Dancing into Fluency

By: Jesslyn Cochran

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Rationale: This lesson aims to help students develop fluency in longer, more developed texts. Fluent readers can read quickly, correctly use blending, and read effortlessly. We want readers to be motivated to read and reread decodable words in connected text. Throughout this lesson students will practice their fluency and gain experience with reading text silently as well as reading to a partner. They will read for fluency with the teacher, graphing progress and going over unfamiliar words between readings. At the end of the lesson, you will have a better idea of the student’s ability to read texts fluently and independently.

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Materials:

• Stopwatches (enough for each pair of students)

• Fluency Graphs for each child

• Stickers 

• Class set of Peeping Beauty by Jane Auch

• Partner Reading Progress checklists

• Reader Response form

• Grading rubrics

• White board and markers

• 0 - - - - 10 - - - - 20 - - - - 30 - - - - 40 - - - - 50 - - - - 60 - - - - 70 - - - - 80 - - - - 90 - - - - 100 Correct Words Per Minute

• 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

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Procedure:

1. Explain the Activity: Say, “Today we are going to talk about fluent reading. When we read fluently we can understand what we are reading and what is happening in the story. The more fluently we can read, the more we will be able to understand what we are reading. Along with being able to understand what we are reading; fluent readers can read with expression. We can change our voices to match certain text, like getting louder if a character screams (speak louder) or using a quiet voice if a character whispers (whisper). To become a fluent reader, we need to practice our skills so that’s what we will do today, practice.”

2. Say: “Before we begin, I am going to show you how to always crosscheck when we come across a word that we may have forgotten. [Model] and say: “For example, in this sentence [show sentence ‘Peeping Beauty wanted to be a star’] I might read ‘Peeping Beauty /w/a/n/t/e/d/’… hmm that sounds a little funny. Let me read the rest of the sentence… ‘to be a star.’ Oh! ‘Peeping Beauty wanted to be a star.’ That was a short a so it must say /a/. Now let me reread the sentence so that I can know what it says. ‘Peeping Beauty wanted to be a star.”

3. Model: “Now I am going to show you how a fluent and a non-fluent reader might read. Let’s look at our second sentence.” [Show sentence on the board ‘The hens were too smart for the fox.’] A non-fluent reader might read like this: ‘The h-ens where, oops, w-e-re too sss-mm-aarrr-tt for the fox.’ Notice how I read really slow and stretched out my words? I even read a word wrong and had to correct myself. That makes it difficult to understand what I am reading. If I read it again, I might be able to read a little faster and smoother. Let’s try: ‘The hens w-e-r-e too s-m-a-r-t for the fox.’ That was a little better, but not as smooth as a fluent reader. Let’s read it one more time [read smoothly and with expression]: ‘The hens were too smart for the fox.’ That time my words flowed together, and it was easier to understand what I was reading! That is how a fluent reader would read. Now let’s read it together: ‘The hens were too smart for the fox.’ ”

4. Say: “It takes a lot of practice to become a fluent reader. Notice how when I read the sentence ‘The hens were too smart for the fox,’ for the first time, it was very difficult because I had not read it before, and I had to spend time decoding words. When I read it the second time, it was a little smoother because I had decoded it already. As I read the sentence the third time, I added expression while I read. I became fluent by rereading, and that is how you can become fluent too!”

5. Book talk: Say, “this story is about a hen that had a dream of becoming a ballet star. Her friends, the other hens, laughed at her and said a chicken would never be famous. One day, a fox shows up and promises to make Peeping Beauty a star. Her friends warn her that the fox is only trying to make her into a meal. Do you think the fox will really help Peeping Beauty or do you think her friends are right and she is in danger? You will have to read to find out!”

6. Partner Practice: Say, “Now we’re going to do some practice building our fluency with partners. Pair up with a reading partner and come get a Partner Progress Checklist, Reader Response Form, a stopwatch, and 2 copies of Peeping Beauty. I will tell you the number of words in the book when you get back to your reading spots, so you can write that at the top of the page. You’re each going to read the book aloud three times. For the one who isn’t reading, while your partner is reading you are going to use the stopwatch to time them. You are going to pay close attention to how many mistakes your partner makes, make a checkmark on your sheet of paper when you hear a mistake. Remember that it isn’t a bad thing to make mistakes while we’re building fluency, you’re going to make mistakes the first couple times you read it. The mistakes will only help you get better. Once your partner is done reading you’re going to subtract the number of words missed from the total number of words, you’re also going to record the time it took for them to read it and record it on your sheet. Make sure to record which time was the smoothest and which time had least number of errors. After you and your partner have each read 3 times, I want you to discuss the answers to the questions on the Reader Response Form and write your answers down individually.”

7. Assess student progress by evaluating answers on the Reading Response Form and determining each student’s WPM using the formula (words x 60 / seconds) and mark their progress with a star sticker on their fluency chart. Make sure to update each student’s fluency charts to set goals for each student.

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Partner 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? ______

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Reader Response Form:

Name ________________________________

Directions: On a separate sheet of paper, answer each question with at least one complete sentence.

1. What did Peeping Beauty’s friends think about her dream to be a dancer?

2. What did the fox promise Peeping Beauty he would do for her?

3. Did the fox help Peeping Beauty become a star?

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References:

Kelly Jones – Leaping into Fluency https://kmj0039.wixsite.com/creativelessondesign/growingindependence-and-fluency-de Madeline Langley – Dancing into Fluency https://mrl0032.wixsite.com/langleylessondesigns/growingindependence-fluency Book: Auch, Mary Jane. Peeping Beauty. Live Oak Media. (1993) Grisham, Carly. “Swimming to Fluency”. http://carlymgrisham.wixsite.com/mscarlyreading/blank