Running to Word Fluency

There are a set of guidelines that you must follow to teach fluent reading. First you must read a decodable text, decoding all of the unknown words. Then you must reread that same book. After decoding it the first time you read it again. Since you have already decoded the unfamiliar words, the words this time won’t be as hard since you have seen them before! The more you re-read it, the more gracefully the words will flow out of your mouth. This is true for any age, when adults read something the first time it isn’t as fluent as the second time it is read. Lastly, you wil have to read connected text. Crosschecking is where the student will check if that word makes sense in the context of the sentence. In this lesson, teachers will help their students read and reread the words in the decodable book until students can read the words with automatic word recognition.

Materials:

Individual copies of Syd Hodd (1995), Happy Birthday, Danny and the Dinosaur. HarperCollinsPublishers.

Copy of the dinosaur running across a field to a boy

Dinosaur: https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=wBqe7yJ2&id=0886FDCE9C2902731052E99F36EC8AB7BB630FE7&thid=OIP.wBqe7yJ2iPi0VhrRmU0IOQHaE0&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fcdn-images-1.medium.com%2fmax%2f1600%2f1*5wqGQfBPkcsfl2XllT62FQ.png&exph=625&expw=960&q=a+dinosaur+running+across+a+field+t&simid=607995319239510957&selectedIndex=29&ajaxhist=0

Field:

http://www.islay.org.uk/2013/04/02/paps-of-jura-behind-a-field-at-kilchoman-isle-of-islay/

Boy: http://www.yim778.com/group/animated-people/

1. Explain to the student why we are doing repeated readings. “boys and girls, when we are reading a new book and it has words we don’t know, we have to read it more than once. The first time you read it you are getting used to unfamiliar words and having to sound them out. But the more you read it, the more familiar you get with the words in the book and the faster you can read and recognize the words. Also the more you read the story the better you will be able to tell me what happens during the story.

2. Let me show you what I mean with our book Happy Birthday, DANNY and the Dinosaur!   Put the book on the overhead and say “The first time I read something, I may make some mistakes and it takes time to recognize the words”. Let’s see what I mean.

“D-dddonnny? Oh-Danny! was in a hurry. He had to see his ffff-rrrr-eee-nnn-ddd the…dinnnoo-s-a-u-r. I’m six y-eee-aaa-rrr-s old to-day! Saiiid Donny? Oh!I mean Danny! Will you call-come to my [coverups] bir-th-day party? Whew! Now that I know all of the words I can read faster!

“Danny was in a hurry. He had to see his friend the dinosaur. Im six years old today  said Danny. Will you come to my birthday party? Whew! Now that I know all of the words I can read faster!
Now I am going to read it again to try to make it smoother and add expression!

“Danny was in a hurry. He had to see his friend the dinosaur. I am six years old today! Said Danny. Will you come to my birthday party?”

1. Now I want you to read the first two pages with me. We can take it slow.

2. The first time I read the passage I said call instead of come, after crosschecking with my context I realized the word was come. That’s something called crosschecking. Where sometimes the word you said wouldn’t make sense in the sentence. Like if I said: I have butter after school, that wouldn’t really make sense so I would know something is wrong! After crosschecking, I would see that the word is ballet. So the sentence now reads: I have ballet after school, that would make sense!

3. Now I want you to work with a neighbor. First one of you will read a page, and the other listen. Then you’ll switch off so the other person reads a page. If you have trouble with a word, I want you to decode it, but then finish the sentence to crosscheck.

4. When you are finished reading it with a partner, then I would like each of you to read it silently at your own desks. After you have done that, I want you to raise your hand and I will call on you to come read it to me at my desk. If I can’t call on you because I’m working with another student I want you to write about your favorite part of the book.

5. When the student brings up his or her book the teacher will time how long it takes the student to read the book, along with noting any miscues. Using the formula words X 60 divided by seconds, the teacher can tell how many words the student can read per minute. After knowing this the teacher will graph the reading time by moving the dinosaur across the grass (getting him closer to Danny on the other side). Encourage the student to keep reading until the dinosaur can go all the way to Danny.

6. After complimenting the reader and encouraging him to keep working up his way to get the dinosaur and Danny together, ask comprehension questions:

• Why did the dinosaur put his feet out the window instead of on the furniture? (they wouldn’t fit on the furniture

• Why did everybody cover their ears when the dinosaur sang? (it was bad singing)

• Why did the dinosaur get to blow out the candles with Danny? (It was his birthday too)

• Why did everyone sing at the end? (it was their dinosaur and Danny’s birthday)

1. After asking those questions, have the student reread any miscues and provide scaffolding when needed then have the student reread the sentence after they needed scaffolding. Take a note of student’s words per minute

Reference: Bruce Murray, Guiding across sunset pond with fluency (in class)

 

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