Rationale:

For children to really enjoy reading, and also, to better understand what they are reading, it is critical they learn to read fluently. When children can read fluently, their effort transfers to comprehension rather than the mechanics of reading such as blending and decoding. The task becomes effortless and automatic, and fluent readers read quickly with expression behind their words. The goal of this lesson is to help children develop fluency, particularly by increasing their reading speed. They will do this by reading and rereading a decodable text, which is a proven necessity for fluency development.

Materials:

1. TFK magazine, A Race to Survive (Enough for each reading pair)

2. Graph to chart reading time (per student)-- numbers count up on the side with car stickers

3. Partner Check sheet (per student)

4. Speed Reading Record (per student)

5. Stop Watch (per student)

6. Dry erase board with markers

7. Over head projector and document camera

Procedures:

1. The lesson will begin by asking students how fast race cars go. SAY: “Have any of you ever seen a race car? Do you know how fast they go?” (Wait for responses) “That’s right, anywhere from 85-100mph! That’s fast. Did you know that becoming fluent readers, you too can read as fast as 85-100 words per minute? Our goal is to read at race car speed as readers.”

2. Explain what fluency in reading is to students.

SAY: “Fluency is being able to read smoothly and quickly by recognizing each word without having to sound them out. We also want to read with expression! One way to help fluency is by reading and rereading passages or a piece of text multiple times. Each time you read, you will improve and become more fluent! Race car drivers have to practice their speed and turns before a race, we need to practice our readings so we can read smoothly like a race car going around the track. Today, we are going to be our own race car drivers and develop fluency by rereading texts.”

3. Using a dry erase board and markers, write a sentence. An example sentence could be “I will drive my new red car.” Next, review the steps in decoding. You could begin by asking a question: “What should you do if you do don’t know a word?”.…(answer: use a cover-up critter)

Say, “That’s right! You should use your cover-up critter to help you decode. Let’s practice on the word will. Let’s all look at the word RED on the board.” Using the dry erase board, write the following steps down as an example:

--“We begin by finding the vowel. The rest of the word is covered up. The vowel in red is e, but it is necessary to read on to hear if it says /e/ or /E/. There is no silent e or any other vowels in this word, so this letter a must make the creaky door /e/ sound that we learned about. I can look at the beginning of the word now, and there I see the letter r, /r/, and I add it to my creaky door /e/ to get /re/ then blend /re/ with the last sound /d/ and we get rrreeeddd, red. “Now let’s check and see that I blended correctly. Let’s reread my sentence to make sure red make sense.” (I will drive my new red car.)

4. Say, “Now I am going to read a sentence from A Race to Survive in our new Time for Kids magazine. (Shows page on overhead for students to follow along).

SAY: The teacher will then demonstrate reading with fluency and without fluency, “L-o-ss of p-r-ee is a-n-o-ther r-ea-son for the dr-o-p. Loss of pree? Oh, loss of prey is a-n-o-ther rea-son for the drop. Humans have o-v-er-h-u-n-t-ed the a-n-i-mals ch-ee-tahs eat. “What did you notice about my reading?” It wasn’t very smooth or quick like a race car, was it? Did anyone have a difficult time understanding me? —Yes, it was difficult to follow. This happens a lot when we read, but the more we read the same words, the better we get at recognizing them. Now I will read the same sentence in a different way. I want each of you to listen and see if you notice a difference in my reading. This time I’ll read it fast and fluently—see if you can tell the difference. “Loss of prey is another reason for the drop. Humans have overhunted the animals cheetahs eat.” (reads sentence). Ask, “Did anyone notice anything different between the first time and second time I read it? That’s right! This time was much easier to understand because I spoke smoother and spoke with expression. Today we will practice by decoding first and then rereading the text to enhance our fluency.

5. Now pair students in reading groups and hand out the magazine, A Race to Survive, to every pair. The groups will also need two reading record sheets, two partner checklists, and a stopwatch. Say, “Friends, the magazine you will be reading is titled A Race to Survive. This article is a nonfiction article. Class, what does nonfiction mean? (wait for response). Right, nonfiction is a true story. This article is fact based. We are going to read about how the number of cheetahs are declining. Why do you think the numbers are going down? (let’s a few students answer). You’ll have to read to see if your predictions are correct!” (Side note, tell students not to fill out the questions at the bottom yet). Explain to the class that each time you read a passage you become familiar with it and become better at reading it. First time reading the passage, the teacher reads the text slowly and makes it difficult for the students to understand. Then the second time read it better and on the third time read it fluently with expression. Now it is your turn, read the whole story one time, then reread it two more times just like I did.”

6. The reading partners will take turns reading the article and practicing their decoding and fluency. The teacher should walk around the room observing and taking notes. If one group finishes, they should reread the story one more time.

7. (pass out one stopwatch to each pair and one check sheet per student) Say, "For this activity, each of you will have the job of being the reader and the listener. One of you will read while the other users the stopwatch to see how long it takes you to read the book. If you are the one using the stopwatch, press the button when your partner begins reading. As soon as they finish, press the button again to stop the counting and allow your partner to write down the number that's on the timer (demonstrate where to find the buttons). That number tells us how long it took them to read the story. Now the second time they read, it will be a little different. You will start and stop the timer just like you did the first time, you will also let them write down their time, but this time you will fill out your partner check sheet after they finish. If they remember more words you put a check; if they read faster, you put a check (demonstrate where to put a check). You will record on your partner’s check sheet after the second and third time reading. After the third read, you swap positions. If you were reading first, you are now in charge of the stopwatch, and if you used the stopwatch first, you are now reading."

8. After they have completed their readings pass out graphs and stickers for each student. Have them fill it out, then collect them. (Have students come up one at a time and read article out loud) Use the charts and graphs for your assessment to see if their fluency has improved and, if not, which students’ needs more help. How has it improved? (read more smoothly, stopped rarely, read quickly)? I will ask questions to test their comprehension of the story. What animal is declining in numbers? Why are they declining? How can you help with the endangered species? (Other students will independently read during this time and finish work they haven’t completed)

References:

Hines, KK. On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!

http://kkh0010.wixsite.com/mshineslessondesigns/on-your-mark-get-set-go

Foy, Kathryn, The Fast and the Fluent

https://khf0004.wixsite.com/website/single-post/2017/11/13/Growing-Fluency

Time for Kids. 2017. A Race to Survive.

https://www.timeforkids.com/g2/g2022417cheetahs/

Partner Checklist

Bruce Murray: http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/fluency.html

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