Growing Independence and Fluency
Anna Beth Sanders
Rationale: One of the keys to independent
fluency is silent reading. It is important for children to choose
own book to read, as well as learn to read the book to
doing this, children will not only read more voluntarily, but they will
gain comprehension skills. If children are allowed to choose
material to read then they will see reading as fun, instead of
are forced to do. This will influence children to take the initiative
down and read a book silently more often. In this lesson, children will
the importance of silent reading, and practice silent reading. Peer
of books leads to a better attitude about reading.
The children will choose their own book,
using a test to find a book on their independent reading level. Then the children will be given time to read
the book and discuss the book with peers.
book for each student, reading
journal for each student, Junie B. Jones
and the Stupid Smelly Bus
(Junie B. Jones Series #1) by
Barbara Park (Junie B. Jones and
the Stupid Smelly Bus is
one example of a second grade independent reading level book.), and a
watch, chalk board, chalk, sentence: The bird is in her nest.
- Prior to this lesson, take the class
to the library. Have each student pick out
a book on their independent reading level. Have them use the 2 finger
test to choose a book. To do this, the
student holds up 2 fingers. Then they
begin to read a page from the book, each time they do not know a word
on the page, they put down one finger. If at the end of the page they
have put down both fingers, the book is too hard to be considered on
their independent reading level.
- Introduce the lesson by asking the
students to name times and places they must be quiet.
"Sometimes we need to be quiet. We must be quiet
so we will not disturb others. It is important to always be polite to
others. Can someone tell me a time or
place that you need to be quiet?"
It is also important to be quiet when we are trying to read
as a class. If everyone reads out loud, we
cannot concentrate on our own reading. Let's
try it out. Everyone get out the book you
got from the library and begin reading (teacher reads aloud Junie
B. Jones, in a very loud voice)."
- After 30 seconds, stop the children. Ask them if they could read with all the noise. "OK, everyone stop reading and put your book down. Now could anyone read their book very well
with all the noise in the classroom? I
know I couldn't."
- "When we first started
reading, we had to sound all of the words we read. But, now we know
many words, and we don' have to sound out every word. Because we are
now all great readers, we can read silently to our selves. To read
silently you read, but do not say the words out loud. Watch me, watch
how my eyes move as I read the text (Model silent reading with an
emphasis on eye movement). Now let's all try to read silently (Teacher
models by reading Junie B. Jones silently)."
- After 30 seconds stop the children.
Ask them if they could read better this time in the quiet classroom.
the students to use cover ups and cross checking if they come to a word
they don't know. This way the room will
stay quiet. "Now remember if
you come to a word you don't know, use a cover up and cross checking to
figure out the word. This way the room
will stay quiet while everyone is reading. Remember how to do a cover
up? When you come to a word you don't
know, first figure out the vowel sound, then blend the beginning sound,
and then the last sound. After you figure
out the word, crosscheck by rereading the whole sentence to make sure
the word makes sense. Let's do an example,
(write on the board: The bird is in her nest) here is a sentence we are
trying to read (Read "the" begin to struggle with bird) I don't know
this word, I will try a cover up, I see i=/i/ in themiddle, and b=/b/
in the beginning so that is /bi/ and then I see rd, (sound out beard) I
think this word is "beard" let me check. (Read: The beard is in her
nest) That does not make sense, but the
word " bird" does, this word must be bird. Now I reread the whole
sentence, The bird is in her nest, and that makes sense. See I figured
the word out all by myself."
- Allow the children 15 minutes to
practice silent reading. Make sure to read
silently yourself during this time to serve as a model for the
children. "Now we are all going to practice reading
silently. I am going to read Junie
B. Jones, and you all will read the books you chose at the library. I will let you know when silent reading time
is up. After you read, you will have to
make an entry in your reading journal, so be sure to read for the
entire time. Remember to be a polite reader, so read silently. Is
everyone ready? Begin reading." (If children are not reading
silently remind them to be a polite reader.)
- After the 15 minutes, have the
children write in their reading journal. (This allows individual
assessment) Allow the children to choose their entry:
alternate ending to the book, story sequence chart, story
summary, or personal reaction to the story.
- After journal time, pair the children
up. Let the students discuss the book they
read with their partner.
- While the peer discussion takes place,
check the students' journals. Check for signs of comprehension. The
number of details will indicate the level of comprehension. If there is
little detail, the student probably did not comprehend much of the text. If there is a large amount of detail, the
student probably reached a high level of comprehension.
Eldredge, J.Lloyd. (1995). Teaching Decoding in Holistic
Classrooms. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc.
Lipscomb, Randi. Quiet as a mouse http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/discov/lipscombgf.html
Murray, B.A. "Developing Reading Fluency." http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/fluency.html
Park, Barbara. Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus (Junie
B. Jones Series #1) New York; Random House Incorporated, 1992.