Growing Independence & Fluency Design by Chase Morrin

Rationale:

When working towards becoming a stronger reader, we want to become more fluent. When we are fluent readers, we can recognize words quickly and accurately. By becoming fluent readers, we are able to better understand the meaning of the text and enjoy the story through comprehension. Students will learn to read fluently by decoding, cross checking, rereading, and mental marking. Rereading helps lead to fluency by developing words into sight vocabulary. In this lesson, teachers will help their students read and reread the words in the book, Green Eggs and Ham, until students can glide smoothly across the words, reading them with automatic word recognition.

 

Materials:

• Class set of Green Eggs and Ham

• Pencils

• Stopwatch (1 per pair of students)

• Fluency chart to record student’s words per minute (one for each child) 

• Fluency checklist 

• Sample sentences written on board

• Reading tracker

• Rubrics for grading

• Reading comprehension worksheet (1 per student)

 

Procedures:

1. Say: “Let's start by looking at the sentence written on the board: I do not like green eggs and ham. Everyone put your listening ears on and I want you to tell me if I sound like a fluent reader when I read this sentence out loud. I do not like g-g-g-g-g-r-r-e-e-n, g-r-r-e-e-n, oh green. I do not like green eggs and hem. Oh, that doesn't make sense, it must be ham. I do not like green eggs and ham. Did you notice that I got stuck on the last word when I read the sentence? To figure out what the word was, I reread the sentence from the beginning and tried what I thought the word ham said, hem. That did not make sense, did it? To fix myself, I went back and reread the sentence to figure out which word made the most sense. This strategy is called crosschecking and it is super important to use when we are learning to become fluent readers! 

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2. Model: “Now I am going to show you how a fluent reader reads, but also how a non-fluent reader reads. Our second sentence is ‘I would not eat them here or there’. A non-fluent reader might read this as ‘I w-w-o-u-l-dd not eat them h-h-e-r-ee or t-h-e-r-ee.’ Notice how I stretched the words out slowly? I made a mistake and had to correct the word where I messed up. This is what makes it harder to understand. Let’s try to read it again and see if I can read a little smoother and quicker. ‘I would not eat them hh-ere or t-h-ere’. That was better, but I am still not reading as smoothly as a fluent reader. Let’s try to read this one more time, (read smoothly and add lots of expressions): ‘I would not eat them here or there’ Great! That is how a fluent reader would read this sentence. Now let’s all read it together: ‘I would not eat them here or there.’” Great job!

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3. Say: “It takes a lot of practice to become a fluent reader. See how when I read our sentence the first time it was hard for me to read it quickly and smoothly with fluency. I had to spend some time decoding the words that I was not familiar with. When I read the sentence the second time, it was a little bit smoother because I had decoded it before. As I read it the last time, it was quick and smooth like a fluent reader because I knew each word and added expressions when I read. Now that you saw me become a fluent reader by rereading, you can too!”

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4. Now we are going to practice our fluency by reading Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Suess. Booktalk: In this story the charter, Sam-I-Am, tries to convince the narrator to try green eggs and ham by bringing them to different dining locations and people to eat with. Do you think they will end up trying the green eggs and ham? Will they like it? Let's read and find out!

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5. Say: “Now we are going to practice our fluency by working with partners. Pair up with a partner to read with and then come and get a Partner Progress Checklist, Reader Response Form, a stopwatch, and 2 copies of Green Eggs and Ham. I will tell you the number of words in a book when you get in a reading spot, and you can write that number at the top of the page. Each partner is going to read the book aloud three times. When your partner is reading, you are going to time them using your stopwatch. Also, you should mark how many mistakes your partner makes. If they make a mistake, write it down on your sheet of paper. Please remember that mistakes are not bad! All of us are going to make mistakes when we are building fluency and we can learn how to get better by our mistakes! When your partner is done reading, subtract the number of words missed from the total word count. Record that number and the amount of time that it took them to read. After you and your partner have both read the book three times, I want you to discuss. Answer the questions on the Reader Response Form and write your answers down on separate sheets individually please.”

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6. Assess each students’ progress from evaluating answers on the Reader Response Form and determining each students’ words per minute using the (words x 60 / seconds) formula. Make each individual student’s progress with a sticker on the fluency chart. Update their charts so that the students can watch their own progress and see a visual goal.

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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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Partner Reading Progress Checklist:

Total # of words in book: ______ Reader: __________________

Partner: __________

1: ___ Words in ___ seconds

2: ___ Words in ___ seconds

3: ___ Words in ___ seconds

Which turn (1, 2, or 3) sounded the smoothest? _______

Which turn (1, 2, or 3) had the least number of errors? ______

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Reader Comprehension Worksheet:

1. What is Sam-I-Am trying to accomplish in the story?

2. Does the character try green eggs and ham?

3. What is the outcome of the story?
 

Resources: 

Natalie Buckles, Dancing With Fluency: https://ngb0012.wixsite.com/w-ebsite/my-project-1

Stevie Potts, Soaring Into Fluency: https://sites.google.com/view/steviepottsctrd3000/growing-independence-and-fluency

Book: Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Suess, Random House Publishers 1960

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