Bear Necessities For Fluency

Growing Independence and Fluency Lesson

 

Rationale:

A student must be able to read fluently in order to become a skilled reader. Reading fluently is beneficial to students in many ways: it indicates that nearly all of the words are in their sight vocabulary and places more of their focus on comprehension than decoding words they do not know. As a result, students can read more quickly and expressively. In this lesson, students will learn the strategies and skills it takes to become a fluent reader through modeling and practice. Students will practice this with an activity called Reader’s Theatre, where students will be split up into groups and each given a specific job that will help them dive further into the book and its background.

 

Materials:

Corduroy by Don Freeman

Sentence strips

Cover-up critters

Chart paper

Checklist questions

Books to choose from for practice reading

Pencil and paper for taking notes on students

Stopwatch for timing practice reading

Overhead camera

 

Procedures:

Today, I’m going to teach you how to become even better readers! Remember how we have been blending the sounds of letters to make up words? That’s what we are going to build off of today. When you are able to do this almost automatically, that means you are becoming fluent in reading. Fluent reading is smooth, effortless, expressive, and comprehensive, which is where you understand what you’re reading as you read it.

 

Don Freeman wrote a book called Corduroy, which is about the journey of a teddy bear looking for a very important missing accessory! First, let me model to you how a reader who is not fluent would read the first sentence in Corduroy [read sentence choppily and with no expression]:

/C//or//d//ur//oy/… Corduroy is a /b//ea//r/ who once /l//i//v//ed/ in the toy /d//e//p//a//r//t//m//e//n//t/ of a big /s//t//o//r//e/… store.

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 It is important to know how to properly and quickly blend words in order for them to be added to your sight vocabulary. But sometimes, words are hard, and we need some help!

 

This is called a cover-up critter [show critter on overhead camera]. You can give yours a name if you’d like to! Here’s how it works [modeling on overhead camera]: When you get to a word you don’t know, you start by using your critter to uncover one letter or chunk at a time. So let’s try it with this word [show Corduroy]. Start by uncovering C, which says /c/. Then uncover O, and we know that says /o/. When we uncover R, we know that or = /or/, so we have /Cor/ so far. Then uncover D, which says /d/. U says /u/. R says /r/, but we know that ur = /ur/. So we have /Cordur/ so far. Then uncover O, which says /o/, and Y, which says /y/; but oy says /oy/. So when we put all of this together and take away our cover-up critter, we can read the word as Corduroy. You should use your critter after you have tried to read a word, but just can’t figure it out! Always, always, always make sure to reread the entire sentence when you reach the end of it after using your cover-up critter. Corduroy is a bear who once lived in the toy department of a big store. Now, I’ll read the sentence one more time, and you’ll tell me which one sounds best [with much expression]: Corduroy is a bear who once lived in the toy department of a big store! Right! That time when I read it, I had a lot of expression in my voice because I’m a fluent reader, which is what you’ll work on today!

 

Now, fluent readers are not just born with lots of reading talent. It takes a lot of practice to become a great reader! When I read the sentence about Corduroy for the first time and used the cover-up critter, it was really difficult because I had never seen that word before, and I spent that time decoding the word. When I read it for a second time, it was smoother because I had already decoded it. When I read the sentence a third time, which was the time y’all liked best, I added even more smoothness and expression to my reading. This is how I became fluent in reading, and that’s also how you can become fluent!

 

Let’s practice with another sentence from Corduroy. [Write sentence on chart paper.] I’m going to read the sentence two times. I want you to clap once if you think the first time is read fluently and twice if you think the second time is read fluently. [First, read non-fluently and choppily.] Day after day he waited with all the other animals and dolls for someone to come along and take him home. [Second, read fluently and smoothly.] Day after day he waited with all the other animals and dolls for someone to come along and take him home. Which reading was correct? [Wait for claps.] Good, the second one! [Continue with subsequent the rest of the book].

 

So, did someone end up taking Corduroy home? What was his missing accessory? Good job! Now who can tell me the differences between fluent and non-fluent reading? Very good!

 

Now I want everyone to get with your reading partner. I’m going to pass out strips of paper with sentences on them, and I want you and your partner to alternate reading fluently to each other. [Allow students to complete this task.]

 

Everyone take out a piece of paper, write your name on it, number it 1-6, and write your partner’s name below six. I’m going to call out some questions about their reading, and I want you to answer them for me. [Call out questions below.]

 

Checklist:

Did he/she read smoothly?

Where could he/she use a little work?

Did he/she show facial expression?

Did he/she have voices changes?

Where could he/she use a little work?

Does the student have an overall understanding of expression?

 

Each day after lunch (can be any time), you are going to meet with your partner to practice reading fluently. We will swap out partners each week! Hopefully you and your partners can teach each other things about reading fluently that I may not be able to communicate to you as well.

 

Reference:

Making Sight Words by Bruce Murray

 Excellent Expert Readers by Allie Mosher https://sites.google.com/site/alliesreadingpage/home/excellent-expert-readers

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