Growing Independence and Fluency

Learning How to Dance Our Way to Fluency

Growing Independence and Fluency Design

By: Hannah Atchley

Rationale:

Students need to be fluent readers in order to understand reading. To be a fluent reader, students must be able to read a text automatically and without effort. Students must also be able to read the text and understand the meaning of it. Reading is more enjoyable for students when they are fluent readers because they can use expression when reading and read without hesitation. Students can grow into fluent readers through reading, decoding, crosschecking, mental marking, and rereading. In this lesson, students will learn the skills and strategies required to become a fluent reader through reading and rereading the story How Do You Dance?

Materials:

Class set of How Do You Dance? By Thyra Heder
Pencils
Expo marker
Stopwatch to time readings
Coverup critter for each student
Peer checklist for each student
White board

Procedures:

Say: Today, I am going to teach you what it means to be a fluent reader. Does anyone know the meaning of fluency? A fluent reader is a reader that can read really smooth, without much trouble, and understand the book at the same time! Being a fluent reader allows reading to be easier. Who thinks reading is really hard? Me too! So let’s learn how to be fluent readers! First, we are going to look at a few sight words on the board and add them to our vocabulary.
Say: I am going to write a word on the board, and we are going to look at it together. [Write the word “dance” on the white board]. Hmm that word looks kinda tricky. I think I am going to need my coverup critter to help me learn this word. I want all of you to watch me as I try to figure out this word. First, I am going to uncover the first letter, /d/. Next, I am going to uncover our second letter, /d/ /a/. I am now going to uncover our next letter, /d/ /a/ /n/. Now, let’s look at the next letter, /d/ /a/ /n/ /c/. I am now going to uncover our last letter. /d/ /a/ /n/ / c/ /e/. That word did not make much sense. Let’s look at it more closely. I do not think that e makes much sense. I think it might be silent. Let’s try that one more time slowly. Dddd-aaaaa-nnnnn-ccccc. Dance is our word! That was kind of tricky, but our cover up critter definitely helped us. Now let’s use it in a sentence. “How do you dance?” Oh, that is the name of our story for today! I wonder if it will tell us how to dance!
Say: Now I am going to teach you the difference between a fluent reader and a non- fluent reader [Write the sentence on the board, “I learn how to dance.”] I am going to read the sentence and I want you to tell me if I am a fluent reader or a non-fluent reader. “I llll-eeee-aaaa-rrrr-nnnn how to dddd-aaaa-nnnnn-ccccc-eeee. Oh, I see that word we had earlier. dddd-aaaa-nnnn-cccc. Dance! I l-eeeee-aaaaa-rrrrr-nnnnn how to dance. Oh! I learn how to dance!” What kind of reader am I? Raise your hand if you think I am a fluent reader [pause a moment to let them decide]. Raise your hand if you think I am a non-fluent reader. [Pause]. Right! I am a non-fluent reader because I struggled with some words, right? My sentence was not very smooth was it? I had to read it a few times and use crosschecking to figure out our hard word, “learn.” Crosschecking means to look at the pronunciation of a word and see if it makes sense in the sentence. I had to use crosschecking to figure out or word “learn,” right? Does anyone think they would be able to read our sentence fluently? [Call on a student who raises their hand] [Student reads the sentence fluently] Great job! You read the word smoothly and effortlessly, and you did not stumble on any words. You took the word “learn” and put it in your brain when I read it, and when you reread the sentence, you knew exactly what the word was! Rereading the sentence helped you read it fluently.
Say: Now we are going to read our story, How Do You Dance? by Thyra Heder. This story is about how to dance! You can dance when you’re happy or even when you’re sad, but how do you dance? Let’s find out! I want you to read this story on your own quietly to find out what happens in our story! I am going to pass our coverup critters to help you when you come across a tricky word. [Pass our coverup critters to each student, and give the students time to read.]
Say: Now that you all are done reading on your own, we are going to turn to our partner and read the story together. I want you to alternate pages: you read a page, your partner reads a page, and repeat. If your partner comes across a tricky word, allow them time to figure it out and if they do not figure it out after a few times, help them with that word and use the coverup critter if you need it.
Say: [Pass out a stopwatch and recording sheets to each group (see below)] Now we are going to play a fluency game. Partner 1 will read the story. Partner 2 will use the stopwatch to time Partner 1 reading the story. Partner 2 will also record Partner 1’s reading time on the recording sheet when they are done. Then, the readers will switch positions, and the student that just timed their partner will be the one to read. There are three parts to the sheet. I want you to read the story (around 2-3 times each) until it is filled up. Partner 2, as you listen to your partner read each page, pay attention to how their reading changes each time. Is your partner beginning to recognize more words? Do they read with lots of expressions? Write all of the changes you notice on your checklist. Now, let’s begin our fluency game!
[After the students finish the fluency game, call them up to your table one-by-one and have them bring their fluency checklist and their book. Have them read the first four pages of the story out loud and time their reading. Using the formula at the bottom, determine how many words each student can read per minute and record that number.]

Comprehension Questions:

What is one way you can dance?
Is your house the only place you can dance?
What is the best way to dance?

Fluency Checklist for each student:

Title of Book:

Reader’s Name:

Partner’s Name:

After 2nd Reading After 3rd 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

References:

Book: Heder, Thrya. How Do You Dance, 2019. Print. https://www.getepic.com/book/81932919/how-do-you-dance

Emily Forest, “The Bad Seed’s Transformation to Fluency” https://emiley991.wixsite.com/my-site/growing-independence-fluency

Reading Genie Awakenings Index: https://wp.auburn.edu/rdggenie/home/classroom/awakenings/