Growing Independence and Fluency
Rationale: In order to comprehend reading, one must be a fluent reader. Students must practice expressions, 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:
1. Timer/stopwatch for each pair
2. Sample sentences on white board for teacher to model
3. Peer fluency sheet (one for each student)
4. Reading rate forms for teacher
5. Teacher Fluency Checklist (one per student) with attached comprehension questions
6. Pencils for every student
7. Class set of Wind Flyer by Angela Johnson
Procedures:
1. Say: “Good morning class! Today we are going to achieve one of our goals in becoming a fluent reader. Does anyone know what a fluent reader is? (Call on student to answer). A fluent reader is someone who is able to read very quickly and smoothly because they are able to recognize words. If we can recognize words, then we can better understand what we are reading because we instantly know each word’s meaning. By doing this, it will make reading much more fun and enjoyable!”
2. Say: “Now let’s look at a sentence written on the board: Max enjoys flying airplanes. 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. Max e-e-e-e-n-j-oy-s, e-n-joy-s, oh enjoys. Max enjoys flying airplan. Oh, that doesn’t make sense. It must be airplanes. Max enjoys flying airplanes. Did you notice that I got stuck on the last word when I read the sentence? To figure out what the 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 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: Max enjoys flying airplanes. 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. Sam likes to surf big waves in the ocean. Read it aloud to one another until you read the sentence fluently.”
3. 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!”
4. Now pass out the book to each pair of students that is assigned. Say: “We are going to practice being fluent readers by reading the Wind Flyer by Angela Johnson. Book Talk: Great uncle learned that he loved to fly at the age of five years old. He always wanted to find ways to fly, even if it meant jumping off the roof of the barn into hay. He loved it so much that he wanted to make a job out of it whenever he got older and bigger. What all do you think Great Uncle did whenever he got older?”
5. Students will read the whole book silently to themselves first. Then they will read the book aloud to their partner without helping them or getting frustrated.
6. Pass out both recording sheets and stopwatches to each group. Say: “We are going to play a game to test everyone’s fluency. Put your listening ears 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 swap 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 voice? Please mark these changes you notice on your paper.”
7. When the students 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:
1. What did Great Uncle do whenever he got older?
2. What did he fly across when he was eleven years old?
3. Who did Great Uncle fly for?
4. What was one thing you learned after reading this book?
Fluency Checklist:
1. Title of Book: ________________________________
2. Student’s Name: ______________________ Date: ___________
3. Partner’s Name: ______________________
After 2nd Reading: After 3rd Reading:
____________ ____________ Remembered more words
____________ ____________ Read faster
____________ ____________ Read smoother
____________ ____________ Read with expression
(Words x 60)/ seconds = WPM
0 - - - - 10 - - - - 20 - - - - 30 - - - - 40 - - - - 50 - - - - 60 - - - - 70 - - - - 80 - - - - 90 - - - - 100
Correct Words Per Minute
Resources:
Book: Johnson, Angela. Wind Flyers. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers; 1 edition
Morrow, Katie. Reading Genie Website. “Flying Through Fluency” https://katiemorrow97.wixsite.com/mysite/growing-fluency