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Rationale: This lesson is designed to improve students’ reading fluency. Reading fluently means that nearly all the words that a student is reading are a part of their sight vocabulary. As a result of this, the student is capable of reading at a fast and even pace without disturbing their reading comprehension. Fluency also makes it possible for students to read with expression. Before students can reach a level of reading fluency, they must first demonstrate proficiency in decoding words. In this lesson, students will learn the strategies and skills that it takes to become a fluent reader through the repeated reading of Amelia Badelia Makes a Friend.

 

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Materials:

1. Class set of the story Amelia Badelia Makes a Friend

2. Class set of stopwatches

3. Pencils

4. Fluency checklists charts

5. Reading tracker charts (with image for chart)

6. Exit quizzes

7. Cover up critter

8. Whiteboard

9. Dry erase markers

 

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Procedures:

1. First, the teacher will explain the concept of fluency to the class. Say: Today we are going to learn about what it means to become fluent readers. Does anyone know what it means to be a fluent reader? [After calling on several students, the teacher should explain:] Being a fluent reader means you know all of the words in the story automatically, so you can read quickly and smoothly. While you are reading, you understand the story and you are able to read with expression, which means we change our voices to fit the events of the story. Today, we are going to practice the skills needed to become a fluent reader.

 

2. Next, the teacher will review skills for decoding and crosschecking. Say: Before we look at fluent reading we need to review our reading skills of decoding and crosschecking. When we come across a word that we don’t know, we have to decode the word. Let’s look at the sentence on the board and review how to decode [have sentence “We have so much fun together.” written on the board; this is a sentence from the book that will be read in the lesson]. When we are reading this sentence and we come across a word we don’t know, we can use our coverup critter to help us to decode the word. So, let’s try: If we are reading the word together we can use our coverup critter and cover up all of the letters except for t. /t/…/t/…/t/. Now we can uncover o. /o/…/o/…/o/. So, we have /t//o/. We can get decoding: /t//o//g//e//th//er/. “We have so much fun /t//o//g//e//th//er/?” Oh! “We have so much fun together!” So, when we crosscheck, we can use the sentence and the sounds to identify a word. Fluent readers use these skills to better learn words so that they can read more words automatically and be a better, fluent reader.

 

3. Next, the teacher will model fluent and non-fluent reading. Say: Next, we are going to look at the difference between fluent and non-fluent reading. [Have sentence example on the board] If I was reading this this sentence: “’This is the best day ever.’ said Amelia Bedelia.” A non-fluent reader would read it something like this: [read sentence very slowly, without expression, sluggishly decoding words and adding in an error or two in your decoding. Use crosschecking to solve problems]. Readers that are not yet fluent might have to decode and crosscheck a few words that they don’t know yet like I had to do. They would also read in a very normal, monotone voice without any expression. When you are reading this way, it is harder to understand the message of the story. Sometimes you have to practice several times before you are fluent. I might read the sentence again and improve, but it still might not be fluent reading: [read the sentence again, still slow and without expression, but this time get all of the words right]. I got all of the words right without decoding, but I am still not reading with expression and I am a bit slow. Let’s try again one more time and see if I can read this sentence fluently: [read sentence fluently at a normal speed, getting all words correct, and adding expression]. Wow! Now that is fluent reading. It is much easier to understand someone’s reading when they are reading fluently, isn’t it? I’m going to read the sentence fluently one more time, and I want you to tell me why my reading is better than the first two times that I read the sentence. [call on students and discuss fluent reading one more time].

 

4. Next, the teacher will give a booktalk and instruct the class on reading silently. Say: Now we are going to read a book. This book is called Amelia Badelia Makes a Friend and it is by Herman Parish. In this book, we learn about a girl named Amelia Badelia. She is best friends with her neighbor, Jen. They have been friends since they were little babies and they love to do so many fun things together. Unfortunately, Jen and her family had to move away, so Amelia and Jen had to be separated. Amelia was very sad. Soon, though, Amelia gets new neighbors when a new family moves in next door. Do you think Amelia will like her new neighbors? We will have to read to find out. [distribute individual copies of book to class] We are going to read this book silently at our seat. [It is good practice for the teacher to read the book silently to herself as well].

 

5.  After the students read silently, teacher will then pair them up with partners. Say: You and your partner will now get a stopwatch, a copy of Amelia Badelia Makes a Friend, a reading rate chart, a fluency checklist, and a pencil. You and your partner are each going to read three times, with a total of six reads in all. You will take turns being the reader and being the timer. The timer will time the reading, mark any words that they reader doesn’t know, and record the times on their reading chart. The reader will read the story, trying to become a more fluent reader each time. When it is your job to be the timer, be sure that you hit start as soon as your partner starts to read and hit stop as soon as they are done reading. After your partner has finished reading each time, you should fill out the fluency reading checklist. Filling these charts out will help your partner determine what aspects of their fluency are improving and help them to think about what they need to work on. After each reading, I want you to give your reading partner a special compliment about how their reading improved. You can complement your partner on their speed, expression, smoothness, or their ability to remember the hard words from before, so pay attention to their reading. Before we begin, I will go through how to fill out the chart and show you how the stop watch works. [Model the use of the chart and stopwatch]. If you have any questions while you are working, just raise your hand. I will be walking around and observing each group as you work.

 

                                   Fluency Checklist: one will be filled out for each reading partner.

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6. Everyone should then return to their seats and make sure their fluency charts are complete. The teacher should lead the class in computing their words per minute rate with the formula [words correct x 60/seconds total]. They should jot these rates on their reading tracker chart. When everyone is finished the teacher will collect all of the fluency checklists and use them to assess where students stand on fluency. Each student can keep their reading tracker chart so that they can continue to work towards their goal.  

 

Reading Tracker:

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​ 0 - - - - 10 - - - - 20 - - - - 30 - - - - 40 - - - - 50 - - - - 60 - - - - 70 - - - - 80 - - - - 90 - - - - 100

Correct Words Per Minute:

 

7. Finally, the students will take a reading comprehension exit quiz about the book to measure their comprehension of their reading.

 

Comprehension Quiz

1. What were some of the things Amelia did with her friend?

2. Did Amelia like her new neighbor?

3. Who did Amelia get to spend time with at the end of the story?

 

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References:

Attia, Andie. Flying to Fluency. https://aka0029.wixsite.com/lessondesigns/growing-independence-and-fluency

 

Griffin, O. Picking up perfect fluency with olivia the pig. https://emily-marie-griffin.weebly.com/growing-independence-and-fluency-design.html

 

Parish, H. (2011). Amelia Badelia makes a friend. Greenwillow Books.

 

Images for Reading Tracker: https://d3phnmfj7xoxxs.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/21174756/amelia-jump.png

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