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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:
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Timer/stopwatch for each pair
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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 Checklist (one for each student) with attached comprehension questions
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Pencil for each student
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Class set of Berenstain Bears Take Off!, by Mike Berenstain
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Procedures:
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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 very quickly and smoothly because they are able to recognize the 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!”
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Say: “Now let’s look at a sentence written on the board: I flew a plane. 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. I, f-f-f-l-l-l-e-e-e-w-w-w, f-l-ew, oh flew. I flew a plan. Oh, that doesn’t make sense. It must be plane. I flew a plane. Did you notice that I got stuck on the last word when I read the sentence? To figure out what that word was, I reread the sentence from the beginning and tried what I thought the word plane said, plan. That did not make sense, did it? To fix 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 that sentence: I flew a plane. 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. Hannah likes baking, she likes cookies! Read it aloud to one another until you read the sentence fluently.”
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Say: “Now class let’s think back to when I read the first sentence when I got stuck on the word plane. 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 plane said; I pronounced it like the word plan. 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!”
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Now pass out the book to each pair that you have assigned. Say: “We are going to practice being fluent readers by reading the Berenstain Bears Take Off! by, Mike Berenstain. The Berenstain Bears attend the Big Air Show at Bear Country Airport and watch jet planes, helicopters, rocket planes, and more, all from inside a hot-air balloon! What are some of the things that you think the bears will learn about while on their adventure?
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Students will read the whole book silently to themselves. Then they will read the book to their partner without helping them or getting frustrated.
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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 and Reader 2 will be in control of the timer. 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.”
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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.
Reading Comprehension Worksheet:
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What did the bears learn about on their adventure?
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What did the first plane look like?
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What types of planes were flying around?
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What was one new thing you learned about planes after reading this book?
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
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0 - - - - 10 - - - - 20 - - - - 30 - - - - 40 - - - - 50 - - - - 60 - - - - 70 - - - - 80 - - - - 90 - - - - 100
Correct Words Per Minute
Book: Berenstain, M. Berenstain Bears Take Off! New York: HarperCollins.
Clark, Kelsey. Reading Genie Website. “Fishing into Fluency” http://klc0063.wixsite.com/kelseyclark/growing-independency-fluency
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