Kimberly Payne
Auburn University
Early Childhood Education
Hopping to Fluency
Growing Independence and Fluency
Rationale:
This lesson is to help students develop fluency in longer, more difficult texts. Fluent readers can read quickly, use blending correctly, and read effortlessly. We want readers to be motivated to read and reread decodable words in connected text. Throughout this lesson, students will practice their fluency and gain experience with reading text silently. They will also be reading to a partner. Then they will read for fluency with you, graphing progress and going over unfamiliar words between readings. At the end of the lesson, teachers will have a better idea of their student’s ability to fluently and independently read texts.
Materials:
- Stopwatches (one for each pair of students)
- Fluency Graphs for each child
- Stickers
- Book Frog and Toad are Friends by Arnold Lobel (one for each student)
- Partner Reading Progress checklists
- Reader Response form
- Grading rubrics
0 - - - - 10 - - - - 20 - - - - 30 - - - - 40 - - - - 50 - - - - 60 - - - - 70 - - - - 80 - - - - 90 - - - - 100
Correct Words Per Minute
Fluency Checklist:
Title of Book: __________________________________
Date___________
Student’s Name: ____________
Partner's Name: ______________________________
After 2nd Reading After 3rd Reading
_________ _________ Remembered more words
_________ _________ Read faster
_________ _________ Read smoother
_________ _________ Read with expression
Procedure:
1. Say: “Today we are going to talk about reading fluently. To read fluently means that we are able to understand what we are reading and what is happening in the story. The more fluently we can read, the more we will be able to understand or comprehend from what we are reading. Along with being able to comprehend text, fluent readers are able to read with expression. They can change their voices to match certain text, such as getting louder if a character screams or using a quiet voice if another whispers. To become a fluent reader we need to practice our skills. So, today we are going to practice fluency.”
- Say: “I am going to read this sentence on the smartboard twice. I want you to listen to how I read it and tell me which time sounds more fluent, or which one sounds better, okay?”
Attempt 1: “F-r-ooo-g, frog ran up the paaaa-th, path, to T-ow-d’s, Toad’s? h-ou-se and /k/nocked, knocked on the d-oo-rrr.”
Attempt 2: “Frog ran up the path to Toad’s house and knocked on the door.”
“Which sounds better? [Listen to students answers] That’s right! The second option sounds a lot better. Now, why does it sound better? [Allow students to answer] Good job, it sounds better because I read the words effortlessly because they were in my sight vocabulary, and I also read it with expression. I was also able to understand what the sentence was saying when I read it the second time, unlike the first time. When I read the sentence the first time I was too focused on decoding that I couldn’t understand it. A huge part of fluent reading is having a large sight vocabulary because the larger the sight vocabulary, the easier it is to see words and automatically know them to comprehend what they are saying. Fluent reading is important because that is how we know what the story is about.”
3. Say: “There are some skills that we have already learned that will help us on our journey to become fluent readers. The first one is decoding. Remember, we use decoding when we get stuck on a word that is a little tricky to read. To help us decode, we will use our cover-up critter. We use the cover-up critter to break down the word that we are having trouble with. Breaking a word down makes it easier to recognize and read. Another strategy that we use when decoding doesn’t work is cross-checking. Did you notice that the first time I read the sentence I read Toad as Towd? But then I went back and realized that the right word was Toad, because Towd did not make sense and isn’t a word. This is what is known as cross-checking. You use cross-checking when you come to a word in the sentence you don’t know. To cross-check remember that we look at the rest of the sentence, before and after the word, and try to use the information to determine what the word might be. Then we mentally mark the word to remember that toad is not towd it is t/oa/d. After we are done decoding and cross-checking, we always reread the sentence in order to make sure we comprehend the text.”
- Say: “Let’s read this next line together, “Toad shouted ‘Frog, wake up! It’s spring!’” I heard some of you struggling with the word “shouted” here. If you were reading this sentence by yourself and you didn’t know the word, you could use your cover up critter to look at these beginning sounds, /sh/ /o/ and if decoding the rest of the word doesn’t work. Then you can crosscheck by reading the rest of the sentence to figure out that it says “shouted”.
- Say: “Let’s talk about what our book that were reading today is about. Frog just woke up for spring after his longggg winter nap. He is super excited for spring! He wants to share his excitement with his friend Toad. However, Toad is not excited for spring and doesn’t want to wake up. Frog tries to wake Toad up but he refuses. Do you think Frog will be able to get Toad up? Let’s read and find out!”
- Say: “Now we’re going to do some practice building our fluency with partners. Pair up with your reading partner and come get a Partner Progress Checklist, Reader Response Form, a stopwatch, and 2 copies of Frog and Toad are Friends. I will tell you the number of words in the book when you get back to your reading spots so you can write it at the top of the page. You’re each going to take turns reading the book out loud three times. For the one who isn’t reading, while your partner is reading you are going to use the stopwatch to time them. You are going to pay close attention to how many mistakes your partner makes, make a checkmark on your sheet of paper when you hear a mistake. Remember, it isn’t a bad thing to make mistakes while we’re learning to build fluency, you’re going to make mistakes the first couple of times you read it. The mistakes that you make will only help you get better. Once your partner is done reading you’re going to subtract the number of words missed from the total number of words, you’re also going to record the time it took for them to read it and write it on your sheet. Then you’re going to record which time was the smoothest and which time had least number of errors. After you and your partner have each read 3 times, I want you to discuss the answers to the questions on the Reader Response Form and write your answers down individually. When you have finished all this come see me and I will give you fluency graphs and show you how to put your sticker in the right spot on your fluency graphs so you can monitor your progress.”
7. Assess student progress by evaluating answers on the Reading Response Form and determining each student’s WPM using the formula and mark their progress with a frog sticker on their fluency chart. Make sure to update each student’s fluency charts to set appropriate and attainable goals for each student.
Partner Reading Progress 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 number of errors? ______
Reference: Eliza Gaber, Leaping into Fluency. https://ehg1998.wixsite.com/readinglessons/growinew-page
Lobel, Arnold. (1970). Frog and Toad Are Friends. New York: Harper Collins.
