Growing Fluency Design
Cheetah Readers
Growing Independence and Fluency Design
Rationale
The goal of this lesson is to strengthen reader’s fluency by practicing reading by rereading texts. When readers have fluency they can begin to focus on the meaning of the text instead of focusing on decoding the words. By practicing reading and rereading texts like what we will be doing in our activity, it will help children learn more sight words which in result will help them to read faster and gain fluency. The students will practice reading by reading passages while being timed. Their progress will be recorded.
Materials
-Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
-Read Time Chart (for each pair)
Name: ________Date: ____
1st reading time: ______
2nd reading time: ______
3rd reading time: ______
-Partner check- sheet:
Name: _____ Partner: ____ Date: ____
I noticed that my partner... (check the circle)
After 2nd after 3rd
( ) ( ) Remembered more words
( ) ( ) Read faster
( ) ( ) Read smoother
( ) ( ) Read with expression
-pencil
-Stopwatch for each group
-Cheetah Charts (reaching top cheetah speeds=at least 85 words per minute) for each student
0……….10……….20……….30……….40……….50……….60……….70……….80……….90……….100
Correct words per minute
-small print out cheetah picture to move along graph
Procedure
1. “Today we are going to learn about creating fluency when we read. Fluency is when we are able to read at a smooth and quick pace that allows us to remember what we read more easily. When we read a lot, we can gain fluency. One way to gain fluency is to reread something that we have read before so that we can watch ourselves get faster and faster. When we practice, we also learn new words so that we do not have to sound them out again in the future which also helps us read more quickly.
2. “Now lets find out what fluent reading sounds like. I am going to show you how a fluent reader sounds and how a non-fluent reader sounds. In the first sentence I am NOT going to read fluently. “My d-o-g is s-w-/e/- ‘no wait’-/E/-t” (sound out each letter). Because I had to sound out each word, I could not read quickly or smoothly. Now I will show you haw to read fluently “My dog is sweet” I was able to read and recognize each word quickly and smoothly. When I am able to do that I can also add expression “My dog is sweet!” (Read in excitement) and I can comprehend what I am reading better.
3. “Occasionally, there are still words that fluent readers don’t know and have to sound out. A way to combat this situation is to use our coverup critter to help us by uncovering the word letter-by-letter so that we can sound out a word. After you think that you have figured out a word, then go back and reread the sentence so you can cross check by seeing if the word makes sense or not.” Model how to use the cover up critter for the sentence, “Winter is very cold.” Use cover up critter for “cold” and sound out “c/o/ld” and then cross check so you can self correct and say “c/O/ld”.
4. Pass out copies of Caps for Sale, stop watches for each pair, Cheetah Charts, and read time chart. Give book talk: “Today we are going to read the story, Caps for Sale. This story is about a peddler that keeps all of his hats on his head. He is a quite interesting man who must have a lot of balance to keep all of those hats on his head! The peddler grew tired and decided to take a nap under a tree. When he woke, his hats were missing! Let’s read our story to find out what happen to his hats. Now we are going to work in pairs to check each other’s fluency. One partner will read the story all the way through and the other will time their partner and then they will switch roles” (3x each). The reader will try and read quickly and smoothly. After each read the partner timing will fill out on the chart provided check marks on what the reader improved on. The partner timing will mark the words their partner missed. The teacher will go around and quickly convert the times to words per minute so that the students can track their progress on their Cheetah Chart after each read. “Our goal is to reach top Cheetah speeds and reach our goal of 85 words per-minute. Move your cheetah to match your words per minute on your Cheetah Chart so you can see how you are becoming a more fluent reader.” Before we begin I will show them how to work the stop watches. “After each read the partner timing will fill out on the chart provided check marks on what the reader improved on”
5. “After each student has read, the partners will fill out the partner check sheet, which will tell us if your partner has improved or not.”
6. Assessment: To assess the students I will go around and look at each student’s Cheetah Chart to see their progress. I will then call them up one at a time and have them read the story again in front of me and I will record their words per minute and note miscues. After the student is done reading I will ask them comprehension questions
a. Where did the peddler fall asleep?
b. How do you think the peddler felt when he could not find his hats?
c. What happened to the peddlers hats?
References
Slobodkina, Esphyr. Caps for Sale. William R. Scott, Inc. 1940, 1947, 1968.
Zooming Toward Fluency! Sarah Mobley http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/projects/mobleygf.html