Mrs. Daniel
Growing Independence and Fluency Design
Fired Up for Fluency!
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Rationale:
In order for children to become successful at independent reading, they must develop fluency. Reading fluently allows for automatic word recognition and faster, more expressive reading. To develop fluency, students have to read and reread words in decodable texts. It is through these repeated readings that students gain confidence in their reading abilities, thus feeling more encouraged to read on their own even more. The rereading of decodable books also allows children to add expression to their reading and develop comprehension of the text. In this lesson, students will read, reread, and do partner readings to improve fluency.
Materials:
Individual copies of Marley: Firehouse Dog
Dry erase board and markers
Timer for partner reads
Individual copies of the fluency checklist
Fluency chart
Sentences written on magnetic sentence strips
Procedures:
1. I will begin this lesson by explaining the importance of becoming a fluent reader to the students. Say: “Today, we are going to be working on fluency. Fluency is very important to reading because you will not have to pause, sound out, and blend each word. When you read fluently, you recognize words right away. If you want to be a fast and fluent reader, you have to read a lot of books and read them over and over.”
2. On the dry erase board write, “I want to drive the big red firetruck.” I will use this sentence to do a little review of the decoding strategies we learned. Say: “I am going to read this sentence, but I might need you to help me.” Begin to read sentence. Say: “I wwwwaaaa- Hmmm. Can you help me? What can I do to figure out this word? [Allow students to respond.] Oh, yeah! I can use my coverup critter.” Use coverup critter in finishing the word and reading the rest of the sentence while modeling how to decode drive. Say: “I see an i, short i says /i/, but let me see if there is a silent e here to make it a long i. Yes, there he is. So, that’s a long i; he says /I/. ddd-rrrr-/I/-vvvv. Drive. Now, let’s take a look at another strategy I can use to solve a word. I want to ddd-rrrr-/iii/-vvv, driv? drev? I don’t know this word, so I will keep reading to the end of the sentence to see if I can figure it out. The big red firetruck. Oh, that word is drive. I want to drive the big red firetruck. You all read the sentence with me. [Read together.]”
3. Have the students read the sentence on the white board by themselves. Say: “Now that I know what all the words say, I am going to read the sentence again because I can read it faster and with more expression. Rereading the sentence will help me become a more fluent reader. Let’s read this sentence again together. [Read sentence again, being sure to use expression.] I want to drive the bid red firetruck.”
4. Say: “Today I want to focus on learning to read with expression. Reading with expression means that you read like you talk. If what you are reading sounds exciting [say the next part in a very excited voice] then you read like this, but if what you are reading is a question, [say the next part with a questioning tone] then you might read like this. Reading with expression helps us to read more fluently, making the text more interesting to ourselves and to people who are listening to us read. One way that we can tell how to read a sentence is by looking at the punctuation on the end of the sentence. Who can tell me what a question mark means? Right! A question mark means you are asking a question. When you read a question, you make your voice go up at the end of the sentence like this [model]. What about an exclamation point? What does that mean? [Again, allow students time to answer.] Great job! Exclamation points mean excitement, so you read it with more excitement and may read a little faster or louder. We can also use words to help us decide what kind of expression to use when we read the sentence.
5. Say: “Now, we are going to practice deciding what kind of expression to use when we read. [Put a sentence strip on the white board.] If I read this sentence, My kitten is lost., I need to read this with a sad voice because it is sad that my kitten is lost. [Read sentence in somber tone. Then swap that sentence strip out for another one.] What about this sentence? We got a new puppy! Would I read this with an excited and happy voice or a sad voice? [Give students time to answer.] I see an exclamation point, so that means I need to be excited when I read it.
6. Say: Expression is really important while reading, but it is also important to read at a good speed. If I read the sentence like this, We got a new puppy [Read slowly], am I reading too fast, too slow, or just right? [Allow students to answer.] Right! That was much too slow. What about like this? [Read sentence very fast. Allow time for students to respond.] Yes, that was very fast. You could not even understand what I was saying. How about this time? [Read at a good pace.] That sounds better doesn’t it? Reading fluently means that you add expression and that you can read at the right speed, but the only way to get better is to practice by reading over and over again.
7. Say: Today we are going to read Marley: Firehouse Dog. Marley is a dog who is always getting into trouble. One day, his family gets invited to go to the fire station for a tour, but Marley didn’t get invited. How sad! Marley really wants to see the firehouse, so he goes in even though Dad told him not to. Uhoh. What do you think he’s going to get into this time? Let’s read and find out! [Give each student a copy the book.] I am going to pair you with a partner, and you are going to read to each other. I want you to take turns reading each page to each other. Make sure you are using your decoding strategies and are practicing using your expressions.
8. Once you finish the whole book, come grab get a checklist from this stack on the table. One partner will read the book while the other fills out this checklist. You are going to check if your partner remembered more words like an elephant who never forgets (did your partner have a really difficult time remembering the words in the story), if they used expression like the monkey (did they change their voice to sound like the characters are talking), if they read faster like the cheetah, and read smoother like the swan (did the words flow like they were talking to you). After the first partner has read, you will swap roles and the one who hasn’t read yet will read while the other does the checklist. Then you will start over and read the book again, taking turns. This will be for a grade, so you need to make sure that you complete one. You will write your partner’s name and your name on it. You are going to be POSITIVE with your feedback. We want to help each other with our reading, not hurt each other’s feelings. Once you are finished, you will complete a worksheet to check your comprehension. I’m about to partner you up, make sure you are using your inside voices while you are working. [Partner students and allow them to read to each other. Reiterate directions as students finish and pick up the checklists.]
9. I will come around and listen to you and your partner read. When you are finished with the reading and have completed the checklist, I want you to grab one of the comprehension worksheets. [Show students the worksheets. Then lay them down where they can see.] This will ask you questions about the story, so I want you to pay close attention while you are reading.
Assessment: As the student is reading to you, record information on a classroom checklist. This will be a daily grade. The goal is not to grade for exact precision, just that students are putting in effort to read fluently. You will also take up the checklists and comprehension worksheets and record them as a grade.
[Link to assessment sheets is below.]
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References:​
Grogan, John. . Harper Collins Publishers: Broadway, NY (2012).
Miller, Marybeth. Let's Go Fishing For Fluency!
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