Lesson Plans

 

 

 

 

 

Rationale:In order to increase reading fluency, a students’ focus should be on reading accurately and effortlessly. Reading fluency is being able to read using automatic word recognition instead of  constant decoding. As a student’s fluency increases, a student’s reading comprehension will as well. Increased fluency and reading comprehension, makes reading a more enjoyable experience.  This lesson is designed to assist students in applying strategies such as crosschecking while reading an engaging, whole text. The best method to improve fluency is repeated reading. This lesson will get students to read and reread, making sure there are decodable words and making sure there are connected texts. This will allow students to crosscheck while reading an interesting, whole text.

 

Materials:

1. Pencils

2. Stopwatch for every 2 students

3. Copy of Queen of Halloweenby Mary Engelbreit for every 2 students

4. Peer fluency sheet for every student

5. Whiteboard and dry erase markers

   1. “Jack rode his bike to the park.” And “Liz wants to go with Jack, but her mom said no.”

Procedures:

Say:Today we are going to become fluent readers! Does anyone know what it means to become a fluent reader? (Allow time for the class to respond) That’s right! A fluent reader is someone who can read quickly and with ease. They automatically recognize each word, which helps them understand what is happening in the story! This makes reading fun because we can quickly figure out what will happen next in the story!

 

 Say: Class, let’s read the sentence on the board. [Jack rode his bike to the park.] I’m going to read the sentence and I want you to tell me if I sound like a fluent reader. J-j-j-a-a-a-a-c-c-k-k, Jack, r-r-r-r-/o/-/o/-/o/-/o/-d-d-d his b-b-/I/-/I/-k-k-k-e, bike, to the p-p-p-/a/-/a/-r-r-r-k, park! Jack rod his bike to the park. He rod his bike? Wait, that sentence does not make sense. Oh, rode! Jack rode his bike to the park! We got stuck on the word rode in this sentence. I forgot that o_e says /O/, but I used context clues of the sentence to figure out the word I was struggling with to complete the sentence. This strategy is called crosschecking and it is a very important skill to have in becoming fluent readers! I read the entire sentence and realized that it did not make sense, so I looked the word that sounded familiar and realized this is was a long /O/ sound. Make sure you use crosschecking if a word sounds funny in a sentence!

 

Say:Now we are going to read Queen of Halloween to develop our fluency. Since Halloween is almost here, we are going to read about Ann Estelle and her friend Michael on Halloween! Ann Estelle and Michael are going trick-or-treating with Ann Estelle’s dad, but Michael thinks they’re old enough to finally go alone. They come across a big, scary house, and Ann Estelle’s dad let them walk up to it alone! As they get closer, the house looks spookier and spookier, but Ann Estelle doesn’t want Michael to know that she’s scared to go up there. What do you think will happen when they get to the scary house? Do you think the house is haunted? You’ll have to read the story to find out! Everyone read the story once silently to him or herself to see what happens to Ann Estelle and Michael.

 

(Give each student a Peer Fluency Sheet and give each pair of students a stopwatch) Say: Now we are going to break into pairs with our partners and show each other our great fluency skills! You will take turns reading the story. One person will read the story 3 times out loud while your partner times you. Everyone needs to be good partners and motivate each other as you read! During the first reading, your partner only needs to use the stopwatch and listen, but during the second and third reading, I want the listener to use the stopwatch to time their partner and also listen for the following things: does the reader read faster than the last time they read? Does the reader read smoother than the last time they read? Does the reader read with expression and voice? Does the reader remember more words than the last time they read? Once you have read the story three times, trade jobs and let the person who was reading time and the person who was timing read their three times! [have one pair of students’ model for the class to make sure that everyone knows what they are doing and how to work the stopwatches] I’ll be walking around the class if you need any help!

 

(The teacher collects the Peer Fluency Sheet after repeated readings are complete; assess each student’s fluency by using the following formula: words x 60 / seconds)

 

The teacher will have each student (working individually) write a 3 sentences about what they learned in the story. After using the formula to assess each students’ fluency, call each student up individually to read a few pages to the teacher while the class is working on their writing assignment. The teacher will take note of words per minute and how the students’ fluency has improved. They will also answer three comprehension questions:

 

1. What is Ann Estelle’s costume?

2. What did Mrs. Gilligan give Michael and Ann Estelle when they arrived at her house?

3. What event happened at the scary house when the door-bell rang?

 

After using the formula to assess all student’s fluency, call each student up one by one to read a few pages to the teacher while the rest of the class is working on their writing assignment. The teacher will take notes of words per minute and how the students’ fluency has improved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References:

Sarah Price's, "Queen of Fluency": https://sarahpricelessondesigns.weebly.com/independence--fluency.html

Engelbreit, Mary. Queen of Halloween. Harper Collins, 2008. Hardcover

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