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Our Fluency Will Leave You Breathless

Growing Indepence and Fluency

Kristen Hall

 

 

Rationale: Fluent readers have enough sight words to read smoothly without having to decode every word. Teachers want their students to become fluent readers so that they can focus their efforts on reading for comprehension and with expression. In order to find out if students are reading fluently, teachers can use the fluency equation (words read x 60/ seconds). This equation will calculate how many words per minute the student reads. In this lesson, students will read and reread Dog Breath by Dav Pilkey and then perform in a reader’s theater in order to become fluent readers.

 

Materials:  

  • Dog Breath by Dav Pilkey.

  • Copy of Dog Breath reader’s theater script for each student.

  • Smartboard or projector to display the story.

  • Grading rubric.

  • Journal for each student.

 

Procedure:

 

Say: Good readers have to practice before they can read aloud. When you reread the same story, it gets easier to read the words because you have already seen them before. When the words are easier to read, you can read faster and understand more of what is happening in the story! If you read out loud to others, your reading sounds more like storytelling, which makes the story more exciting. So every time we practice reading the same story we become faster and better readers!

 

Say: Who remembers what to do when you come across a word you don’t know? Let’s refresh our memories by using crosschecking. Let’s pretend I wanted to read this sentence (Write: “I pick flowers by the brook for Meg.”) but I can’t remember this word (underline brook). First I would read my sentence “I pick flowers by the _____ for Meg.” I’m still not sure what that word is. So now I’ll take out my coverup critter. I recognize some of the word chunks BR-OO-K? “I pick flowers by the /br/ /o/ /k/…” Oh brook! “I pick flowers by the brooke for Meg.” A brook is like a small river or creek. Now every time I see that word I’ll remember it and read more fluently.

 

Say: Now I’m going to show you how fluency will make your reading sound smoother. The first time I read something I may make some mistakes and it may take a little time to fix them. (Write: “Bill’s favorite flavor of ice cream is chocolate.”) Bill’s ffff [coverups] fave-or-ite –favorite- ffllaavooor –flavor- of ice cream is chhh [coverups] cho-co-late –chocolate. Now I know all the words so I can read faster: Bill’s faaavoorite flaavor of ice cream is choocoolaate. Now I’m going to read it again only this time I’m going to add some expression: Bill’s favorite flavor of ice cream is chocolate. Yummm! I like chocolate too.

 

Say: Now we’re all going to practice our reading fluency so we can become expert readers. First, I am going to take you through a guided reading of Dog Breath. That way we can read the story together in order to decode any new or tricky words. Then each of you will practice silently at your desks with your script to prepare for your part. After you have rehearsed your lines you will each act out your parts with lots of expression!  

 

Book talk: This story is about a dog named Hally Tosis. She is a good dog,but she has a big problem. Her breath is so stinky it peels the paint off the walls!! One day it causes their grandma to faint, so the Tosis family decides to give Hally away. This makes the children very sad. What do you think will happen to Hally? Why do you think that? [Write down student’s predictions.] Let’s see if any of your predictions come true. [Display the book on a Smartboard or with a projector. Have the students read each page silently and then discuss plot developments. Challenge the students to think outside the box as to what will happen next. Do you still think ____ is going to happen?]

 

Say: Did any of your predictions come true? [Discuss story and check for comprehension.] Now we are going to act out the story in a reader’s theater. Once I give you a part I want you to go to your desk and rehearse your lines by reading silently to yourself.

 

Assessment: Assign parts and give students 5 to 10 minutes to practice. Then have students act out the story two or three times grading each student’s performance with a rubric. Check comprehension by having students record their initial predictions and ending results of the story in a journal.

Comprehension Questions:

  • “Who was the main character?”

  • “What problem did the main character face?”

  • “What did you first think was going to happen to the main character?” “Why?”

  • “What steps did the main character take to try to fix the problem?”

  • “How was the problem fixed?”

  • “How was the ending the same or different from your prediction?” 

 

Reference:

 

Calhoun, Kimber. Frighteningly Fluent.

            https://sites.google.com/site/calhounslessons/

 

Jauquet, Jill. Dog Breath by Dav Pilkey Script.

http://www.timelessteacherstuff.com/readerstheater/DogBreath.pdf

 

Pilkey, Dav. Dog Breath. New York: The Blue Sky Press, 1994. 32p. Print.

 

Keystone Readers’ Theater Presentation Rubric.

http://www.pearsonlongman.com/ae/emac/newsletters/TESOL_docs/Keystone_Rubric_for_Readers_Theater.doc  

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