Monkeying Around with Fluency
By: Rachel King
Rationale:
Fluent reading is essential in comprehending. In order for students to read effortlessly and with automaticity, they must practice expression, pace, and comprehension. Effortless word recognition allows students to reflect on what they are reading. Through reading, decoding, crosschecking, mental marking, and rereading, students will be able to confidently improve their reading rate and grow into fluent readers. Students will use the strategy of crosschecking after readings of a decodable text and repeated readings to gain fluency and independence in reading.
Materials:
-
Pencils
-
Timer/stopwatch for each pair
-
Class set of Junie B. Jones & a Little Monkey Business by Barbra Park
-
Sample sentences on white board for teacher to model
-
Peer Fluency Sheet (one for each student)
-
Reading Rate forms for teacher
-
Teacher Fluency Check (one for each student) with attached comprehension questions
Procedures:
Introduction:
1 Begin the lesson by saying, “Alright class, today we are going to work on becoming fluent readers. We know that our goal is to become fluent readers, but what does that mean? What do you think of when I say a fluent reader? Wait for responses. Fluent readers are able to read quickly, smoothly, and with expression because they recognize words automatically. This also helps us understand what we are reading because we don’t have to stop and make sense of each word. This makes reading more enjoyable.”
2. Say: Now let's look at a sentence written on the board: Sam made a sandwich and ate a peach. Everyone put your listening ears on. I want you to tell me if I sound like a fluent reader when I read this sentence aloud to you. S-s-s, /a/-/a/-/a/, m-m-m, Sam, made a s-s-a-a-n-n-n-d-d-w-w-i-i-c-c-h-h, s-a-nd-w-i-ch, sand-wich, oh sandwich. Sam made a sandwich and ate a p-/e/-ch, Sam made a sandwich and ate a pech. Oh, that doesn't make sense. It must be peach. Sam made a sandwich and ate a peach. Did you notice that when I read the sentence, I got stuck on the last word? To figure out what that word was, I reread the sentence from the beginning and tried what I thought the word peach said, which was pech. That did not make sense, did it? So I went back to reread the sentence to figure out what the word should read that would make sense. This strategy is called crosschecking, and it is super important to use when we are learning to become fluent readers! Since I figured out these hard words while reading it helped me become fluent. So do you think I read that like a fluent reader (wait for response from students)? Exactly, no I wasn’t reading like a fluent reader because I had to decode the words in the sentence. Here's how a fluent reader would read that sentence: Sam made a sandwich and ate a peach. I read the sentence effortlessly, and it was much easier to understand! Now turn to a partner and practice reading the second sentence on the board. Pat the dog takes my shoes to the porch and eats them! Read it aloud to one another until you read fluently.
3. Say: “Now let’s think back to when I read the first sentence when I got stuck on the word peach. To figure out what that word was, I reread the sentence from the beginning and tried what I thought the word peach said, pech. That did not make sense, did it? So I went back to the text to reread to figure out what the word should say that would make sense. This strategy is called crosschecking. This is very important to know how to do when we are trying to become fluent readers.”
4. Assign partners for each students and pass out the books. “Now we are going to practice being fluent readers by reading Junie B. Jones & a Little Monkey Business. Junie B is excited because she has a new baby brother! Before she meets him she hears her grandmother calling him “the cutest little monkey”. The next day Junie B goes to school and tells all of her friends that her new brother is a monkey! Is her brother really a monkey? What will her friends say? You’ll just have to read to find out what happens to Junie B!”
5. Students should read the first three pages silently to themselves. Then they should each read a chapter aloud to each other. Explain to students that while they are reading they must not help each other out.
6. Pass out recording sheets and stopwatches to each group. Say: “Now we are going to play the fluency game. Make sure you have your listening ears back on so you can hear how to play! Reader 1 is going to start the game off and Reader 2 will be in control of the timer. Reader 2 is going to time Reader 1 reading the first two pages, and then he/she will record the time on the sheet I have handed out to you. After recording the information, Reader 2 will read and Reader 1 will record. Do this three times each. As you listen to your partner read aloud the pages, I want you to be listening for how their reading changes each time. Do they remember more words, do they read with more expression? Mark these changes on your paper. Now let’s get started!”
7. After the student pairs have each read through the passage three times, have the students come one at a time and read a paragraph from the first two pages. Ask them bring their record sheet so you can attach it to the back of my assessment sheet. You will time them on the paragraph read aloud, and use the formula given to record how many words they have read per minute.
Words x 60/ seconds read
Use a list of comprehension questions to assess how their fluency is affecting their comprehension.
Peer Fluency Check
Name of Reader: ____________________
Date: _________________
1st Time: ________
2nd Time: ________
3rd Time: ________
I noticed that my partner…
After which read? 2nd 3rd
Remembered more words: YES or NO
Read faster: YES or NO
Read smoother: YES or NO
Read with expression: YES or NO
Teacher Fluency Check
Name of Reader: _______________
Date: _________________
Time: ________
Words x 60/time in seconds: _______WPM
Comprehension:
1. What was this paragraph about?
2. What characters are being discussed?
3. Is there a problem happening in the story?
References:
Emily Mitchel, A Growing Independence and Fluency Lesson
https://sites.google.com/site/thefluencyfox/
Carly Woods, Flying Fluently into Space
https://sites.google.com/site/misswoods14/flying-fluently-into-space
Park, B. (1993). Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business
