Rationale: This lesson aims to help students develop fluency in longer, more developed texts. Children must be able to quickly and effortlessly organize words to become fluent readers. Fluency is reading with automatic word recognition. Fluency is crucial for readers because it enables readers to read faster, smoother, with more expressions, and they are able to comprehend the reading, making it more enjoyable. If a student is unfamiliar with a particular word and unable to decode it, perhaps he could figure out the word by crosschecking. Throughout this lesson, students will practice their reading fluency with their repeated reading of “Junie B. Jones Smells Something Fishy,” and they will gain experience with silent and partner reading. They will read for fluency with the teacher and go over unfamiliar words between readings. This lesson strives to improve the student’s influence and independence through repeated and timed reading.
Materials:
· Class set of the book: Junie B. Jones Smells Something Fishy
· Pencil
· Stop watch/timing device for each pair of students
· Dry erase boards
· Dry erase markers
· Cover up critter
· Chart to record student's words per minute
· Fluency checklist (to pass out to students)
· Sentences for teacher to sample​
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Procedures:
1. This lesson begins with the teacher explaining the concept of fluency to the students. Begin the lesson with, “Good morning class! Today we are going to be working on fluency. What does it mean to be a fluent reader? Wait for student responses. Those are all great answers! Being a fluent reader is when you start to really enjoy reading. When someone is a fluent reader, they can read a passage quickly while remembering what a story is about, and they also put expression into their reading. Fluent readers are those who read very smooth without stopping to figure out individual words. We are going to practice our smooth reading today!”
2. Say: “There are a few tools that you have already learned that will help you become a more fluent reader. Let’s think about them. First, you have to be able to decode words. Remember, It’s okay if you get stuck on a difficult word. Cover-up critters are great to keep handy to help break up larger words. I will model how to use the cover-up critter when you find an unfamiliar word.” Say: “We can use cover-up critters to help us decode an unfamiliar word we haven’t learned yet (I will write the word light on the board). I am going to use my cover-up critter to help me decode this word (I will cover up all letters except for l). //…lll. (Then I will uncover igh). /I/… /lI/. (Lastly I will uncover t. /t/…/lIt/… light! This word is light. We used our cover-up critter to blend all of our correspondences together to find out the word. If we still find ourselves stuck, we can use a great method known as cross-checking. Say: Who can tell me what cross checking is? [Wait.] Crosschecking is a strategy we use to make sure what we are reading makes sense and also it helps us if we find a word we don't know. We can use context clues to crosscheck. Let's try. I am going to write a sentence on the board and we will read it together. Write: Sam and pals pet the dog. Say: Sam and pals pet the dog. Pete the dog? Hmmm, no that doesn't sound right. Oh wait, Sam and pals PET the dog! That's right. Let’s go over our reading tools together again: We decode, crosscheck, discover the word and reread the entire sentence for comprehension. Now we are ready to read for fluency!”
3.Say: “Now that we know what a fluent reader is and what to do when we come across a word that we don’t know, I am going to model for you how to practice reading fluently. I want you to listen and notice how much more fun it is to listen to someone read fluently.” (Put the sentence strips on the projector). First reading of the sentence: “The boy’s fav-fav-favorite se-seson is the summer. Oh! The boy’s favorite season is the summer! He likes how hot it is ot-sid. Oh! He likes how hot it is outside.” Say: “In this example I used crosschecking to figure out the words that I did not know. I noticed that the in favorite says /i/. I also noticed that the is season says /E/. Crosschecking really helped me to figure that out! After I have gotten all of the words by crosschecking, I will reread the sentences faster and more fluently. ‘The boy’s favorite season is the summer. He likes how hot it is outside.’ Wow! Wasn’t that a lot more enjoyable to listen to me read the sentences fluently?”
4. Say: Since we now have reviewed crosschecking, let's see how to read fluently. I will write a sentence on the board and read it a few times. Tell me which one sounds the best. Listen as I read and decide whether you think I am a fluent reader or a beginner” (Sentence: Sally ran to take out the trash. Have sentence on smart board so that students can follow along from their seats). “Salllllyyyyyyy rrruuuunn, no ran, tooo tttaaaakkk, wait take, ouuutttt tthee trraasshhh”. Now I will reread the sentence so I can make sure that I comprehend all the words. Sally ran to take out the trash.” Now let's all decide which one sounds the best. Let's take a vote. [Write a tally chart on the board.] Say: If you chose the second reading, I agree with you. It is more entertaining to listen to someone read who does so smoothly and adds expression. Let's read it a few more times so that you can hear the difference. Let's add expression as we read.
