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Becoming Fluent with Amelia Bedelia’s Bake Off

Growing Fluency

Anne Lupo 

 

 

 

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Rationale:

In order to increase fluency, students should focus on reading faster and effortlessly. Reading fluency is the ability to read with automatic word recognition. As fluency increases, their comprehension grows. In return, they will learn to enjoy reading even more. The more time the student practices, the faster they will be able to read and the best way to do this is by repeated reading. Additionally, the students’ comprehension will increase as well. This lesson will allow the students to use crosschecking during repeated readings of decodable text in order to gain fluency and independence in repeated and timed reading.

 

Materials:

  • Pencils

  • Timer/stopwatch for each pair

  • Class set of Amelia Bedelia Bakes Off by Herman Parrish

  • Sample sentences on a whiteboard for the teacher to model

  • Peer Fluency Sheet (one for each student)

  • Reading Rate forms for teacher

  • Teacher rubric

 

Procedures:

 1. Introduction: “Today we are going to become more fluent readers! What does it mean to be a fluent reader? A fluent reader is someone who is able to read very quickly and smoothly because they recognize the words. When we read smoother, we are able to understand the book more and we will also have more fun reading!”

 

2. Say: “Now let's look at a sentence written on the board: Liz made some toast. Everyone put your listening ears on. I want you to tell me if I sound like a fluent reader when I read this sentence aloud to you. L-l-l, /i/-/i/-/i/, z-z-z, Liz made some t-/o//a/-t, Liz made some toat. Oh, that doesn't make sense. I think it may be toast instead. Liz made some toast. In order to figure out what that word was, I reread the sentence from the beginning and tried what I thought the word toast said toat. I realized that it did not make sense, right? So, I went back to reread so I could figure out what the correct word is. This is called crosschecking!

I wasn’t reading like a fluent reader because I had to decode the words in the sentence. Here's how a fluent reader would read that sentence: Liz made some toast. I read the sentence quickly and easily. It was much easier to understand!

Now grab a partner. With your partner practice reading the second sentence on the board. I went to the store to get some bread.  Read it aloud to one another until you read fluently.

 

3. Say: Now that I have read the sentence Liz made some toast! What did I get stuck on? In order to figure out how to read the hard word, I had to reread the sentence and focus on my pronunciation. I knew that did not sound correct. I took a moment and remembered that s t together says /st/. Then after I corrected my mistakes, I went back and re-read the sentence. I realized that it actually made sense when I said toast. Remember, this strategy I used is called crosschecking.

 

4. Say: Today, we are going to read Amelia Bedelia Bakes Off in order to practice our fluency. In this story, Amelia Bedelia goes to the Rodgers house and Mr. Rodgers was watching a cooking show. On the show, the chef mentions a bake-off. Mrs. Rodgers tells Amelia Bedelia she should enter the contest. Does Amelia Bedelia enter the contest? Will she win? To find out we will have to read the story. 

 

5. ***Write the directions on the whiteboard.

Say:

-  Now, I want you to face your reading partner. Then you need to go to your designated spots out around the room. While one buddy goes and picks out a place to sit in the room, the other buddy will come up here and get two Partner Reading Progress checklist (listed below). Once the other buddy has claimed a reading area, count all the words in the first chapter of Amelia Bedelia Bakes Off.

-  Each partner is going to take turns reading parts of the first 5 pages aloud to one another three times each. While one partner reads, the other will uses a stopwatch to time them. Make sure that each partner notes all of the mistakes your partner makes when they are reading aloud by marking a tally.

Say: When you are finished, turn in the checklist, and return to your desk. Answer these three questions and turn them in.

reader's response questions write them on the board or make a worksheet of the questions for them to fill out

·       What show was Mr. Rodger watching?

·       Whose store was Amelia Bedelia working at?

·       How much money could someone win at the contest?

 

 

6.Assessment: I will review each students’ checklist and answers to the questions. Each student will have to submit these questions, after they finish. I will then complete the rubric, which I have attached while reviewing students’ work throughout the lesson. 

 

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 Reading Rate_________

81+

75-80

69-74

63-68

57-62

51-56

Less than 50 

Wpm              1     2    3

 

Partner Reading Progress Checklist 

Reader Name: _________________

Checkers Name: _______________

Total words in the chapter______

1. Tally Marks:

  ____total words- ____ tally marks= ____ words

  _____ words in ____seconds.

 

2. Tally Marks:

 ____total words- ____ tally marks= ____ words

 _____ words in  ____seconds

 

3. Tally Marks:

 ____total words- ____ tally marks= ____ words

 _____ words in  ____seconds

 

Which reading turn had the fewest tally marks (errors)? ________

Which reading turn was read the fastest? _______

 

 

Assessment Rubric:

Student Name:

Date:

Answers accurate/ appropriate   ___/2

Responded to comprehension questions   ___/3

Improved fluency  ___/2

Improved accuracy  ___/2

Completed Partner Progress form  ___/1

Total   ___/10

 

 

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Resources:

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