Let's Weave a Web of Fluent Readers!
Growing Independence and Fluency
By: Kaitlyn Barnes
Rationale: Being a fluent reader helps you better comprehend texts. When you are a fluent reader, you are able to recognize almost all words by sight. This leads to the ability to read quicker and read with expression. Fluent readers are able to correctly decode, crosscheck, and reread the text. Repeated readings and extra word help are great for students to develop better reading fluency. In this lesson, students will learn strategies and skills that will help them become fluent readers by rereading the first chapter in Charlotte’s Web. When they come to an unfamiliar word, they can decode it. If they still do not understand the word, they can crosscheck, finish the sentence, and then reread the sentence.
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Materials
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Whiteboards and markers
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Sample sentences on a whiteboard
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Class set of: Charlotte’s Web by E.B White
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Reading comprehension worksheet
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Stopwatches for each pair of students
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Partner reading recording sheet
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Teacher fluency checklist
Procedures
1.Say: “Today we are going to talk about becoming a fluent reader! Can someone tell me what it means to be a fluent reader? When someone is a fluent reader, they can read quickly, smoothly, and can understand everything they are reading. Fluent readers can also read with expression. When someone reads with expression, it means they can change their voice to match a certain text. Today, we are going to practice being fluent readers!
2. Say: “I will first model the decoding strategy with my cover up critter. Say: “Sometimes when we are reading, we come across words that give us trouble and we feel stuck. One thing I use to help me is a coverup critter. For example, let’s look at the word trap. (Write the word trap on the board). I am going to use my cover up critter to decode the word trap. I am now going to cover up all the letters except the first one, which is the letter t. /t/…/t/…/t/. I am now going to uncover the next letter which is r. /r/…/r/…/tr/. Next, I will uncover the next letter a. /a/…/a/…/tra/. Now it’s time to uncover the last letter, p, and blend everything together. /t/…/r/…/a/…/p/…/trap/. This is the word trap. Now let’s use it in a sentence: “Spiders trap bugs in their sticky webs.”
3.Say and model: “Now I am going to show you how a fluent reader may read, and how a non-fluent reader may read. Let’s look at this sentence. (Show sentence on the board, “The bug flew in the web.”) A non- fluent reader may read it like this: “The bbugg fflleww in the wwebb.” See how I read slower and stretched out the words? Reading that way can make it harder to understand what I am reading about. Now let’s try again and see how a fluent reader may read. “The bug flew in the web.” [Read smoothly, with expression]. See how my words flowed better, and we had a better understanding of what the sentence was about? That is how a fluent reader reads! Now let’s read it all together: “The bug flew in the web.” Amazing job!
4.Say and model: Now let’s look at how we would read a more difficult word. (Write snake on the board). This word can be harder to read because some letters are silent. If I look at this word, I might say /s/n/a/k/, but that isn’t a real word. We need to remember the rule a_e says /A/ not /a/. We can help remember this by using body-coda blending, where we start with the /A/ sound, then add our other letters. So, in this case, we would start with the a_e, then add the /s//n/ to the beginning and a /k/ at the end. That’s it! Snake! (Everyone says snake together.)
5. Say: “Now everyone, find a partner so we can practice being fluent readers! (Pass out a copy of Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White to each student). “When Fern convinces her father not to kill the runt pig of the litter, she names him Wilbur and raises him. Soon, Wilbur goes to live in her Uncle Homer Zuckerman's barn down the road, where she visits him every day. But when she's not there, Wilbur is lonely -- the sheep, cows, geese, and even the rats don't want to play and be his friend. Then he meets Charlotte, a gray spider whose web is in a corner of the barn door, and they become good friends. But soon after, they learn that Wilbur is to be slaughtered next Christmas to make ham and bacon. So, Charlotte hatches a plan to make the Zuckerman’s want to keep Wilbur around forever.”
6. Students will read the entire first chapter silently to themselves and then fill out the reading comprehension worksheet. Then, they will read the book aloud to their partner. They cannot help their partner, they can only record their progress
Reading Comprehension Worksheet:
1. What time of day does Fern help her dad find the pigs?​​
2. How does Charlotte help Wilbur?
3. What type of animal does Fern’s brother have?
4. Why is Wilbur lonely in his new home?
1. [Pass out the recording sheets and stopwatches to each group]. Say: “Now we are going to play a fluency game! Each of you will take turns to see how fast you can read the first two pages. Reader Number 1 will start off reading and Reader Number 2 will control the stopwatch and record how fast it takes Reader Number 1 to read. Reader Number 2 will record Reader Number 1’s time on the time sheet I just handed you. After recording your partner’s time, you will switch, and Reader Number 2 will read. Reader Number 1 will record. You will do this three times each. As you listen to your partner, I want you to listen to them carefully to see how their reading changes each time. Do they read smoother? Do they read quicker? Do they remember more of the words or read with expression? Mark the changes you see on your paper.
Partner Reading Recording Sheet:
Title of Book:
Total # of Words:
Reader:
Timer:
Date:
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words in seconds
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words in seconds
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words in seconds
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After all students have read through the text three times each, have each student come up one at a time and read the first two pages to you. Ask them to bring their record sheet and determine each student’s words per minute (WPM) using the formula, (words x 60) / seconds, and record them on the teacher fluency checklist.
References:
Lillie Brooks, Weaving a Fluency Web
Summer Rose, Fishing for Fluency
Book: White, E B. Charlotte's Web., 1980. Print.
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