Aloha Fluency

 

Rationale:

This lesson will help children develop fluency as they read. In order to be fluent, it is important for children to automatically recognize words correctly.  This fluency also leads to better reading comprehension.  This lesson focuses on developing a student’s ability to read quickly and smoothly so he or she can better understand the text.  It is necessary for students to have the opportunity to read and reread decodable, connected texts to develop fluency.  Therefore, in this lesson students will have the opportunity to decode, crosscheck, and reread to improve their fluency.  First the teacher will provide a model and scaffolding to aid the students’ fluency gains.  Then students will read with a partner and chart their improved fluency.  The formula used for measuring this improved fluency is words read x 60/seconds, and it is used to determined the words read per minute.

 

Materials:

         SmartBoard or Projector

         Partner Reading Progress Check Sheets

         Reading Rate Chart (one for each student)

         Stopwatches (one per pair of students)

         Reader Response Forms

         Book: Junie B. Jones, First Grader: Aloha-ha-ha (a copy for              each student)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Procedure:

 

• “In order to become even better readers, we must learn to read fluently.  Reading fluently means to read with ease.  We do not have to stop to decode every word we read.  By learning to read fluently, we will be able to enjoy reading even more.  Instead of paying attention to the words, we can focus on what story is being told.”

 

• “I’m going to model reading a passage for you a few times.  After I finish, I’m going to ask all of you which reading sounded the best. (Read the passage once slowly and irregularly. Be sure to include mistakes.)  “I fl-ew to the mountanes…oh mountains and saw a greet…no great big bear ne…near our cabin.” (Read passage again without errors, but do not include any expression.) “I flew to the mountains and saw a great big bear near our cabin.” (Read the passage one more time with clarity, smoothness, and expression.)  “I flew to the mountains and saw a great big bear near our cabin.”  Now ask the class for a show of hands to decide which reading sounded the best.  “Who thought the first reading sounded the best? (Allow students to raise hands to vote.)  “What about the second?” (Allow students to raise hands to vote.)  “What about the third?”  (Allow students to raise hands to vote.)  Why was the third reading the best? (Give time for students to respond.)  “Exactly! It sounded the best because it was faster and smoother.  And did you hear how I used expression with my voice?”

 

• “During the first reading I used one of the strategies that we have learned called crosschecking.  If I came to a word that I didn’t know, I tried and then went on to finish reading the sentence.  Then, I used the context to help me figure out the correct word.  I would also go back to look at the word and make a few mental notes about any silent letters or odd pronunciations.  That way, next time I see that word I will know how to read it!

 

• “Now let’s try reading a passage together.  I see a couple of tough words but that’s okay!”

     (Reading all together.)  “My family cooked our dinner over the          campfire and sang while my dad played his guitar.”

     I heard some of you having a tough time with the word guitar.          You figured it out by crosschecking with the rest of the sentence,      but can we also mentally mark any silent letters in this word?          The “u” is silent so we pronounce the “i.”  Now that we know            how to pronounce all of the words let’s read the sentence again.      (Read the sentence again as a class.)

 

• ​“Today we are going to read a chapter of a book called, Junie B. Jones, First Grader: Aloha-ha-ha.  In this book Junie B. and her family take a trip to Hawaii.  She is super excited about this vacation and can’t wait to tell all of her friends about it.  She has to be patient though, which is not easy.  You’re are going to read the first chapter with a partner to find out if she gets to share her surprise vacation with her class.

• Display the following directions on the SmartBoard or projector and explain them to the students:

• Pair up with your reading buddy. One buddy needs to come and get the following:

            2 Partner Reading Progress Check Sheets

            2 Reader Response Forms

            2 Copies of

            A stopwatch

• While one buddy gathers the materials, the other will count all the words in the first chapter of the book.  You will write this number at the top of your check sheet forms.

• Take a turn reading the first chapter of the book to each other.  While one buddy reads, the other will use the stopwatch to time his or her buddy’s reading.

• Pay close attention to how many mistakes your partner makes.  Make an X for each mistake

• Then, you are going to do a subtraction problem.  Take the total number of words and subtract the number of X’s 

                 Total-number of X’s

                 Plug this answer into the following blank on your partner reading progress check                         sheet:

                 _________words

• Repeat the above steps 2 more times.  Each buddy should read a total of three times.

• Once you have completed all of your readings and calculations, answer the questions at the bottom of the reading progress check about which turn was the smoothest and which one had the fewest errors.

• Next, discuss the reader response questions with your buddy. Then, go back to your desk and write your answers on a separate sheet of paper. Be sure to answer in complete sentences.

• Bring your checklists to me when you are finished and I will help calculate your 3 rates.  Together we will chart your progress on your fluency chart. Place your comprehension questions in the tray by my desk.

 

Assessment: I will review each student’s response to the reading response questions and the partner reading progress sheet to assess each student using the following rubric:

 

Student Name:

 

Date:

 

   Evidence shown for reading three times        ____/3

 

   Responded to comprehension questions        ____/3

 

   Improved Fluency                                       ____/1

 

   Improved Accuracy                                     ____/1

 

   Completed Partner Progress form                 ____/2

 

   Total                                                          ____/10

 

 

Partner Reading Progress Check Sheet:

 

Total words in the chapter:

 

Reader:

 

Checker:

 

   _________ words in ___________ seconds

 

   _________ words in ___________ seconds

 

   _________ words in __________ seconds

 

Turn number that sounded the smoothest:

 

Turn number that had the fewest mistakes:

 

 

Reader Response Form:

 

Name:

 

Directions: On a separate sheet of paper, answer each question with at least one complete situation.

 

• Why is Junie B. Jones so excited?

 

• Did she get to share her exciting news with the class?

 

• If you had something exciting to share at show and tell would you be able to wait patiently?

 

 

 

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Resources:

 

Bolan, Greg. Reading Genie Website. “Champions of Fluency.” http://gregbolan.wix.com/reading-lessons#!page4/cfvg

 

Murray, Bruce.  Reading Genie Website.  “Developing Reading Fluency.” http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/fluency.html

 

Park, Barbara. Junie B. Jones, First Grader: Aloha-ha-ha. Random House: NY. 2006.

 

 

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