Rationale

            In order to become fluent readers, children need to learn how to read faster, smoother, and more expressively. Fluency is refers to a student’s ability to read words automatically and accurately. As students’ fluency increases, their comprehension grows, thus they enjoy reading more. It has been a proven fact that the more you practice reading, the more fluent you become. Therefor, in this lesson, students will learn how to read more quickly, smoothly, and expressively in order to gain fluency. Students will gain fluency and comprehension through repeated readings and timed readings.

 

Materials

• Stopwatch for each pair of students

• Pencil

• Copy of the book The Tug for each student

• Discussion Questions

  • How did Sam get in the van? What did Bob do when he first got on the tug? What did Sam do while waiting for Bob? What did the tug go pick up? How did Sam save the day?

• ‘Running Track’ progress chart for each student (has start line, 1st and 2nd curves, finish line, and a cutout of a runner with their face)

• Teacher copy of progress chart (miniature of the students’)

• Fluency Literacy Rubric:

 

Name: ________________ Evaluator: _________________Date: ___________

I noticed that my partner:

                                                          After 2nd         After 3rd         

Remembered more words                _______          _______

Read Faster                                       _______          _______

Read Smoother                                 _______          _______

Read with expression                       _______          _______

 

• Construction paper and crayons

• Cover-up Critter (popsicle stick with googly eyes)

 

Procedures

1.Say: “Today we are going to learn how to be more fluent readers by reading words correctly as fast as we can! In order to be a fluent reader, we must be able to read words correctly, automatically, and quickly, and most importantly, understand what we are reading. When you are a fluent reader, you are able to enjoy what you are reading more and can see how much fun reading can be! But, in order to become fluent readers, we must practice!”

 

2.Model how to read fluently to the students. Say: “First, I am going to read a sentence to without using fluency so you can hear what it sounds like. (Write the sentence on the board, “Jane and Tim played with their dog in the yard”). Say: J-a-n-e and Tim p-l-ay-ed---w-i-th th-ei-r----dog in the y-ar-d. Now, I am going to read the sentence as a fluent reader would. Be sure to pay attention to the difference you hear, “Jane and Tim played with their dog in the yard”. Can you hear the difference between the non-fluent reader and the fluent one? Good! Listen again as I read the sentence as a fluent reader, “Jane and Tim played with their dog in the yard” (read a little faster this time). Do you see how I was able to read the sentence even faster that time? That is because I have already seen these words before, so I am able to read it quickly and automatically. Notice that the first two times I read the sentence were slower because they were practice for me to be able to read it a third time fluently.”

 

3.Give the children copies of the book, . Say: “Okay now we are going to read a book called . It is about a boy named Bob who works on a tug. One day his dog, Sam, accidently rides to work with him. Sam is not allowed on the tug and it makes him sad – but it turns out he has a big role to play! Let’s read to find out what Sam can do for the crew on the tug! I want each of you to read the book first by yourselves. Remember, when you are reading be sure to crosscheck to make sure that all your words are making sense. So if I were to read, ‘The dog chased the scab’ I would think, hmm this doesn’t make sense. So I would go back and read the sentence again and crosscheck what I read to realize that it says, ‘The dog chased the cat’. If you come to a word that you don’t know, use your cover-up critter to single out the vowel, then blend the first part of the word, and then blend the second part of the word.  If you finish early, answer these questions: “How did Sam get in the van? What did Bob do when he first got on the tug? What did Sam do while waiting for Bob? What did the tug go pick up? How did Sam save the day?”

 

4.Now, split the students up into partners and explain the fluency literacy rubric. Give them a copy of the book, a pencil, stopwatch, and their ‘Running Track’ (sheet of construction paper with a track and a runner with their face). Say: “You and your partner are now going to practice being fluent readers by reading the first chapter of this book aloud to each other two times. To keep record of our reading progress, we will use our running track. There are three spots you can be at – start, halfway, and the finish line. The goal is to see how fast you can move your runner from the start line to the finish line. This will depend on how fast you read the book and how fluent you become. While one partner reads, the other partner will time on the stopwatch. After you have read through the book once, write down the time it took and place the runner of your partner at the start line. The same partner will read again, and then you have improved your time, the other partner will move your runner to the first curve and so on. When y’all are done reading the book twice, the other partner will then read and the partner that read first will do the stopwatch. Make sure to only move the runner when you improve your time!”

 

5.After the students have finished their readings, they will go back to their desks and fill out the fluency rubrics for their partner. They will check the boxes on how the student performed on the 2nd and 3rd time reading the book.

 

Assessment

• Pass out a sheet of construction paper and crayons. Say: “I want everyone to draw and color a picture of his or her favorite thing that happened in the story. Under the picture, explain what is happening and why it is your favorite part.”

• Say: “As you draw and color your pictures, I am going to call each of you up to my desk so you can read for me.” Then call each student up to complete a read of the first chapter of the book to assess his or her fluency. Use your copy of their reading racetrack to track how long it takes the students to read the chapter. Collect the student reading racetracks and fluency rubrics to see where everyone is at in their reading.

• After assessing the fluency of each child, discuss these questions to test for comprehension: “How did Sam get in the van? What did Bob do when he first got on the tug? What did Sam do while waiting for Bob? What did the tug go pick up? How did Sam save the day? How would you have felt if you were Sam? What would you do if you were Gus after Sam saved the day?” Have children write their answers first, and then discuss as a class.

 

References

Kerns, Megan. “On Your Mark, Get Set, READ! Auburn University. http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/invent/kernsgf.html

 

Lipham, Hayle. “Hurry…Hurry…Off We Go!”. Auburn University. http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/sightings/liphamgf.html

 

The Tug by Matt Sims, c. 1999. High Noon Books. Novato, CA. 

 

 

 

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