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Waddling into Fluency

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Rationale:

This lesson plan is designed to help children read fluently. When children read fluently, they recognize sight words and read the text with emotion and understanding. Throughout this lesson, students will learn how to decode, crosscheck, reread, and understand in order to become fluent readers. At the end of the lesson, they will be closer to reading fluently and independently.

 

Materials:

Stopwatch (one per pair), pencils, fluency chart, fluency checklist, sample sentences printed on individual sheets of paper, reading tracker, reader-response comprehension questions, and a class set of “365 penguins” by Jean-Luc Fromental and Joelle Jolivet

 

Procedures:

  1. Say: Today we are going to work on reading fluently. Does anyone know what “fluently” means? [wait for children to respond]. Fluently means we can read all our sight words quickly AND understand what the story is telling us! We can also use different emotions and moods when we read the book by changing our voices while we read. So, when a character is whispering, we use our quiet voice [whisper]! And when a character is excited or yelling, we use our loud voice [talk loudly]! Now, we are going to practice becoming fluent readers!

  2. Say: First, I am going to show you how to crosscheck. This happens when we see a word we might not know. [Sentence is written on paper] If I read this sentence and say, “I like to swim in the /l/a/k/.” Hmm… that doesn’t sound right. I don’t know what a “lak” is. If I reread my sentence, we see the word “swim.” OH! I swim in the LAKE. I said a short “a” sound because I forgot the Magic E rule! Magic E means the “a” will say its name! So, this sentence says, “I like to swim in the lake!”

  3. Now, when we are not fluent readers, we may look at a sentence and read each word slowly and stretch them out. Let me show you how a non-fluent reader would read this sentence. [the second sentence is written on the next paper, read in monotone voice]. “The f-f-frog jump-ED, wait, jumped high.” Do you guys think that was a fluent reader or a beginner reader? [Children answer]. Right! That was a beginner reader. Did you notice that I sounded out words very slowly and that I made a mistake and had to correct myself? It makes it harder to understand. It is okay to make a mistake, but when you begin reading fluently, you will make fewer mistakes and read faster which makes it easy to understand the book. You will also have emotion when you are reading a book! That is a sign that you understand what the book is saying. A fluent reader would read the sentence like this, “The frog jumped high!” [add emotion when reading]. This is our goal! 

  4. To practice this, we are going to read a few pages of our book called “365 Penguins.” This is about a family who has a penguin delivered to their door every day for a whole year! These little guys are so cute, but they cause a big ruckus! Who is sending these penguins, and how do they get them to stop? Let’s read the book to find out! [Read three pages of the book fluently and with emotion].

  5. Now, it's your turn to read! I want each of you to read the book to yourself. You are going to read from page one until the end of page five. Make sure you are practicing your fluency!

  6. Okay, class! We are going to practice our reading in pairs. We will use our Partner Progress Checklist, Reader Response Form, a stopwatch, and each person should have their copy of “365 Penguins.” Each person is going to read pages one through five aloud while their partner times them on the stopwatch each time they read it. Each person will read through these pages twice. When your partner stops reading, you will stop the stopwatch and write down the amount of time it took your partner to read the pages. You will mark each mistake your partner makes on your piece of paper. Remember, we all make mistakes, so it is nothing to be embarrassed about! Make sure you are paying attention to the book because I want you to answer questions about what happened on the Reader Response Form after you have both completed the checklist. Do this sheet without your partner.  

  7. Amazing job everybody! I am going to finish reading this book to you all, so you can hear me reading fluently. Turn on your listening ears so you can hear what happens at the end of the book!

  8. Use the checklist and response form to evaluate their fluency and understanding. Use the words x 60 seconds formula. Fill each student’s progress on the fluency chart and allow the children to see their progress to the final goal.

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CHECKLIST:

Reader: ______________ Partner: ______________

Try ONE: _____ words in _____ seconds

Try TWO: _____ words in _____ seconds

Which try sounded the most fluent? (ONE or TWO): ________

Which try had the smallest number of mistakes? (ONE or TWO): ________

 

READER RESPONSE:

Name:_______________

Directions: Answer the following questions after you have completed the checklist. Make sure to do this individually. You may use your book to help you answer the questions.

  1. What were two of the problems the family faced because of the penguins?

  2. Where did the penguins sleep?

  3. Who was sending the family the penguins?

 

References:

Ellison Brewster's Dancing with Fluency:

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

Book: Fromental, Jean-Luc, and Joelle Jolivet. 365 Penguins. Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2006.

Youtube AudioBook: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQIOCxxMbBM

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