Rationale:

 

To become a successful reader, students need to learn how to read fluently with speed and expression. In order to become a fluent reader, nearly all of the words need to become sight vocabulary. Reading fluently improves students’ ability to comprehend what they are reading.  It also betters students’ speech in reading. Practicing reading, crosschecking, decoding, mental marking, and rereading will allow students to create sight words which will allow for fluent reading. 

 

Materials:

 

Corduroy by Don Freeman, stopwatch, cover-up critters, checklist for partner readings, comprehension worksheet

 

Procedures:

 

• Say: Today we are going to practice reading fluently. Reading fluently means we read smoothly, expressively, and automatically. In order to read fluently, we have to learn how to make new words sight words. When we can show expression and speed in our reading, we are becoming fluent. When we read fluently, reading becomes much more interesting and fun!

• Say: Reading fluently is something that takes a lot of practice. Sometimes we may see a word we do not know.  One way to figure out that word is to crosscheck. (Model crosschecking) I read the sentence “The store was always filled with shoppers buying all sorts of things, but no one ever seemed to want a small bear in green overalls.” I don’t recognize the word shopper and I try saying /sh//O//pp//e//r/. Hmm that doesn’t make sense. Maybe I should try finishing the sentence to see if I can figure out the word. “The store always has lots of shoppers buying all sorts of things, but no one ever seemed to want a small bear in green overalls.” Oh! Shopper. There is always lots of shopper in store buying different things. That makes sense.

• Now we are going to talk about the difference between a fluent and non-fluent reader. An un-fluent reader might sound like this: “The sss-t-ooorre w-was al-allways f-fiiilled w-w-with shhh-o-ppers b-buying all s-sorts of t-th-things…” That sounded slow and stretched out. When it sounds like that, it is hard to understand what the reader is saying.  A fluent reading would sound like this: “The store was always filled with shoppers buying all sorts of things..” That sounds much better! My words flowed and it sounded smooth.  It was much easier to understand what the reader was saying.

• To practice reading fluently we are going to read the book Corduroy by Dom Freeman. Corduroy is about a little stuffed bear named Corduroy. Corduroy lives in a department store where he sees lots of shoppers come by every day that never pay attention to him. One day, a shopper pointed out that Corduroy was missing a button. Corduroy had never noticed he didn’t have a button so he decided to look for his button after everyone left the store. We will have to read to find out what happens with Corduroy!

• Children will each be given a copy of the book and a cover-up critter. Say, “Now we’re going to read to ourselves and practice reading fluently. If you finish early, start to read Corduroy again.” Teacher will walk around classroom to keep children on task and give 10-15 minutes for children to read book. Once students finish, regain attention to informally assess comprehension via group discussion.

• Say, “Now we’re going to split up into partners! First, partner 1 will read aloud while partner 2 times them. Then, we will switch partners. After reading aloud, talk about what you read with your partner. Then we’re going to read aloud again, while our partner is looking at our checklist and seeing if we read faster, with more expression, or if we understood more. Then, we’ll switch partners again. We’ll do this 3 times.” Model with student if it is necessary for students to understand better.

• Assessment: Once the students have finished three rounds of repeated reading, have each student turn in his or her checklist. Now, call up students one by one and perform repeated readings with each student, graphing his or her progress on the fluency chart. Make sure to encourage students as they improve and use helpful tips if they are struggling. After the three rounds have been completed, ask a few comprehension questions: Why did the little girl’s mother not want to buy Corduroy? Why did Corduroy leave his shelf?

 

Partner Reading Checklist

 

​​​​​​​​​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teacher Fluency Checklist:

 

Student Name:

Words x 60/seconds

Reading #1

WPM:

Miscues:

Did the student read with more expression? Yes or No

Did the student read smoother? Yes or No

Did the student read faster? Yes or No

Reading #2

WPM:

Miscues:

Did the student read with more expression? Yes or No

Did the student read smoother? Yes or No

Did the student read faster? Yes or No

Reading #3

WPM:

Miscues:

Did the student read with more expression? Yes or No

Did the student read smoother? Yes or No

Did the student read faster? Yes or No

 

​Resources:

 

Freeman, Don. . New York, NY: Puffin, 1967. Print.

 

Dunn, M. "Marching Through Fluency." . N.p., 2015. Web. 26 Oct. 2015. <http://lmd0015.wix.com/literacy-designs#%21blank/ckqo>.