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Fluency in a Hotdog Bun

Growing Independence and Fluency

Carlie Collazo

Rationale: In order for a child to be a great reader, you must learn to read fluently. When it comes to reading fluently, you have to have effortless word recognition. Effortless word recognition leads to students reading at an increased pace. Effortless word recognition gives students the opportunity to reflect on what they are reading. This gives students a chance to make improvements when it comes to reading comprehension. The lesson teaches children how to use different techniques to build sight words. 

 

Materials:

  • Timer/stopwatch for each pair

  • White board

  • Peer fluency sheet (one for each student)

  • Reading rate forms for teacher 

  • Teacher Fluency Checklist with attached comprehension questions

  • Pencil for each student

  • Book: Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun by Maria Dismondy Dismondy, Maria, and Kimberly Shaw-Peterson. Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun: Having the Courage to Be Who You Are. Scholastic Inc., 2018.

Procedures:

  1. Say “We are going to learn how to be a fluent reader in class today. Does anyone know what a fluent reader is? (Students have a chance to answer.) A fluent reader is someone who is able to read fast and effortlessly because they are able to recognize the words. Today, we are going to learn how to speed up while we read. This will make us fluent readers and we will read easily from then on!”

  2. Say: Okay! Now that we know what a fluent reader is, I am going to give an example of reading a sentence a few times that’s on the white board. I will read it and you will want to listen and tell me which sounds more fluent. Look at the sentence written on the board. I, a-a-a-t-t-ee, a-t-t-e, oh ate because the last word is p-i- e, the p-i-i-e, I ate the pie. Which one did you think sounded more fluent? The second time! Why do you think that? The reason why is because when I read the second time I did it fast and it seem effortless. Also, I read it better the second time because I knew what it was saying instead of the first sentence when I was decoding. That’s why reading fluency is very important. 

  3. Say: “Now class let’s think back to when I read the first sentence when I got stuck on the word ate. I used crosschecking to figure out the word ate because I know it would make the most sense with pie. I reread the sentence and figured out what the word said. I was confused at first but crosschecking will help me and also help you too when you stuck on some uncertain words in a sentence. 

  4. Pass out spaghetti in a hot dog bun to each pair that you’ve assigned. “We are going to practice being fluent by reading Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun. Lucy is a young girl who spends a lot of time with her grandpa and has different ways of life. This leads her to come into conflict with one of her classmates. Her Papa Gives her advice on how she should treat others. Do you think Lucy will take it?

  5. This is when students have an opportunity to read the book silently to themselves. Then, they will go with their partner and they will read the book to their partner. This gives them an opportunity to read without help or get frustrated.

  6. Now, you pass out the recording sheets and stopwatches. Say: This is going to gives us a chance to test everyone’s fluency. We will go over how to do this! The first reader is going to start reading and the second reader is going to time the first reader for the first 3 pages. After the first reader has finished, the second reader will have a turn to read. During timing, you should listen to how your partners reading changes every time it is their turn.

  7. When the activity is finished, the students should come to your desk one by one and read the passage to you. This gives you the opportunity to see how many words for minute each student reads 

Student Name:

Date: 

Book: 

 

Evidence shown for reading three times _/3

Responded to comprehension question _/3

Improved Fluency _/1

Improved Accuracy _/1

Completed Partner Progress _/2

Total _/2

 

Partner Reading Progress Check:

Total Words in the Chapter:

Reader:

Checker:

 

_______ words in ______ seconds

_______ words in ______ seconds

_______ words in ______ seconds

 

Turn number that sounded the smoothest:

Turn number that had the fewest mistake:

 

Reading comprehension worksheet

  1. What was the food that Lucy loved?

  2. What was the advice papa Gino had for Lucy?

  3. How did Lucy react to the boy bullying her in trouble?

References: Dismondy, Maria, and Kimberly Shaw-Peterson. Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun: Having the Courage to Be Who You Are. Scholastic Inc., 2018.

Gabrielle Endacott

https://gabrielleendacott.wixsite.com/readinglessons/growing-independence-and-fluency

http://wp.auburn.edu/rdggenie/

hot dog .png

Fluency

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