Rationale:

Fluency is reading with automatic word recognition. One of the most important tasks for a student is to be able to read fluently. In order for students to become fluent readers, they have to practice reading with expression, practice reading at an appropriate pace, and practice thinking about the story in their head as they read so they can comprehend the text. Repeated reading is an efficient way for students to move from slow, sometimes frustrating decoding, into faster, expressive, and enjoyable reading. Students will use the strategy of crosschecking after readings of a decodable text and repeated readings to gain fluency and independence in reading.

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Materials:

1. Class set of If you give a mouse a cookie

2. Sample sentences for the teacher to model

3. Stop watches for each pair of students

4. Peer fluency sheets for students

5. Peer fluency sheets for teacher

6. Cover up critter

 

Procedure:

1. Say: “Today we are going to be working on something called fluency. It is important that every reader must master fluency to become the best reader they can be. Can anyone raise his or her hand and tell me what fluency might mean? (let a few students answer) Fluency is when you are able to read every word in a book smoothly, with ease, and at a good pace. It is also important to be a fluent reader because then you are able to focus on what is going on in the text of the story instead of trying to figure out how to read and decode the words within the text. A fluent reader also reads with expression! Reading with expression means that when you are reading aloud, you say the words like you think the characters are would be saying them.”

2. I will model how to use the cover-up critters when coming across an unfamiliar word. “Cover-up critters are tools we use to help us decode, or read, an unfamiliar word we don’t know yet.For example, let’s look at the word strict. *I write the word strict on the board. I am going to use my handy dandy cover-up critter to decode this word. *I will cover up all letters except for s. /S/…/s/…ssss. *Then I uncover t. /t/…./St/…/st/ *Next I uncover r.] /r/…/Str/…/Str/…str. *Then I uncover c. /i/…/stri/… After that, I will uncover c. …/c/../stric/  Last, I will uncover t. /t/…/strict/…Strict! This word is strict. We blended all of our correspondences together to find out that the word is strict.

3. I will show the students the poster with the sentence, “If you give a mouse a cookie, he’ll want a glass of milk.” I will use this sentence to model fluency.  “Let’s read this sentence together slowly. I-f you g-i-v-e a m-m-o-u-s-e a c-c-oo-k-i-e, he’ll w-a-n-t a g-l-a-ss of m-m-i-l-k. Was that sentence difficult? Yes? That is because there are some unfamiliar words in it. I bet if we read it a second time, it will be easier. Let’s try it. If you give a m-mou-s-e a c-c-  oo-kie, he’ll want a g-l-a-ss of milk. I read it easier that time, but I still think it took a bit too long. I didn’t read it with any expression. Let me read again. *I will read the sentence with exaggerated expression. If you give a mouse a cookie, he’ll want a glass of milk!! The third time I read it, was much better than the other two because I read it with fluency and expression!”

4. Say: “Now we are all going to get a chance to practice being a fluent reader by reading, If you give a mouse a cookie. Book talk: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie is about a boy who meets a mouse. He gave the mouse and cookie and the mouse keeps asking the boy to do all these silly favors for him. I’m curious to know what all those silly things are that the boy has to do for the mouse. Let’s start reading! Don’t forget to time your partner and record the results!  Now, silently means reading without whispering or moving your lips; I just want you to read to yourself in your head.”

5.  Say: “Now I would like for you to get with a partner and get a chance to play a fluency game that goes along with the story you just read. Remember that it is important to always be nice to your partner and to never make fun of them if there is a word they do not know. The first partner is going to start as the reader and partner two is going to be the timer. The reading partner is going to read the story aloud 3 times. The second and third time I want the timing partner to record how long it takes for the reader to read the story. Think about what you notice as they continue to read. Do they get faster? Do they sound smoother? Can they read with expression? I want you to listen and mark these things on your paper! Now let’s start!” The teacher should walk around, observe, and listen in on the students during this game

 

Assessment graph:

Reading Rate ______________

Words Per Minute                  1                 2                 3

Less than 50

51-56

57-62

63-68

69-74

75-80

81+

 

 The following fluency checklist filled out each reading partner will also be used as an assessment:

·         Title of Book:

·         Student’s Name:

·         Partner's Name:

·         After 2nd reading:

·         After 3rd reading:

·         Remembered more words: 

·         Read faster:

·         Read smoother:

·         Read with expressions:

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1. After the students are done reading, collect the data for yourself to analyze how your students did and who still needs to work on. Have each student read to you individually to you. Mark improvements needed and miscues, and ask comprehension questions. Ask questions such as, “What are some of the things that the boy had to get for the mouse? Why do you think the mouse kept asking for things? How did the story end? Where did the story take place?” This will help analyze what your students need help on, if they are able to comprehend the text and, give an idea of where each student stands with their fluency skills

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Resources:

Katy Moore

https://sites.google.com/site/katymooreresearchbasedreading/growing-independence-and-fluency

Emily Wilcox

https://sites.google.com/site/mswilcoxsreadinglessons/home/growing-independence-and-fluency

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numerof