Growing Independence and Fluency

Weaving a Fluency Web

By Lillie Brooks

Rationale: Being a fluent reader helps you better comprehend texts. When you are a fluent reader, you are able to recognize almost all words by sight, leading to the ability to read quicker and with expression. Fluent readers are able to correctly decode, crosscheck, and reread the text. Repeated readings and extra word help is great for students to develop better reading fluency. In this lesson, students will learn strategies and skills that will help them become fluent readers by rereading the first chapter in Its Raining Pigs and Noddles. When they come to an unfamiliar word, they can decode it. If they still do not understand the word, they can crosscheck, finish the sentence, and reread the sentence.

Materials.

Whiteboards and markers
Sample sentences on a whiteboard
Class set of: Charlotte’s Web by E.B White
Reading comprehension worksheet
Stopwatches for each sets of pairs
Partner reading recording sheet
Teacher fluency checklist

Procedures.

Say: Today we are going to talk about fluent reading! Can someone tell me what a fluent reader is? When someone is a fluent reader, they are able to read quickly, smoothly, and can understand everything they are reading. Fluent readers can also read with expression, meaning the reader can change their voice to match a certain text. Today, we are going to practice being fluent readers!
Say: First, we are going to look at this sentence on the board. I am going to show you how we crosscheck when we come across a word we don’t know or may have forgotten. [Model] and say: For example, say I read this sentence (show sentence on the board, “The price of the toy is $20”) “The /p/r/i/c …” hmm that sounds a little funny. Let me try reading the rest of the sentence… “Of the toy is $20”. Oh, now I understand! “The price of the toy is $20.” The word was an i_e word, so that means the letter I says /I/ not /i/. Now I’m going to reread the sentence so that I can know what it says and remember the words for later. “The price of the toy is $20.”
Say and model: Now I am going to show you how a fluent reader may read, and how a non-fluent reader may read. Let’s look at this sentence. (Show sentence on the board, “The dog ran in the yard.”) A non-reader may read like this: “The ddogg rraann in the yyaarrdd.” See how I read really slow and stretched out the words? Reading that way can make it harder to understand what I am reading about. Now let’s try again and see how a fluent reader may read. “The dog ran in the yard.” [Read smoothly, with expression]. See how my words flowed better, and we had a better understand of what the sentence was about? That is how a fluent reader reads! Now let’s read it all together: “The dog ran in the yard.” Amazing job!
Say and model: Now let’s look at how we would read a more difficult word. (Write scribe on the board). This word can be harder to read because some letters are silent. If I look at this word, I might say /s/c/r/i/b, but that isn’t a real word. We need to remember the rule i_e says /I/ not /i/. We can help remember this by using body-coda blending, where we start with the /I/ sound, then add our other letters. So, in this case, we would start with the i_e, then add the /s//c/r/ to the beginning and a /b/ at the end. That’s it! Scribe! (Everyone says scribe together).
Say: Now everyone, find a partner, so we can practice being fluent readers! [Pass out Charlotte’s Web to the pairs]. “When Fern convinces her father not to kill the runt pig of the litter, she names him Wilbur and raises him. Soon, Wilbur goes to live in her Uncle Homer Zuckerman's barn down the road, where she visits him every day. But when she's not there, Wilbur is lonely -- the sheep, cows, geese, and even the rats don't want to play and be his friend. Then he meets Charlotte, a gray spider whose web is in a corner of the barn door, and they become good friends. But soon after, they learn that Wilbur is to be slaughtered next Christmas to make ham and bacon. So Charlotte hatches a plan to make the Zuckermans want to keep Wilbur around forever.”
Students will read the whole chapter silently to themselves and then fill out the reading comprehension worksheet. Then they will read the book aloud to their partner. They can not help their partner, only record their progress.

Reading Comprehension Worksheet:

Name: ________

Date: _________

What time of the day does Fern find her dad and the pigs?
What does Fern name her pig?
What type of animal does Fern’s brother have?
Where does Fern’s uncle live?

7. [Pass out the recording sheets and stopwatches to each group]. Say: Now we are going to play a fluency game! Each of you will take turns to see how fast you can read the first two pages. Reader 1 will start off reading and Reader 2 will control the stopwatch and record how fast it takes Reader 1 to read. Reader 2 will record Reader 1’s time on the time sheet I just handed you. After recording your partner’s time, you will switch, and Reader 2 will read. Reader 1 will record. You will do this three times each. As you listen to your partner, I want you to listen to them carefully to see how their reading changes each time. Do they read smoother? Do they read quicker? Do they remember more of the words or read with expression? Mark the changes you see on your paper.

Partner Reading Recording Sheet:

Title of Book: _______

Total # of Words: ____

Reader: ____________

Timer: ___________

Date: ________

____ words in ____ seconds
____ words in ____ seconds
____ words in ____ seconds

After all students have read through the text three times each, have each student come up one at a time and read the first two pages to you. Ask them to bring their record sheet and determine each student’s words per minute (WPM) using the formula, (words x 60) / seconds, and record them on the teacher fluency checklist.

References

https://www.amazon.com/Charlottes-Web-B-White/dp/0061124958

https://taylorhartley024.wixsite.com/lessondesigns/growing-independence-fluency

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