Fishin' for Fluency
GF Design
Rationale: To be a successful reader, one must learn how to read automatically, fluently, and consistently. Fluent reading is necessary for bettering comprehension, expression, and speed of one’s reading. Instead of focusing on decoding every word, student’s who fluently read can reflect on what they are reading. Through practicing reading, decoding, crosschecking, mental marking, and rereading, students will build confidence in fluently reading and become excellent readers with decodable words and connected texts.
Materials:
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Copy of Berenstain Bears: Gone Fishin’ for every student
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Stopwatches (class set)
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Personalized graph to chart reading time (one for every student)
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Cover-up critters
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Sentences written on board: “I will show you how to catch big fish.” and “They fished with plain poles and lines.” [keep covered until necessary]
Procedures:
1. Explain, “Who wants to be an excellent reader? Well I have a secret for you! In order to become an expert at reading, we have to be able to read fluently. When we read fluently, we read without hesitation, we read effortlessly, and we recognize words immediately. To recognize words automatically, we have to develop a large sight vocabulary that includes almost all the words we might read in a text! When we have a large sight vocabulary, we can understand what we’re reading better, we can read with better expression, we can read with more speed, and we can read more complex and difficult texts. So how do we acquire this large sight vocabulary? We do that through a method called repeated readings where we practice decoding, crosschecking, mental marking, and rereading.
2. Model, “I’m going to show you how we always crosscheck when we come across a word we don’t know in a sentence. For example, when I see this sentence, [Reveal sentence “They fished with plain poles and lines” on board], I might read “They fished with //p/l/a/n//…hmm that doesn’t sound right, let me finish reading, poles and lines. Hmm, plan doesn’t describe a type of fishing pole so maybe it would be, plain since I remember now ai says /A/. That’s right! They fished with plain poles and lines. Crosschecking is very important to be able to become a fluent reader.” Then I would reread the sentence with the correct word plain once more to get back into my story.
3. Model, “Now I’m going to show you the difference between a fluent and non-fluent reader. Let’s look at the sentence [displayed on board] ‘I will show you how to catch big fish.’ I will show you hhow to c-c-c a-a-a t-t-t, oh like a cat and then there's ccc-hhh. So, that word is catch... a big fish. Give me a thumbs up if you think that is how a fluent reader reads or a thumbs down if it is like a non-fluent reader. That’s right, a non-fluent reader. I read that slow and stretched out, it’s hard to know what I read! What about this: I will show you how to catch a big fish. Thumbs up or down? Right, a fluent reader. My words flowed together and I understand what I read! Now you try reading fluently: I will show you how to catch a big fish.
4. To practice reading fluently, we’re going to read the book The Berenstain Bears: Gone Fishin’! Papa Bear is thrilled to take Brother, Sister, and Honey fishing. Finally, he can share with them all his knowledge and expertise. But the cubs prefer to use their simple bamboo poles, bent pins, and worms. Will Papa Bear realize that the shiniest, fanciest gear isn't always the best? We’ll have to read our story to find out.
5. Children will each be given a copy of the book and a cover-up critter. Say, “Now we’re going to read to ourselves and practice reading fluently. That means your lips can move, but you have to be silent. If you finish early, start to read The Berenstain Bears 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: Once the students have finished three rounds of repeated reading, have each student turn in his or her checklist. Teacher should now call up students one by one and perform repeated readings with each student, graphing his or her progress on the fluency chart as he or she hopefully improves. In between each round of repeated reading, make sure to praise or encourage students on aspects of fluency that they have improved and make suggestions when needed. After the three rounds have been completed, ask a few comprehension questions: What kind of fishing pole did Papa use? What about his kids? Which one worked best?
Partner Evaluation:
Fluency Graph Sketch:
105
100
95
90
85
80
75
70
65
60
55
50
Wpm
Reading 1 Reading 2 Reading 3
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
References:
Berenstain, Mike. Berenstain Bears: Gone Fishin’. Viking Press: New York, 1962. Print
Dunn, Morgan. “Marching Through Fluency”
http://lmd0015.wix.com/literacy-designs#!projects/cm8a
Holley, Cate. “Swinging into Fluency”
http://cch0024.wix.com/miss-holley#!grld/c1m3p
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/travels.html
