Growing Independence and Fluency Design

Hitting a Homerun with Fluency!

Rationale: This lesson is designed to improve students' fluency. Students will be able to read fluently, accurately, and effortlessly, making reading words more fun. With fluency, students are able to add expression and emphasis on important words in texts. Reading with fluency promotes better reading comprehension by allowing more resources to be dedicated to remembering the story. By completing repeated readings from the book, Same, Same, but Different, students will be able to improve fluency and reading rates.

Materials: copy of Same, Same, but Different (for every student and one copy for the teacher), stopwatches or phone to keep time (for each student), partner reading checklist (one for each student), dry erase board, dry erase markers, and dry erase erasers

Procedures:

Say: “To become expert readers, we need to learn to read fluently. Reading fluently means reading with speed, accuracy, and expression. We can build our sight vocabulary and begin to recognize words faster. To become fluent, we need to read a book or passage over and over to become familiar with it. Reading fluently will help make reading fun!”

Say: “I’m going to read a sentence from the book we will be reading today.” (Write the sentence on the white board.) Tell me if this sounds like I’m reading fluently. “My teacher miilllled it across the oceans.” Oh, it’s mailed, not milled. Now, I need to reread the sentence to make sure I can comprehend the words. “My teacher mailed it across the oceans.” Did you see how after I read the sentence with my mistake in it, I corrected it the second time I read the sentence? This is called crosschecking. Now, I am going to read the sentence again and add more expression. “My teacher mailed it across the oceans.” Did you notice how I didn’t have to stop for any words, and I read with lots of expression? I read the sentence fluently!

Pass out book, Same, Same, but Different. Give book talk: “Elliot is a young girl that lives in America. Kailash is a young boy that lives in India. These two become pen pals and begin writing to each other. What lesson do you think these two will learn? Let’s read to find out what will happen!” Let students read the book silently.

Pair students up into groups of two. In each group, one student will be the reader and the other will be the listener. Each student gets a partner checklist. Say: “We are going to be working on our fluency by rereading during paired readings. You will read the book, Same, Same, but Different, to your partner and then switch jobs with your partner. Repeat until each of you have read three times. Look at the checklist with me. Be sure to mark how many seconds it took to read the story each time by the columns, 1st reading, 2nd reading, and 3rd reading. After the 2nd and 3rd readings, make a check mark by the columns, remembered more words, read faster, read smoother, and read with more expression, if your partner did so. Let’s get started!”

After partner reading, collect the checklists. Say: “Now, I will call you individually to read with me.” Time each student’s reading with a stopwatch. While they read, note miscues. After they are finished, calculate the student’s word per minute by using the formula (WPM = # of words times 60/ # of seconds). Record this number for your records.

Say: “After you are done reading, you may go back to your desk. You have read the story multiple times now. I have a few questions for you to answer connecting to the story."

Reading Comprehension Questions:

What lesson did Ellie and Kailash learn from being pen pals?
Did you take any new information from this story or learn a lesson of your own?
Would you like to try being pen pals with someone from a different country? Why?

I will review each student’s responses to the reading comprehension questions, review the partner feedback, and review my individual time with each child reading to assess each student using rubric:

References:

Johnson, Katherine: https://katcjohnson.wixsite.com/mysite/growing-fluency

Woleneck, Madison: https://slp0024.wixsite.com/shelbylynnepickett/growing-fluency-design

Shaw-Kostecki, Jenny Sue. Same, Same, but Different. 2011. New York City: Henry Holt and Company