Rationale: When a child reads fluently, he or she is able to read words automatically and accurately. After they are able to read the words fluently, they can then read faster, smoother, and with more expression. Through reading, decoding, crosschecking, mental marking, and rereading students will be able to confidently improve their reading rate and grow into fluent readers.

 

Materials:

• A class set of timers

• A class set of Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus (Park, Barbara., and Denise Brunkus. Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus. New York: Scholastic, 1998. Print). 

• Pencils

• Sample sentences on white board for the teacher to model

• Class set of peer fluency sheets

• Teacher fluency check (one per student) with attached comprehension questions

 

Procedure:

1. Say: “Today we’re going to work on becoming fluent readers. What do you think of when I say “fluent reader?” What does that mean to you? (Wait for responses) Fluency is when you read fast, smoothly and with expression. Today, we’re going to work on improving our fluency by rereading a text. Repeated readings are how the experts get good at reading aloud. When you read something a few times, you know the word when you see it again, and it’s easier to understand the sentence!

2. Everyone put on your listening ears and tell me if I sound like a fluent reader when I read this sentence aloud. “The b-b-a-a-ll, ball, is on the g-g-g-r-ro-o-d”. Oh, wait that doesn’t make sense. “The ball is on the..” What’s a grod? I don’t think that’s right. “The ball is on the..” G-r-o-u-n-d, oh that word is ground. The ball is on the ground! Did you notice when I was reading that sentence I got stuck on the last word? To figure out what it was I went back to the beginning of the sentence and reread from the beginning and tried what I thought the word was, grod. But that didn’t make sense. So then I went back to reread and see what word would make sense in that sentence. This strategy is called crosschecking! Using the crosschecking technique helps us to become fluent readers. Give me a thumbs up if you thought I sounded like a fluent reader when I read that first sentence or a thumbs down if you thought I didn’t. That’s right, I wasn’t a fluent reader because I had to figure out which word made sense in the sentence. Here’s how a fluent reader would read that sentence: “The ball is on the ground!”. I read the sentence with no problems, and you all understood what I said much easier.

3. Now, turn to a partner and practice reading the sentences on the board, (He runs like a dog, and The ants are on my shoe). Read and reread the sentence to your partner until you sound like a fluent reader.

4. Divide students up into partner based on their reading level. Pass out the book. Say: “Now we are going to practice being fluent readers by reading "Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus”. This book tells the story of Junie B. Jones. It’s her first day of kindergarten and her mother tells her she has to ride the school bus, but Junie doesn’t listen to her! Read on find out what Junie does instead!

5. Tell the students that they should read the first three pages to themselves silently. Then each partner should read one chapter aloud to each other. Remind students that while their partner is reading they shouldn’t try to help them.

6. Pass out recording sheets and stopwatches to each group. Say: “Now we’re are going to play a fluency game. Put your listening ears on to hear how to play! You and your partner are going to play this game together. Partner 1 is going to start the game and Partner 2 will be in control of the timer. Partner 2 is going to time Partner 1 reading the first two pages, and then he or she will record the time on the sheet I have handed out to you. Then Partner 1 and Partner 2 will switch jobs, and Partner 1 will time Partner 2 while he or she reads. Do this until each person has read 3 times. As you listen to your partner read the pages each time, I want you to be listening for how their reading changes each time. Do they read with more expression? Do they remember more words? Write down the changes you see on your paper!

7. Say: "Remember our goal is to increase fluency, so we have a chart with a school bus on it! We will use it to track our fluency. We will move it a little bit every time we increase our WPM! 

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   8. As the pairs begin to finish their readings, call students over individually and have them read a paragraph from the two pages assigned. Make sure they bring their record sheet so you can attach it to the back to the assessment sheet you have. Time them on the paragraph read aloud, and use the formula given to record how many words they have read per minute.

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Assessment:

• Use a list of comprehension questions from the assigned reading to test how fluency is affecting their comprehension.

• Sample Comprehension Questions: 

  1. What reason(s) does Junie B. Jones give for not wanting to ride the school bus home? ​

  2. Who does Junie B. Jones sit with her first time on the school bus? 

  3. Why does Junie. B Jones finally decide to ride the school bus home? 

 

Resources:

1. https://hed0022.wixsite.com/haleydellaccio/growing-fluency

2. https://sites.google.com/view/readingwithmsbrown/growing-independence-fluency

3. https://acr0040.wixsite.com/abbyrickerson/growing-independence-and-literacy

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Peer Fluency Check Sample:  

Name of Reader:  

Date:

1st Time:

2nd Time:

3rd Time:

I noticed that my partner…

                  After which read?               2nd            3rd

Remembered more words:

Read faster:

Read smoother:

Read with expression:

 

Teacher Fluency Check Sample: 

Name of Reader:

Date:

Time:

Words x 60/time in seconds:                           WPM

Comprehension:

1. What was this paragraph about?

2. What characters are being discussed?

3. Is there a problem happening in the story?

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