Growing Independance and Fluency Design

“Mooing” to Fluency

Growing Independence and Fluency Design

By: Hannah Helton

Rationale: The goal of this lesson is to guide children toward reading fluently and to give them tools to help them read fluently on their own. Reading fluency, the ability to read with automatic word recognition, is a necessary part of reading and being able to comprehend while reading. Repeated readings are shown to aid students in growing in fluency and adding sight words to their vocabulary. If students are fluent in their reading, that allows readers to focus on the meaning of a story as opposed to the text, and allows students to grow in their reading comprehension. The goal of this lesson is for students to grow in fluency through repeated and timed readings so that they are better equipped to comprehend stories.

Materials:

A Copy of Click Clack Moo, Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin
Stop watches for each pair of students
Strip of paper that will be projected on the board saying- “We saw a large cow at the farm today”
Fluency graph to show improvement in speed
Fluency checklist for students
Fluency checklist for teacher with comprehension questions
Pencils

Procedures:

Say: “Today, we are going to learn how to become great readers! In order to become a great reader, we must be able to read fluently. Who can tell me what it means to be a fluent reader? Wait for responses.Fluency is the ability to read smoothly, effortlessly, and at a good pace. When we are able to read fluently, we can understand the story better and comprehend the text, which will then allow you to read with better expression. Alright, let’s practice reading fluently!”

Say: “Have you ever been reading a book, and suddenly you get to a word that you do not recognize? This causes you to stop reading and sound out each part of that word. Unfortunately, when this happens you might forget what is happening in the story. If this happens to you, try finishing the sentence and then return to the word you do not recognize to try to figure it out. After you read the new word, reread the sentence several times, so that it is easier to recognize again later.”

Say: “What do I do if I read a sentence and it doesn’t make sense? Wait for responses. Crosschecking, that’s right! I am going to crosscheck to see which word makes the most sense. Let’s look at the sentence on the board. I want you to listen to me as I read it out loud. ‘We saw a larg cow at the farm today. We saw a larg cow at the farm today? What? Oh my goodness! We saw a LARGE cow at the farm today!’ So this means the sentence says that we saw a large cow at the farm today. We thought the word was larg, but that doesn’t make sense. When reading today, make sure you are practicing crosschecking. Finishing the sentence helps you identify the word you may not know and figure out the meaning. Once you uncover the new word, make sure you reread the sentence so that next time you see that word you have it stored in your memory and you remember what was happening in the story.”

Say: “Sometimes when we pick out a new book to read, there are words we do not recognize, but that’s ok! I am going to show you how to read a sentence from the book Click Clack Moo, Cows That Type. ‘They left a not on the b-b-arn, barn door. They left a not on the barn door? Not? Oh! The word is note.’ If you noticed, I have to stop a few times to read a few words in the sentence. Let’s see if I can try again. They left a note on the barn door. Much better! Let me try one more time. They left a note on the barn door. Wow! Now I am going to read this sentence with some expression. (Read sentence with expression).Now, which time did you prefer my reading- the first time I read or the last time? The last time! Did you better understand what I was reading? That’s right, it sounds like I am having a conversation with someone. When I read the sentence over and over again, it got a little easier, faster, and expressive every time. Now I want you all to see if you can become fluent readers.”

Say: “Now we are going to get a chance to practice being a fluent reader by reading the book, Click Clack Moo, Cows That Type. This story is about Farmer Brown and the animals on his farm. One day, some of his cows find an old type writer and they begin to write letters to Farmer Brown to ask him for some different things? What could happen with these crazy, demanding, cows? Will Farmer Brown give into their requests? Read silently to yourself to figure out what happens. This means that you will not move your lips, you will be quiet when you read.”

Say: “Now I would like for everyone to find a partner. We are going to practice reading with each other. I would like for each partner to read the book aloud to the other partner. You will use your stopwatch to time your partner ad they read. (Pass out stopwatches). You will record how long it took them and anything else you observed about your partners reading. One partner will read to page 10, while the other is timing and taking notes. Read the 10 pages 3 times to your partner. Make sure that after each time your partner reads, you write down their time. Then, use the reading graph to track your partners improvement. Please participate and be a good partner. This will be turned in for a grade.”

Peer Fluency Checklist

Total # of Words in 10 pages read:

Reader:

Timekeeper:

___________ words in ___________ seconds
___________ words in ___________ seconds
___________ words in ___________ seconds

What changes did you notice?

Remembered more words?
Read faster?
Read smoother?
Read with more expression?

Say: “Now I want each student to come up to my desk and read these 10 pages to me one-on-one! I will be checking to see how fast you are reading. I will also be giving you a list of comprehension questions. This will all show me how many words you can read per minute and if you understand the words you are reading. (Chart the student’s score).

Teacher Fluency Checklist

Name of Reader: _______________

Words X 60 / time in seconds: _______________ WPM

Comprehension Questions:

What is the first thing that the cows ask for?
Did Farmer Brown give it to them?
What happens when the cows do not get what they want?
What animals do the cows bring into their crazy schemes?

Fluency Graph

References:

-Fluency Chart- https://helloliteracy.blogspot.com/2012/06/progress-monitoring-vs-progress.html

-Emma Cook, Fishing with Bears into Fluency https://ilovemyponybuck.wixsite.com/mysite

-Lauren Henson, I Can’t Bear to Read Without Fluency https://lehenson214.wixsite.com/lessondesigns/growing-independence-fluency

-Cronin, Doreen.Click Clack Moo, Cows That Type. 2000. Simon and Schuster.- http://www.cisnc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/CLICK-CLACK-MOO-1.pdf