Rationale: This lesson’s goal is to help students develop fluency in longer and more advanced texts. Fluent reading is the ability to recognize sight words immediately and read quickly with understanding and expression. Readers should be encouraged and motivated to read and reread decodable words and texts. Throughout this lesson, students will be taught how to become fluent readers themselves and how to decode, crosscheck, reread, and understand. At the end of the lesson, you will have a better idea of the student’s ability to read texts fluently and independently.

 

Materials:

• Stop watch (1 for every 2 students)

• Pencil

• Word count sheet (1 for every child)

• Fluency graph -- Dolphin

• Fluency chart to record student’s words per minute (one for each child)

• Calculator

• Book: Magic Treehouse: Dolphins at Daybreak (1 copy for each student) 

 

Procedures:

1. Say: “Okay class, today we are going to work towards becoming fluent readers; ‘fluent’ or ‘fluency’ means to do something accurately and easily. In this case, we are working on becoming faster and more accurate readers. When we become fluent readers, we are able to automatically recognize words and comprehend the story much better. Being able to comprehend our reading allows us to enjoy books so much more and to expand our reading library choices.

2. Say: “Let’s take a look at the sentence on the whiteboard at the front of the room: (My favorite color is pink). I am going to read the sentence twice, and I want you to listen and see if you can figure out which one is more fluent. ‘M-y-y (my!) f-a-a-v-o-o-r-i-t-t-e (favorite!) c-o-l-l-o-r-r (color!) is p-p-i-i-n-k (pink!). My favorite color is pink! Now, I’m going to try that again. (read smoothly and with expression) My favorite color is pink! Of these two tries, which one sounded better to you? If you think it was the first try, raise your hand. Now, if you think it was the second try, raise your hand. If you said the second try, you’re right! It was smoother, faster, and I used expression. If you can do all of those things, you’re reading with fluency.”

3. Say: “I have an idea that will help you! If you’re stuck on a word, you should read to the end of the sentence to try and figure out what it says. Usually, you will find a clue to help! This is what we call cross-checking. Once you figure out what the word is, you should go back and re-read the entire sentence. Doing this will help you make sight words and become a more fluent reader!

4. Say: “Today, we are going to work on our fluency by reading a Magic Treehouse book. The book is called Dolphins at Daybreak, by Mary Pope Osborne. (Pass the book out and give each child their own copy.) In this book, Jack and Anna find themselves in the middle of the ocean. Luckily, they find a mini-submarine on a coral reef. Unluckily, they are about to meet a giant octopus and one very hungry shark. Will the dolphins save the day? Or are Jack and Annie doomed to be dinner? Now, I will read the first two pages aloud. Follow along while I read! (read the first two pages).

5. Partner Practice: Say: “Now we are going to practice our fluency by working in pairs. Once you have found a partner and settled into your reading spot, send one person to the front to get a fluency chart and a stopwatch. You and your partner are going to read the next five pages aloud to one another three separate times. As your partner reads to you, I want you to listen closely and recognize which words your partner missed. 

6. (Write directions on the board for students to follow along as you explain the assignment) Say: “You and your partner should count the amount of words on the next five pages. Once you’ve figured out the total, put it at the top of the page. Then, decide who will be reading first. If you are the partner that is not reading, you need to be paying close attention to the mistakes your reading partner is making. For every mistake, make a little tally’. [show the tally method on the board and model it]. As your partner begins reading, make sure you start the stopwatch!

7. Say: “After you have each read three separate times, you will calculate your fluency with an equation I’m about to give you! Take the total number of words from those pages and multiply that by 60. Then you will divide that number by the number of seconds it took each of you to read the pages. Your answer will read ‘___ words in ___ minutes.’ After you’ve made the calculations, you will fill out your fluency chart with those numbers. 

8. Say: “After you have finished up, we will answer a couple questions about the story to see how well you were able to comprehend the story!” [pass out paper with questions printed out]. 

 

Partner Reading Progress Checklist:

Total # of words in chapter: ______ Reader: __________________

Partner: __________

1: ___ Words in ___ seconds

2: ___ Words in ___ seconds

3: ___ Words in ___ seconds

Which turn (1, 2, or 3) sounded the smoothest? _______

Which turn (1, 2, or 3) had the least number of errors? ______

 

Reader Response Form:

Name _________

Directions: On your own piece of paper, answer these questions with at least one complete sentence.

1. What did Jack’s mom say to him after their dad said it had just rained?

2. How did Jack and Annie know they were at the Magic Treehouse?

3. Why did Morgan need Jack and Annie’s help?

4. How can Jack and Annie become Master Librarians? 

 

Fluency Graph: 

 

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Resources: 

 

Brewster, Ellison. “Dancing with Fluency”

https://ellisonbrewster.wixsite.com/lessondesigns/growing-independence-and-fluency

 

Boyd, Logan. “Fluency with Junie B.”

https://lolomakayla99.wixsite.com/mysite/fluency-with-junie-b

 

Osborne, Mary Pope. Dolphins at Daybreak. Random House Canada, 1997.