Growing Independence and Fluency

Reading Fluently with Junie B. Jones

Growing Independence and Fluency Lesson

Rationale: The goal for this lesson is to assist students in developing reading fluency and expression. For students to become successful readers they must be able to read fluently. Fluent reading is where nearly all the words are sight vocabulary; speed and expression are results. In this lesson students will be taught fluency through timed, repeated reading. By gaining fluency, children are able to focus on reading comprehension.

Materials:

Copy of Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus for each student
Stopwatch for each pair
Cover-up critter for each student
Copy of the Partner Reading Progress Chart for each student
Copy of the Fluency Rubric for each student
Whiteboard and Dry Erase Markers

Procedures:

Say: Today we are going to learn how to become fluent readers. Fluent readers read fast and effortlessly. When you read fluently, it is easier to comprehend what you are reading because you are not distracted by trying to figure out what word the letters make.
Say: Does anyone remember any decoding skills that can help us read? What if I was reading a story and came across a word I did not know, what could I do to figure it out? [Write the word hint on the board] That’s right, I could use my cover-up critter! [Model how you read the word using the cover-up critter]. First lets look at the vowel. It says /i/, Now look at the first letter, /h/. What sound does the third letter make? That’s correct, /n/. Lets add those together: /h/ /i/ /n/ = /hin/! Now lets add on the last letter, t: /hin/ /t/= hint! Awesome job. Make sure you use your cover-up critter whenever you come to a word you do not know.
[Write the following sentence on the board: “Kindergarten is where you go to meet new friends and not watch TV.”] Say: I am going to read you the following sentence [point to sentence on board] out loud to you, and I want you to listen very carefully to how it sounds. Kinder, kinder-garten, kindergarten is where you go to me, me-et, meet new f, frien, friend, friends and not wa-t, w-a-t-c-h, watch TV. How did that sound? Not good. What is read smoothly? Did it flow? Was it read with expression? NO! Let me try reading it again. Kindergarten is where you go to meet new friends and not watch TV. How did it sound? Good! It sounded smooth and not choppy, the sentence flowed and I read it quickly with expression. That is an example on how fluent readers read a sentence.
Say: We are going to practice our fluency as we read a book called Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus. Book-talk: This book is about a girl named Junie B. Jones. She is on her way to her first day of kindergarten but when she gets on the bus it is full of mean kids. She doesn’t know anything and the bus smells awful. She’s scared of the mean kids on the bus and hates the smell of the bus so when its time to go home for the day she doesn’t know if she should get on the bus or not. What will Junie B. Jones do? Will she ever get on the bus? Will she make it home? We will have to read to find out! I am going to read some of the story to you, and I want you to notice how I read fluently. Please turn your listening ears on and listen carefully. [Read two pages of chapter one]
Say: Now I want you to continue reading by yourself until page 4. Make sure to try your best to be fluent.
Say: Now that you heard me read fluently and you have practiced by yourself reading fluently, it is your turn to read aloud. You will practice reading fluently by doing repeated readings with your reading partner. [Have students find a spot around the room to work] I will come around and give you and your partner two Fluency Rubrics. Pick who will read first and who will listen. The reader will read pages five and six. The reader will read the section one time and the listener should just listen to them read. Then, the reader will read the section two more times. During the second and third reading, the listener should be listening for the following things: Does your partner remember the words? Do they read it smoother than the last time they read it? Do they read with more expression? The listening partner will complete the chart on the Fluency Rubric that asks these questions. Once done, you will switch roles with your partner. So if you were the reader you are now the listener and if you were the listener you are now the reader. [Walk around as the students are reading and make sure that everyone is filling in the charts correctly and is on task]
Say: Once you and your partner have finished the Fluency Rubric, you will do a second repeated reading activity. For this activity you will read from pages six to nine, which is also the end of the chapter. Your partner will use the stopwatch and mark down any errors. 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 your progress sheet. You’re going to take three turns reading pages six through nine. While your partner is reading you are going to use the stopwatch to time them. You are also 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. 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 partner progress sheet. [Walk around and help students with any questions they may have and make sure they are on task]
Assess student progress by determining each students WPM by using the WPM formula: Words x 60 / seconds. Next check their comprehension of chapter one by asking students individually basic questions from what they have read so far: What does Junie B. Jones like to be called? What does she do during her first day of kindergarten? What does she describe to her teacher the first time she meets her? How does Junie B. talk to her classmates, is she nice, mean, shy and why do you think she’s acting like that?

Resources:

Clarke, Kate Ready, Set, READ!

https://sites.google.com/site/kmc0044ctrd/home/growing-independence-and-fluency-lesson

Park, Barbara., and Denise Brunkus. Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus. New York: Scholastic, 1992. Print.

Reference:

http://juniebjones.com/parents/

Fluency Rubric:

Reader: __________________ Listener: __________________ Date: __________________

I noticed that my partner: (Put and X in the blank)

After 2nd After 3rd

Read Faster ________ ________

Read Smoother ________ ________

Read with expression ________ ________

Remembered more words ________ ________

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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