FLUENCY | Readingdesigns

Flourishing Fluency
Growing independency and fluency reading lesson

Rationale: Fluent reading is essential for advanced reading. Fluency is the effortless and automatic recognition of words in a reading. Fluency in reading allows students to comprehend and enjoy more difficult books. In order for students to read effortlessly and automatically, they must practice expression, pace, and comprehension. Effortless word recognition allows students to reflect on what they are reading. This lesson will guide students through reading, decoding, cross-checking, mental marking, and rereading, to become fluent readers.

Materials:
●   Stopwatch
●   pencils
●   Peer fluency sheet
●   Teacher fluency sheet
●   Reading rate forms (plant growth)
●   Sample sentence for teacher to model- My head hurts from all this loud noise.
●   Class set of Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business (one per pair of students)

Procedures:

1.   Say “Today we are going to grow our fluency! Does anyone know what that means? What does fluency mean? [allow students to answer] Those are great answers! Fluency is the ability to read quickly and understand, or comprehend, what you are reading. Why do you think fluency is important? [allow students to answer] Fluency is important because it makes reading easier and more enjoyable; you can also read with more expression when you read with fluency. You will not have to work so hard at figuring out the words, they will just jump out at you! We have learned lots of tools to help us read like decoding, cross-checking, mental marking, and rereading. Today we are going to use all of them as we read the same chunk of a book several times until we can read it with fluency.”
2.   Say: “before we get started, let’s review our decoding, cross-checking, mental marking and reading. If we come to a word that we do not know, what is the first thing we should do? [allow time to answer] We try to decode it right! Then we should finish the sentence and see if the word we made makes sense. If it does then we need to reread the sentence and keep going. If it does not make sense, then we can go back and use cover ups to blend the word together. We look at it and take note of the funny part of the word that is the most difficult. No matter what, we always reread the sentence!”
3.   Say: “now that we have reviewed, I am going to show you what growing fluency looks like [show sentence on the board] I am going to read this sentence, My h-/A/-d, hade? Let me finish the sentence, hurts from all this loud nose, hmm that doesn’t make sense, let me try that again, my had, oh head hurts from all this loud nose, that must be noise. I am going to look at those words and notice the most difficult parts, ea and oi…. These words are head and noise. Now, I am going to read it again and I bet I will be able to recognize those words better this time. My head hurts from all this loud noise. I got it! [read it one more time with expression] The more practice we have with the same words, the easier they become! Did you notice that now I can read the sentence faster and with more expression?”
4.   Say: “Now that we know what a fluent reader looks like and how we can become fluent readers, it is your turn to become a fluent reader! We are going to work with partners to reach our goals. Our goal is to read 85 words per minute while understanding what we are reading. That sounds difficult, but with all the tools you have learned, I know you will each do a great job! We are going to track our progress with this plant chart! [show chart] [group students into pairs of similar ability to achieve maximum encouragement and minimum frustration]
5.   Have students meet up with their partner and find a spot in the classroom to sit. Pass out two peer fluency sheets, one stopwatch, and one book to each group. [a book per person is ideal, but one per group will work]
6.   Say “you are going to read the first chapter of the book Junie B. Jones and a little monkey Business. Do any of you have a baby brother or sister? Well, in this book, Junie B. realizes that her new baby brother is a big deal, and all her friends want to see him. How do you think she will react? What do you think her friends are going to do to see him? You are going to read chapter one 3 times. Your partner is going to use the stopwatch and time you each time. After you read, your partner is going to fill out their checklist. You will take turns reading back and forth until each of you has read 3 times. I want you to think about a few things as you read, because reading fluently is more than just reading the words correctly, it is about understanding what you are reading. I want you to think about the story, about who the characters are and what the characters are doing. How do they react in the story? What would you do if you were in the story?”
7.   Walk around and observe as students read and time each other. Ask questions for understanding as you go. Ask about unfamiliar words and scaffold quickly if necessary.

Assessment:
Call students up individually to read the passage. Calculate words per minute, track it on their chart, and check for understanding using 3-5 comprehension questions.

Partner Reading Progress Checklist:
Title of Book: Chapter 1 of Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business
Total # of words in book: ______
Reader: ___________________________
Checker: __________________________
1: ___ Words in ___ seconds
2: ___ Words in ___ seconds
3: ___ Words in ___ seconds
Which turn sounded the smoothest? _______
Which turn had the least number of errors? ______

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https://pzl0019.wixsite.com/mysite/fluency Palina Luangkhot, Racing Fast with Fluency
https://sartinbailey27.wixsite.com/mysite/finding-fluency Bailey Sartin, Finding Fluency
Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business Random House Publishers

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