Rationale:

Beginning readers use their decoding skills to read words in a text, but they are often unable to comprehend. All effort is being spent on decoding the words. In order for comprehension to be achieved, students must learn to read fluently, accurately, and rapidly. Building fluency is incredibly important; it not only boosts a student's confidence in his or her reading ability, but also helps students achieve the main goal of reading instruction--comprehension. This lesson will have students utilizing one-minute timed readings and repeated readings, as the more a student rereads a passage, the more fluently he or she will read it. 

 

Materials:

Copy of The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend for each pair of students, One-minute sand timer for each pair or students, Time sheets to write down the number of words, Small crown stickers for each student (at least 60 per student), Blank sheet of paper for each student, Pencil for each student, Crayons for each student

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Example of time sheet:

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Name:

Partners name:

Date:

 Number of words:

1st time ______

2nd times_____

3rd time ______

 

Procedures:

1. Say: "When we read books, we want to be able to understand what we are reading. If we read the words in a book too slowly, it will be very difficult to remember the things we read about. If we read quickly, though, we can understand what we are reading easily. A good way for us to help our reading get faster is to practice over and over again.

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2. Say: "Let me show you how rereading something helps us to become faster readers. (Read a sentence very slowly and with separations between some of the words.)N-n-no one st-sto-stopped to h-h-hear the m-mu-mus-music. Did that sentence make sense to you? Why not? (Wait for response.) That sentence did not make sense because I read it so slowly. If we read quickly, we can understand what we are reading. (Read the sentence again, a little more fluently this time.) Nno one stopped to hhear the mmusic. Wasn't that a little easier to read? (Read the sentence again, with complete fluency.) Wow! I think that was the best yet.”

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3. Say: ”Our decoding strategies are important to remember when we are trying to read words quickly. When you come to a new or difficult word, don't forget to use cross-checking or cover-ups. First take a guess, if it doesn't make sense, use your finger to cover-up the letters so it is easier to read. When you are reading with your partner, you can use these strategies to help you. It would be a good idea to remind each other of these as you are listening to your partner."

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4. Tell the students: "Now it is your turn to become faster readers! (Put students in pairs and pass out one copy of The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend and a one-minute sand timer to each group. Pass out fluency chart and crown stickers to each individual student.) You and your partner are going to take turns reading and rereading from The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend. This story is about an imaginary friend who is waiting to be imagined, but he can’t wait anymore so he goes into the city. Have you ever had an imaginary friend? Do you think Beekle is brave for leaving Imaginary Island? You will have to read the book with your partner to find out! What I would like for you to do is take turns with your partner. First, one of you will read the page as quickly as you can while your partner times you. You will get to do this two more times, with your partner timing you each time. The first time you read, you will put crowns on the first "Beekle". Count how many words you read. The more words you read, the more crowns you get to put on him! Each crown is worth five words, so count by fives to see how many crowns you need to put on him. Make sure you also write the number of words you read on the blank below each Beekle. The second time you read, you will put your crowns on the second Beekle, and the third time, on the third Beekle. After one partner reads three times, you will need to switch, and the partner who just finished reading will be the timer. (Walk around while students are reading to monitor their progress and help with the placement of the spots.)"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. After the students have completed the repeated readings with their partners, pass out a blank sheet of paper to each student. Have them write a sentence about something from the story and draw a picture to illustrate the sentence. This, along with each student's fluency chart with the crowns, will be used to evaluate their progress, checking to see that the student's number of words per minute improved with each reading of the story and that the student was able to comprehend what he or she read.

 

References:

Tingas, Heather. “Itching” To Read More Fluently! http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/adventures/tingasgf.htm

 

Santat, Dan. The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend. New York: Little, Brown and Co., 2014.

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http://wp.auburn.edu/rdggenie/home/classroom/applications/

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Contact: slb0061@auburn.edu

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