Growing Independency and Fluency

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rational: This lesson is designed to improve students’ reading fluency. Reading fluently means that nearly all the words that a student is reading are a part of his or her sight vocabulary. As a result of this, the student is capable of reading at a fast and even pace without disturbing their reading comprehension. Fluency can make reading more gratifying for students because they learn how to read with more expression at a much smoother rate. Before students can reach a level of reading fluency, they must first demonstrate proficiency in decoding words. In this lesson, students will learn the strategies and skills that it takes to become a fluent reader through the reading and rereading of the story The Cat in the Hat. 

 

Materials: Class set of “The Cat in the Hat” by Dr. Suess, stopwatch (one per pair), pencil, cover up critter, fluency checklist (one per student), reading tracker (one per student), class set of pencils, teacher fluency checklist (one per student), white board

 

Reading Checklist (1 per student)

Partner Reading Checklist

Total # of Words in Chapter: __________

Reader: __________________________

Checker: _________________________

1: ___  words in  ___ seconds

2: ___  words in  ___ seconds

3: ___  words in  ___ seconds

Which turn sounded the smoothest? _____

Which turn had the least amount of errors? ____

 

Teacher Fluency Checklist (1 per student)

Name of Reader: _________________________

Date: ___________

Time: ___________

Words x 60 / time in seconds: ____________ Words per Minute (WPM)

 

Fluency Checklist

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Comprehension Questions: 

1. Who tried to tell Sam and Sally that the cat should not be in their home?

2. During the cat’s “Up up up with a fish” game, where did the fish land?

3. What did Sam use to catch Thing 1 and Thing 2?

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Procedures: 

1. Say: “Good morning class! Today we are going to work on fluency while we read. Fluency allows us to comprehend a passage and also makes reading smoother, and more fun! Fluency also helps us use facial expressions while we read, and allows us to quickly read without errors! Doesn’t that sound great?”

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2. Say: “I am going to show you how to read a sentence, even if we do not know all of the words yet. Today we are going to use coverup critters to help us decode words that we have never seen before. First I am going to show you all an example on the white board. We are going to decode the word “Cat.” Write Cat on the front white board. “First I am going to cover up all of the letters except for the first one ‘c.’  /c/.../c/.../c… Now, let’s uncover the second letter ‘a.’ /a/..../a/.../a/… Finally, let’s uncover the last letter ‘t.’ /t/.../t/.../t/… Great! Now let’s put it together! /c/.../a/..../t/...cat! This word is ‘cat’. Let’s put this word in a sentence, ‘I have a pet cat named Jack.  Cat.’

 

3. Say: “Now it is my turn to demonstrate the difference between fluent reading and nonfluent reading. First I will write the sentence on the board, then I will say it two times and I want you to think which one is read fluently.

iiii hhhaavvveee aaa pppettt cccaaatttt ttthhaatt wwweeaarrrrss aaa bbiiiiggg hhhaaaatt. (said slowly, really pronouncing each phoneme with little expression)

Next up, I have a pet cat that wears a big hat. (said using expression and smooth reading) So, did anyone notice any differences between the two readings of this sentence? Which reading was read more fluently?”

Pause to take student responses.

Say: Yes, correct! The second reading was read fluently. I bet that it was easier for you to understand and more enjoyable to hear! I want you to try and read more quickly and with more expression each time we read.

 

4. Say: “It is going to take some practice for you all to become fluent readers! For example, in the sentence we just read “I have a pet cat that wears a big hat,” I did not get it right the first time because I had never seen it before. However, the second time I read it, it was easier because I had already decoded the words in the sentence. By the time I read it for the third time, I was able to read it quickly and with more expression because I had read and decoded it a few times. I became fluent reading this sentence by reading it multiple times until I understood what I was saying! Now, you can practice to become fluent readers too!

 

5.  Say: “For this next activity, I want you to read “The Cat in the Hat” at your desk quietly. ‘The Cat in the Hat’ is about a big cat who invites himself into a house of two strangers. These two strangers are young children named Sam and Sally. Their mom is out of the house for the day, so the cat decides to keep them company and teach them some tricks! We will have to keep reading to see what the cat does with Sam and Sally all day!”

 

6. After the students quietly read “The Cat in the Hat,” I will put them in pairs of two. 

Say: “Now that you all have learned the cat’s tricks, I am going to give each group a copy of the book, one stopwatch, two reading trackers, and two fluency checklists. You and your partner are each going to read the book three times. You will each take turns being the reader and being the timer. The reader will focus on reading while the timer times the reading and records the times on their reading chart. When it is your job to be the timer, be sure that you hit start as soon as your partner starts to read and hit stop as soon as they are done reading! Record all three of the times on your chart. After your partner has finished reading each time, you should fill out the fluency reading checklist and the reading rate chart. Filling these charts out will help your partner determine what aspects of their fluency are improving. After each reading, I want you to give your reading partner a special compliment about how their reading improved! This part is very important! You can compliment your partner on their speed, expression, smoothness, or their ability to remember the hard words from before.” 

Before the students start reading, I will model how to fill in the chart and use a stopwatch. I will then observe the students reading the book and will walk around the room as they read. I will answer any questions the students may have and make sure that they are filling in the correct time.

 

7. Assessment. Say: “Once you and your partner are finished reading and tracking, I will bring each of you up to my desk and I want each of you to tell me how you complimented your partner. Then, you can give me your books, stopwatch, completed reading trackers, and completed fluency checklists. In return, I am going to give you a comprehension exit quiz with three questions on it.”

 

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References:

Seuss, Dr. The Cat in the Hat. New York: Random House, 1957. Seuss, Dr. The Cat in the Hat. New York: Random House, 1957

 

Finding Fluency with Rainbow Fish! Tindall Morring https://ktm0014.wixsite.com/mysite/growing-independence-and-fluency

 

Reading is not unbearable. Taylor Hoff https://taylordhoff.wixsite.com/lesson-designs/growing-independence-and-fluency-gf