Rationale: In order to increase fluency in reading, students’ focus should be on reading faster, accurately, and effortlessly. The student is transitioning away from being dependent of decoding. Fluency is important for readers because they can focus their attention on becoming quick readers, smooth, more expression and comprehending the content. As students’ fluency increases, their comprehension grows which in turn helps them enjoy reading more. The more time the student practices reading, the faster the students will be able to read. By assisting a child to learn to read at a faster pace is the key to increases a student’s comprehension as well. This lesson will zone in on evolving a student’s ability to read rapidly and effortlessly so that they can comprehend the text more effectively. The student will use strategies that build sight words through strategies such as crosschecking and meaning, as well as student’s will work with a partner to chart their reading rates. This activity will enhance their fluency and independence in repeated and timed reading.

 

Materials:

The book Junie B. Jones and the Mushy Gushy Valentine by Barbara Park

Dry erase board and dry erase marker

Stopwatch for each partner pair

Fluency checklist

Comprehension question worksheet (attached)

Pen, pencil, paper

 

Procedures:

1. Say: “Hello class! Today we are going to work on developing our fluency when we read. We are going to learn to be speedy while reading and learn how to better comprehend what we are reading. After we learn how to do this, we will all be able to read faster and smoother. Fluency requires learning new words as sight words. When you learn to read fluently, speed and expression will be the result.

2. Say: Now I am going to tell you a sentence and tell me if I sound like I am reading fluent or not. “Tttthhhheeee pppplllaaaannn, wait I mean plane, wwwaaasss hiiiiggghhh in tttthhhheee sssskkkiii, ummm, sky. The plane was hihgh in the sky.” Now I will reread the sentence, so I can check and make sure that I comprehend the words. “The plane was high in the sky!” Did you see how I did not sound out any words? I said the sentence smoothly and the sentence was easy to comprehend.

3. Say: Now that I have read the sentence: “The plane was high in the sky”, can someone tell me what I had a problem with? I had to reread the sentence, not the correspondences and pronunciation, in order to figure out how to read hard words. I noticed that plan and ski did not sound correct. I took a minute to realize that a_e says /A/ in plane and y and the end of words says /I/. After I realized my mistakes, I reread the sentence and the sentence made more sense with plane and sky. This strategy is called crosschecking.

4. Say: “Today we are going to read a portion of Junie B. Jones and the Mushy Gushy Valentine to practice fluency. Here is the summary of what we are going to read. It is Valentine’s Day in Junie B’s classroom, room nine. Each of the 17 students is to pass out Valentine’s cards to all their other classmates. Junie only receives 16 and is wondering where her last valentine is. Later she gets her 17th valentine’s card and it’s a mushy gushy one from her secret admirer. Who is her secret admirer? Let’s read to find out!”

5. Say: Now, I would like you to get with your reading partner and go to your designated reading area in the classroom. While one partner walks to the reading area, the other partner will come to the front of the classroom to pick up two Partner Reading Comprehension Sheets. Together, count how many words are on page one and two in Junie B. Jones and the Mushy Gushy Valentine.

6. Each partner will take turns reading the book aloud to one another. I would like each person to read the two pages three times all the way through. While one partner is reading, the other partner will use the stopwatch and record the time. Remember to pay close attention to mark each partners mistake while reading aloud. Mark tallies for each mistake. (Will show this method on the white board)

7. Once your group is done reading, you will solve a math problem in order to calculate fluency. The total number of words minus the number of tallies for each reading. The total number of tally marks is to be subtracted from the total number of words in the chapter. These numbers go on this line: ____total words- ____ tally marks = ____words. Then you are going to record this total of correct words and the time it took them to read in this second line: _____words in _____ seconds. Do this three times each. The end goal is to read 85 words per minute.

8. After reading, try to answer the reader’s response questions.

   1. How many students are in Junie B’s class?

   2. Who is Junie B’s secret admirer?

   3. How does Junie B cover for Jim when the teacher catches them talking?

9. The students will go back to their individual desks and write the answers to the three questions on a separate sheet of paper. The sheet of paper with the students’ answers will be turned in, when completed. Once the answers and checklist are both turned in, I will hand out a fluency graph. This graph will have pieces of a heart flowing up to make a whole heart-shaped valentine. I will put the heart on the corresponding number of words the students read per minute. I will support students to continue practicing reading by moving their individual pieces of the heart up the scale, in order to put together a whole heart-shaped valentine! Each time the students should increase their words per minute.

10. Extra time? Read a different page in the book to increase fluency rates.

 

 

Reference:

http://ksf0004.wixsite.com/ctrd/Programs

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Junie-B-Jones-and-the-Mushy-Gushy-Valentine-Literary-Companion-196637

http://kms0072.wixsite.com/sweetreads/reding-fluency-

http://mjv0004.wixsite.com/vavalalessons/flying-through-fluency-with-junie-b