Growing Independence and Fluency Design
Racing to Read
Rationale:
The goal of this lesson is to help students be able to read more fluently so they can spend more time on comprehension and less time on decoding. To read fluently means to be able to read accurately, smoothly, and with expression. This lesson will teach students what fluency is through modeling and practicing. Students will be asked to repeatedly read something so they can learn to read without struggling. This will teach them confidence in reading as well as apply strategies they already know like cover up critters and crosschecking.
Materials:
-a stopwatch for each pair of students
-reading progress checklist for each pair (2)
-fluency checklist for each pair (2)
-reading comprehension form for each pair (2)
-pencil and paper
-cover up critters
-multiple copies of the book "Race Car"
-sample race car sentence for teacher to model (The car spit smoke and dirt everywhere.)
-car stickers and and fluency charts for each child
Reading Progress Checklist
Total # of words in chapter: ______
Reader: ___________________________
Checker: __________________________
1: ___ Words in ___ seconds
2: ___ Words in ___ seconds
3: ___ Words in ___ seconds
Which turn sounded the smoothest? _______
Which turn had the least number of errors? ______
Fluency Checklist:
Title of Book: __________________________________
Date___________
Student’s Name: ____________
Partner's Name: ______________________________
After 2nd Reading After 3rd Reading
_________ _________ Remembered more words
_________ _________ Read faster
_________ _________ Read smoother
_________ _________ Read with expression
Assessment
Reader Comprehension Form
Name ________________________________
Directions: On a separate sheet of paper, answer each question with at least one complete sentence.
1. Why does Sadie Cat and Mao decide to race?
2. How does Sadie Cat and Mao win the race?
3. Why is the prize they won not helpful to Sadie Cat and Mao?
4. If you could have a type of race car, which type would you drive? (You can be creative)
Procedure:
1. Say "Today we are going to be working on reading fluency. In order to do this, we are going to be reading a story. The more fluently we can read, the more we will be able to understand and comprehend what we are reading."
2. Say "I am going to read this sentence two times. I want you to listen to how I read it and tell me which time sounds more fluent/sounds better. (use cover up critter and crosschecking) The car spit, sm-ooo-kkk-e, smok wait no smoke, and dirt, eee-vvv-ery-wwwhhh-ere, everywhere. OR The car spit smoke and dirt everywhere. Which sentence sounds better? [students answer]. That's right! The second one. Why does the second one sound better? [students answer]. Very good! It is because I read the words effortlessly. I knew my sight vocabulary to piece together the sentence fluently. Fluent reading is dependent on being confident in sight words and expression. I am able to understand what the sentence is fully saying the second time whereas I was too focused on decoding to understand the first time. Fluent reading helps us to fully understanding what the story is about."
3. Say "However, in order to be good at fluent reading we can use the strategies of decoding with a cover up critter or cross-checking. Remember when I read the sentence before and thought smoke said smok? I was able to self-correct myself because The cars spit "smok" and dirt everywhere doesn't make sense. You can use cross checking when you come across a word you do not know. To use this method you can read before and after the word and try to use the information you know to determine what the word is. Once you have finished decoding and cross-checking you can just reread the whole sentence to make sure you understand it."
4. Say "Now we are going to practice fluency by reading the book- "Race Day"" Give Book talk: "It's Race Day on the Island of Tilly! All the folks on the island are getting ready to race their cars for the ultimate prize. Sadie Cat and Mao want to race too, but they don't have a car. Can their determination win the race? You will have to read the story to find out!"
5. Pair students in groups of two and have them each grab a reading progress checklist, fluency checklist, reader comprehension form, blank sheet of paper, pencil and cross-critter. As well as a stop watch and a copy of "Race Day." Tell your students how many words are in the book when they all get situated to put on the top of the reading progress checklist. Then, say "You are each going to read the book 3 times. The partner not reading is going to use the timer to time the partner reading. Make a checkmark on your sheet of blank paper every time you hear a mistake. Remember that mistakes are okay. In order to become a fluent reader you have to make mistakes. When your partner is through reading you will write the time it took for them to read the story. You will also subtract the number of mistakes they made from the total number of words in the book. You will record this on your progress checklist. Once you are through with this progress checklist, you can move on to the fluency checklist. This is where you will take note which reading was their best."
6. After this portion, I will assess their understanding by having students answer the reader comprehension form individually. This will show me their true comprehension of the story.
7. When students complete this exercise they will receive a car sticker on their fluency chart. This will show their individual strengths and weaknesses and what goals each student can work on individually.
Resources:
"Flying for FLuency" by Aspen Zaloga
https://aspenzaloga.wixsite.com/education/growing-independence-and-fluency-de
"Leaping into Fluency" by Eliza Gaber
https://ehg1998.wixsite.com/readinglessons/growinew-page
Shen, Alexander, "Race Day" Publisher: Apple Books (2018).
https://books.apple.com/au/book/race-day/id1440362203