Junie B. and Fluency!
Rationale:
When we are developing into good readers, one of the most important goals is to be more fluent when we read. To be fluent means you have the ability to read words accurately and automatically without having to spend a lot of time an energy decoding individual words. We can understand the meanings of whole texts easier when we are fluent readers as well. In this lesson, students will gain fluency by learning to read words smoothly, quickly, and accuracy. They will gain fluency through repeated readings and timed readings. We will see their improvements through the repeated reading process and watch their skills improve.
Materials:
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Dry-Erase board and Marker (for each student)
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Fluency Chart
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Class set of Junie B. Jones and Her Big Fat Mouth books
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Stop watches (one for each set of students)
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Calculator for each student
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Assessment questions printed on paper for each student
Procedures:
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Say: “So we can become great readers, we have to become fluent readers. To become a fluent reader means you can read accurately and smoothly. This also means you don’t have to sound out each word. Once you become a fluent reader, you will be able to read books and enjoy them because you don’t have to focus on each word so much”.
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Say: “I am going to let you listen while I read a short passage two times. When I am done, I will take a vote on which time sounded better. [read choppy] ‘Thhheee dddoooggg ccchhh-aaa-sssed thhheee mmmooouuussseee.’ [Then read smoothly] Let me try this passage again. ‘The dog chased the mouse’. [Ask for a show of hands] Who liked listening to my first passage? How about the second? [allow time for students to raise their hands]. Why did the second one sound better to you? Right! The second time sounded better to listen to because I didn’t have to stop and figure out any words. That is called fluency and that is what you’re going to do today!”
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Say: “Something that is helpful is if there is a word you don’t know in a sentence; you should read the whole sentence because a lot of the time there will be clues to help you figure it out!”
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Say” Today we are going to practice becoming fluent readers by reading about a silly kindergarten student named Junie B. She is having a rough week, she got in trouble for shooting off her mouth in kindergarten and now she’s in trouble again! Let’s see what she’s done now! I am going to read the first two pages of the book so we can start this story together! [pass out copies off the books and read aloud the first two pages with them].
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Write directions on the white board for the students to reference but then say as you are writing: “Everyone is going to get a partner. One of you should come to the front and grab a fluency chart and a stopwatch. The other partner can go find a spot for moth of you to read together. You will both be counting the amount of words on the 6 next pages after the two we read together and write that number on the top of your fluency charts.”
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Say: “You and your partner will each read those 6 pages 3 times while the other times your reading with a stopwatch. If you are the partner that is not reading, you need to be paying close attention to the mistakes your reading partner is making. For every mistake, make a little tally’. [show the tally method on the board and model it]
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Say: “After you have each read your amount of turns, you will do a math problem that will calculate your fluency for you! Take the total number of words from those pages and multiply that by 60. Then you will divide that number by the number of seconds it took each of you to read the pages. After that, you will fill out your fluency chart with those numbers.
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Say: “After you have finished up, we will answer a couple questions about the story to see how well you paid attention!” [pass out paper with questions printed out].
Assessment Questions:
1. What grade is Junie B. Jones in?
2. Does Junie B. behave or does she get in trouble?
3. What does Junie B. do to get in trouble this time?
References:
Anna Grizzard, Fluency with Junie B!
https://alg0058.wixsite.com/mysite-2/growing-fluency
Junie B. Jones and Her Big Fat Mouth book
https://www.fantasticfiction.com/p/barbara-park/junie-b-jones-and-her-big-fat-mouth.htm
Fluency Chart worksheet
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Free-Reading-Fluency-Charts-377871
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Contact me: Sarah Massey.
