GROWING INDEPENDENCE AND FLUENCY DESIGN

1. First the teacher will explain the concept of fluency to the class. The teacher might say “Good morning everyone! Today we are going to learn what it means to become fluent readers. Does anyone know what being a fluent reader means?” After hearing several responses explain to the students that “A fluent reader can read smoothly and effortlessly while also understanding what they are reading. Today we are going to practice becoming fluent readers, let’s get started!”

2. Say “Take a look at the word I have written on the whiteboard: float. I am going to use my coverup critter to help me figure out what this word is. I will first cover up all of the letters except for the first letter f. /f/…/f/…/f/, now l, /l/…/l/…/l/, next oa, /O/…/O/…/O/, and finally t, /t/…/t/…/t/. Let’s put the word together, ffffllllOAt, float! We just decoded the word float!

3. Say: “Now I am going to write a sentence on the white board. Let’s look at this sentence, “She is great at swimming.” I am going to read this sentence and I want you to tell me if you think I am a fluent reader. She, is, /g/ /g/ /r/ /r/ /e/ /t/ /t/ gret, at, swimming. She is gret at swimming. Hmm, that doesn’t make since it must be, she is great at swimming! Did you see where I got stuck on the word great? I realized that the word did not make sense, so I went back and reread the sentence to figure out what the word should be that made sense! This is called crosschecking! Now I am going to reread the sentence “She is great at swimming.” What was the difference between the first time I read the sentence and the second? The second time I read the sentence quickly and smoothly! That’s how I want each of you to be able to read. I want you to grab a partner and practice reading the second sentence on the board (He was afraid to swim.) Practice reading it aloud until each of you can read the sentence fluently!

4. Say “Now we are going to read ‘Pete the Cat Scuba Cat.’ Pete hears all about the sea creatures in the sea and is so excited to see them! Once he gets down there, he has a hard time finding the creatures! What will Pete do? Let’s read to find out! I want you to each read the book silently first, and then pair up with a friend and read it aloud!”

5. Now pair off each of the students. Say, “Now we are going to play a fluency game!” Each pair will get a copy of the book, a stopwatch, a pencil, and a fluency checklist. Have the students decide which partner will go first. One partner will read while the other one keeps the time. You are each going to read the story three times. Once silently, once alone while your partner times you, and lastly together with your partner. I want you to read “Pete the Cat, Scuba Cat.” The first time through you do not have to take the time, but the second time I want each partner to keep track of how long it takes you to read those pages. I also want the partner that is taking the time to take notes on fluency, expression and missed words. Make sure that each partner has a turn at both jobs.” The teacher will walk around and observe, as well as take up fluency sheets at the end.

6. Say, “Now let’s calculate words per minute. (Tell the children the number of words in the book) Take the number of words that you had a mistake with and subtract from the words in the book. Do this for both the second and third time. This allows you to see the progress with your reading fluency. wordsx60/seconds

7. Say, “Now let’s review one last time. I am going to have you each come up one by one and read to me. This will allow me to you if needed and to see how great you are at becoming a fluent reader! (This will allow for the teacher to collect data from the students and see who still needs improvement. Make sure to mark improvements and take miscues.)

8. Say “Now that we have read the book a few times through, we are going to see how well you comprehended the book! We are going to work on these questions independently. (hand out reading comprehension worksheet)

Assessment: I will assess the students by recording their reading progress in words per minute visual and on the checklists.

Reading Comprehension Worksheet:

1. Why does Pete want to see a seahorse?

2. Why is it so dark when Pete swims out of cave?

3. How does Pete know the octopus is not a seahorse?
   
   

Fluency Checklist:

Title of the Book: __________

Student’s Name: ___________ Date: __________

Partner’s Name: __________________________

After 2nd Reading   After 3rd Reading

_____________      _____________   Remembered more words

_____________      _____________   Read Faster

_____________      _____________   Read Smoother

_____________      _____________   Read w Expression

Time:                        Time:

(Wordsx60) / seconds= WPM

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

Correct Words Per Minute