Sailing Swiftly into Fluency

Katie Oliver

 

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 Stuart Little: Stuart Sets Sail

• Whiteboard/markers

• Peer fluency sheet (one for each student)

• Reading rate forms for teacher

• Teacher fluency checklist (one for each student) with attached comprehension questions

 

 

Procedures:

1. Say: “Today, we will be working on becoming fluent readers. What exactly does the word fluent mean? For us, it means being recognizing words to be able to read quickly and smoothly. When we become fluent readers, we understand what we are reading, which allows us to enjoy the stories we read. Fluent reading is so important for us to master.”

 

2. Say: “Let’s take a look at a sentence written on the board: I took my dog on a walk. I’m going to read it, and I want you to tell me if you think I sound like a fluent reader. I t-t-t, /U/, k-k, tuke? Oh took. I took my d, /O/, g, doge on a walk. I took my doge on a walk. That doesn't sound right. Oh, it must be dog. I took my dog on a walk. I got stuck on the word dog, but I finished the sentence to figure out what it was. This is a strategy, or a tool, called crosschecking. It can be very helpful to you when you’re trying to figure out a tricky word. Now that I know those tricky words, I will be able to read them more fluently next time I see them.”

 

3. Say: “Who thinks I sounded like a fluent reader when I read that sentence? I didn’t think so. I still had to take time to decode some tricky words. If I was a fluent reader, I would have read that sentence like this: I took my dog on a walk. I had no problem reading the sentence and I understood exactly what it said. Now, turn to your partner and practice reading the next sentence on the board: Jim ate some cake for lunch. Practice reading the sentence aloud to each other until you’re able to read it fluently.”

 

4. Say: “To practice reading fluently, we’re going to read the book Stuart Little: Stuart Sets Sail. In this book, a young mouse named Stuart travels to the lake with his family. He decides to sail on his boat, but is instructed to come back before the sun goes down. His sailing trip begins smoothly, but he soon runs into some exciting and sometimes scary adventures. Want to find out what kind of things he runs into? Let’s read the rest of the book to find out!

 

5. Say: “Now we’re going to read to ourselves and practice reading fluently. If you finish early, start to read Stuart Little: Stuart Sets Sail again.” Teacher will walk around classroom to keep children on task and give 10-15 minutes for children to read book. Once students finish, regain attention to informally assess comprehension via group discussion.

 

6. Say: “Now we’re going to split up into partners! First, partner 1 will read aloud while partner 2 times them. Then, we will switch partners. After reading aloud, talk about what you read with your partner. Then we’re going to read aloud again, while our partner is looking at our checklist and seeing if we read faster, with more expression, or if we understood more. Then, we’ll switch partners again. We’ll do this 3 times.” Model with student if it is necessary for students to understand better.

 

7. Assessment: After students have completed 3 sets of repeated reading, each student will turn in their checklists. The teacher will now perform repeated readings with each student and graph their progress on a fluency chart. Encourage students in areas where they have improved and provide feedback on how they can continue to do better. After they have done 3 sets of repeated reading, make sure to ask several comprehension questions to ensure understanding of what was read:

-What was the name of Stuart’s boat?

-When did Mrs. Little tell Stuart to come back by?

-Which 3 animals did Stuart run into on his sailing trip?

 

 

Resources:

Susan Hill. Stuart Little: Stuart Sets Sail. HarperCollins Publishers. 2001.

 

Morgan Dunn. Marching Through Fluency. http://lmd0015.wix.com/literacy-designs - !projects/cm8a

 

Allie Harmon. Open the Door to Reading Fluency. http://aah0011.wix.com/letslearntoread - !Programs/cee5

 

Cate Holley. Swinging into Fluency. http://cch0024.wix.com/miss-holley - !grld/c1m3p

 

 

Peer Fluency Sheet:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teacher Fluency Checklist:

 

Student Name:

Words x 60/seconds

 

Reading #1

WPM:

Miscues:

Did the student read with more expression? Yes or No

Did the student read smoother? Yes or No

Did the student read faster? Yes or No

 

Reading #2

WPM:

Miscues:

Did the student read with more expression? Yes or No

Did the student read smoother? Yes or No

Did the student read faster? Yes or No

 

Reading #3

WPM:

Miscues:

Did the student read with more expression? Yes or No

Did the student read smoother? Yes or No

Did the student read faster? Yes or No

 

 

 

Reading Rate Form:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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