5. Number off students into partner sets and pass out the books. Say: “Now we are going to practice being fluent readers by reading the Junie B. Jones book, June B. Jones Smells Something Fishy. Junie B. is so excited for pet day at school. She can’t wait to bring her dog when she finds out, no dogs! This is the only pet she has. We will have to read to find out what Junie B. does.”
6. Explain to the class that they will now be doing repeated reading with an assigned partner. Say: “We will be doing repeated readings because they will help us to become fluent readers. The more you read a story, the better you will be able to read that story. I will read you the beginning out loud to you all, and I want all of you to follow along with me. I am going to read as fluently and as expressively as I can, so make sure you all pay close attention to the way I am reading the story.” [Read pages 1-3 aloud].
7. Divide students into reading partners. [Pair one struggling reader with a successful reader]. Assign each pair of partners in a different spot around the classroom to eliminate distractions from other groups. Each partner group should get a copy of Junie B. Smells Something Fishy, a timer/stopwatch, a fluency checklist, a pencil, and a reading time sheet.
8. Once students are assigned partners and placed around the classroom, the teacher will give instructions. Say: “In this activity, one of you will read first, and the other will record first. You may decide who goes first. Remember that this is not a race, so do not try to go faster than your classmate so you “win.” This is meant to help you improve your fluency so that you can read faster and more smoothly, not so that you can read faster than your partner. After the first person has read and the partner has recorded, then you will switch and the recorder will become the reader. When the recorder says “Begin” then they will start the timer. And when the partner has finished reading, they will stop the timer. Record their time on the time sheet. After the second and third time, the timer will write down how long it took the reader to read the chapter. The timer should make notes about how the reader gets better each time he or she reads. Does the reader remember words? Do the read faster? Do they read smoothly? Do they read with expression? You can mark if they do by using the printed out paper I give you. You are now able to begin.”
9.Say: “When you and your partner are finished with the first part of the fluency reading, you will do another activity. You are going to be figuring out exactly how many words per minute each of you read. The reader will read the chapter one more time and the timer will time how long it takes while also writing down any mess up that the reader does. You will do this by putting a check mark every time the reader makes a mistake. I will also come around and give you the number of pages in the chapter. Once you are done, we will do a simple math problem! You will subtract the number of miscues from the total number of words. Remember to use all of the skills we talked about earlier! Be expressive with your reading and have fun!” The teacher will assess each student’s fluency by using the fluency formula to determine the student’s words per minute: (words read x 60/seconds it took to read).
10. While students are working and reading in their pairs, walk around the classroom to monitor their progress. You can offer some help if needed.
11. Also ask comprehension questions as you walk around the room: Who is Twitter? What type of animal did Junie B. want to take to Pet Day after she found out her dog could not come? What award did Junie B’s pet win at Pet Day? Then assign each student to write one complete paragraph describing the story in their own words. This will help to assess the level at which each student is comprehending the lesson.
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Comprehension Quiz
1.Who is Twitter?
2.What type of animal did Junie B. want to take to Pet Day after she found out her dog could not come?
3.What award did Junie B’s pet win at Pet Day?
Fluency Checklist:
Speed Reading Record:
Name:
Date:
After 1st Read:
Time:
After 2nd Read:
Remembered more words: _____
Read faster: _____
Read smoother: _____
Read with expression: _____
Time:
After 3rd Read:
Remembered more words: _____
Read faster: _____
Read smoother: _____
Read with expression: _____
0 - - - - 10 - - - - 20 - - - - 30 - - - - 40 - - - - 50 - - - - 60 - - - - 70 - - - - 80 - - - - 90 - - - - 100
Correct Words Per Minute
References:
Bussman, Sally Kale. “If You Teach a Mouse Fluency” https://szb0094.wixsite.com/lessondesigns2017/growing-independence-and-fluency
Murray, Bruce. Developing Reading Fluency. Auburn University Reading Genie. http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/fluency.html
Moccia, Sami. http://samimoccia.wixsite.com/samimoccia/growing-independence-and-fluency”
Park, Barbara. Junie B. Jones Smells Something Fishy. Published by Random House Books for Young Readers. Chicago, IL. 1998.
Scocos, Brooke. “Flying into Fluency“ http://brookescocos.wixsite.com/missbrooke/growing-independence-and-fluency
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