Growing Independence and Literacy

Dancing with fluency

Rationale​:​ This lesson will help students improve their fluency while reading a well written book. In order for students to comprehend reading, fluency is essential. The students must practice expression, pace, and comprehension if they want to acquire the skills to read automatically and effortlessly. Effortless word recognition allows the children to be able to reflect and remember what they are reading. Through the process of reading, decoding, cross-checking, mental marking, and rereading, the students will become confident, and continue to improve their reading rate. This will eventually allow them to become fluent readers. Students will gain this fluency and independent confidence in their reading by cross-checking after reading decodable texts, and also repeat readings as well.

Materials:

  • ● Class set of If you Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Numeroff
  • ● Stopwatch for each student pair
  • ● class set of fluency graph paper
  • ● class set of partner reading progress checklist
  • ● class set of comprehension worksheet
  • ● pencils
  • ● whiteboard
  • ● dry-erase marker


Procedures:

  1. *Say* Today we will work on reading with fluency! Fluency means to read words quickly, automatically, and with expression. When we are fluent readers, we read at a quicker pace and understand what we’ve read. To become more fluent, we can read the same thing over and over to become familiar with the words. Today, we are going to flip into fluency by practicing with repeated readings.
  2. *Say* When you are working to become a fluent reader, you might come across a word that you don’t know. The first thing you can try is decoding with a coverup critter. Let me model how to decode an unfamiliar word: sticky. {Cover up and say each phoneme individually with a coverup critter} Let’s start with i=/i/, I know t=/t/ and s=/s/ making the first half of the word /sti/. I know ck together make /ck/ and y=/y/. Let's say it aloud together. Great! /s//t//i//ck//y/ like ick! Sometimes, decoding does not always work, so we have to remember to finish reading the sentence to see if it can help us understand the unfamiliar word. This is a strategy called cross-checking. {Write a sentence on the board: I like syrup on my pancakes}. Let's read it together, “I like sssyyyrrr-u-p? on my pancakes”. You can read the rest of the sentence to figure out that the unfamiliar word is syrup! After cross-checking, you will want to make a mental mark of the word in your head. Always remember to go back and reread the sentence from the beginning. Now that you know this unfamiliar word, your rereading of the sentence should become more fluent and smooth!
  3. *Say* We now know what to do when there is a word that we do not know which will help us become fluent readers. Now, I am going to model how to read fluently. {Put sentence on board: “She’ll ask you for some bubbles”.} Slowly read: She’ll ask you for some /b//u//b//b//l//e//s/? Is that word bubb-l/e/s? That does not sound right...bubb-l/e/s? Oh! Its bubbles like a bubble bath! Now listen as I reread: She’ll ask for some bubbles. That sounded better. {Now read quicker and with expression} Listen again: She’ll ask you for some bubbles! Did you hear how I read more quickly and with more expression? I sounded like an expert reader that time. We decoded the word, crosschecked, and then reread the sentence to make sense of the word. Remember, when we read the same thing over and over, the words start to store into our sight vocabulary and we start to automatically recognize them. This is how we become fluent readers! You will get better each time.
  4. *Say* Now, we will practice reading fluently by reading a book called “If You Give a Pig a Pancake”. One day, Pig asked for a pancake. Once she got her pancakes she just had to have syrup to go with it. Pig made a huge sticky mess in the syrup so she had to take a bath. When her bath started she, of course, wanted her rubber ducky and some bubbles. The rubber ducky will remind Pig of the farm she lived on, she will ask you to take her back there for a visit. What possibly could Pig ask for next? You will have to continue reading the story to see what else Pig wants!
  5. *Say* Everyone pair up with a partner and prepare to take turns reading. {Pass out books, reading progress charts, cover up critters, stopwatches, and fluency graphs} You will each read the story three times alternating turns. When you read, your partner will time you and record your time. Your partner will also record how smooth and expressive you are reading by filling out the reading progress checklist. In between turns, you should give your partner friendly tips on how to improve. If you get stuck on a word, try using the coverup critter to decode the word. If you still do not know the word, crosscheck by finishing the sentence. Each time you read, you will become more fluent! When you are both finished reading three times each, go back to your desk and individually complete the questions on the comprehension sheet.
  6. {Collect partner reading checklists and calculate the progress of each student} *Say* I will call you up individually to discuss your progress from the fluency graph after reading “If You Give a Pig a Pancake” and you will read a few passages to me. {Use formula “words X 60 / seconds” and the checklist to determine each students placement on the graph}. After everyone is finished, we will go over the comprehension questions as a class.


Partner Reading Progress Checklist:

Book Title​: ________________ Readers Name: _____________

1st Read Time # of words: ____

2nd Read Time # of words: ____

3rd Read Time # of words: ____


Which Turn Did My Partner:

Total # of words in book​: _______

Recorders Name: ______________

1st Read Time Seconds: _________

2nd Read Time Seconds: ________

3rd Read Time Seconds: _________

Read Fastest: _____

Read Smoothly: _____

Read With Expression: _____

Words x 60 / seconds read = WPM

Use a list of comprehension questions to measure how their fluency is affecting their reading comprehension.


Comprehension Questions:

  1. What did Pig want to go with her pancakes?

a. Maple Syrup

2. What did the rubber duck remind Pig of?

a. The farm she lived on

3. What did Pig dance to?

a. The piano

4. What did Pig build and decorate?

a. A tree house

5. What is the very last thing Pig asked for?

a. Pancakes with syrup


​Graph Of Reading Fluency:

Help the dancer get to the other side of the stage!

0 - - - 10 - - - 20 - - - 30 - - - 40 - - - 50 - - - 60 - - - 70 - - - 80 - - - 90 - - - 100

Correct Words Per Minute


References​:

Dr. Bruce Murray (2012), Making Sight Words. Ronkonkoma, NY 11779.

Instructional Book: Laura Numeroff, ​If You Give a Pig a Pancake​, New York: Laura Geringer Books, An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 1998

Hannah Hardin, “Flying High With Fluency” - https://hanhardin1020.wixsite.com/readinglessondesigns/growing-independence-and-fluency-de

Caroline Kaiser, “Flipping into Fluency” - https://cmk0052.wixsite.com/mysite/growing-independence-and-fluency