Miss Sydney's Creative Lesson Design

Rationale​:

This lesson is aimed to help students become more fluent readers and advance their reading comprehension skills when reading more advanced books. Fluency can be defined as effortless and automatic word recognition while reading, and still being able to comprehend what you have just read. Fluency helps reading become more enjoyable for students because they can read the story smoothly and are able to utilize expression while doing so. Before this goal becomes achievable, the students must first be able to successfully decode words in the text that they are reading. This lesson will guide students through the different steps of reading fluently which includes decoding, cross-checking, and rereading. By doing these things, the students will become more confident in their ability to read fluently, and they will become more proficient in reading. 

 

​Materials:

1. Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus by Barbara Park (enough for half of your class) 

2. White boards (one for each student)

3. Markers (one for each student) 

4. Stopwatch (one per pair of students)

5. Reader Response Form 

6. Calculators

 

Procedures :

1. Say: To become great readers, we must first become fluent readers. Can anyone tell me what the meaning of fluency is? (give time for student responses). Yes! Fluency is something that helps us read both accurately and smoothly. When someone becomes fluent in reading, they will be able to read at a faster pace and read the words more accurately, all while showing expressions related to the story! Becoming fluent readers also helps you understand the story better. This also means that we wouldn’t have to sound out each word as we come to it. As you become fluent readers, reading will become much easier and enjoyable for you because you won’t have to focus as hard on each individual word. 

2. Say: Listen to me read this sentence two times. When I get done, we will vote on which time sounded better. *read the sentence by sounding out the words* “M-m-y my n-a-m-e nam (come back to this word after cross checking to make the word name) i-s is J-u-n-i-e Junie B J-o-o-n-e-s Jones.” (read smoothly) Now, let me try this sentence one more time. “My name is Junie B. Jones.” Using a show of hands, ask “Who liked listening to me reading the first sentence? Who liked the second one better? Why did the second one sound better? Yes! The second one sounded a lot better because I wasn’t having to stop to try and figure out any of the words. I was able to read through the sentence fluently.” Being able to read through a sentence fluently takes practice. Today during our lesson, we are going to read through a passage a few times then we will test our fluency with the same passage. 

3. Say: Does anyone remember what I did when I couldn’t figure out the word name the first time, I read it? (student response) That’s correct. I decided to go back and crosscheck using the words that I did know. After I did that, I realized that the word that fit there was name. “My name is Junie B. Jones.” As we continue, we should keep this thought in the front of our brains: if you come across a word that you are unsure of as you are reading a sentence, keep reading until the end! Sometimes, the rest of the sentence gives us clues that we can use to uncover the word that we are struggling with. This also gives you the opportunity to go back and fix a mistake you might make while reading. These are important strategies that are used by fluent readers.

4. Say: Today we will be reading about a girl named Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus! Junie B. is having a rough first day of school, I want you to read to find out why! 

5. Say: Now we are going to get into groups of two. (pair each child with a partner). One of you can come and grab a copy of the book, a reading response form, a fluency chart, a calculator, and a stopwatch. The other partner can go and pick a place to read. Make sure that each group is far enough apart from each other. After you sit down with your books, I want you to count how many words there are on the first five pages of the book and note it on the top of your fluency chart. You and your partner will each take turns reading the first five pages 2 times while the other person records how fast you read them with a stopwatch. Whichever partner is not reading at the time, pay close attention to any mistakes the reader makes. For every mistake, make a tally mark on the white board with your marker. After you have read each time, I want you to calculate your fluency. The formula is on the board so that you can refer to it when you are finished. To calculate fluency, take the total number of words that you counted from the pages you read, multiply that by 60, then divide by the number of seconds it took you to read. The solution will look like: ____ words in ____ minutes. When you are done timing each other’s reading and have calculated your words/minutes, please discuss your answers from the reading response form. Once you have returned to your seat, please make sure that you have written your responses in complete and legible sentences, and make sure to turn in both the response form and the fluency chart into our reading drawer. 

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Reader's Response Form:

1. Why does Junie B not want to ride the bus?

2. Who is mean to Junie B on the bus ride to school?

3. Who does Junie B call because of her “emergency”?

4. Which friend will ride the bus with Junie B the next day? 

 

Fluency Checklist:

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Title of Book: __________________________________

 

Student’s Name: ____________   Date___________

 

Partner's Name: ______________________________

 

After 1st Reading       After 2nd Reading

_________                    _________                   Remembered more words

_________                    _________                   Read faster

_________                    _________                   Read smoother

_________                    _________                   Read with expression

 

(Words x 60)/seconds= WPM 

      

 

0 - - - 10 - - - 20 - - - 30 - - - 40 - - - 50 - - - 60 - - - 70 - - - 80 - - - 90 - - - 100

Correct Words Per Minute

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References and Materials​:

• Reagan Smith, Junie B’s Big, Fat Fluency Facts

• Barbara Park's  Junie B Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus