.wixsite.com/mysite/growing-independence-fluency
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Schwabacher, Martin. (2004). The Magic School Bus The Fishy Field Trip. New York, NY: Scholastic. https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/books/msb-chapter-book-18-the-fishy-field-trip-by-martin-schwabacher/
Peer Fluency Check
Name of Reader: ____________________
Date: _________________
1st Time: ________
2nd Time: ________
3rd Time: ________
I noticed that my partner…
After which read? 2nd 3rd
Remembered more words
Read faster
Read smoother
Read with expression
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Teacher Fluency Check
Name of Reader: _______________
Date: _________________
Time: ________
Words x 60/time in seconds: _______WPM
Comprehension Questions
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Why did the students and Mrs. Frizzle go into the ocean?
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What fish did they find there?
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What non-fish creatures did they find there?