Rationale. It is important that students read fluently, in order that they can direct their attention toward comprehending the story, not decoding the words. Decoding, cross-checking, and mental marking are essential to building fluency, as well as is repetition. This lesson uses both methods to build fluency through repeated and timed reading among peers.

Ÿ Materials. Pencils, stopwatch, on a white whiteboard with dry erase markers, write “Frog ran up to toad’s house.” and a copy of Frog and Toad are Friends by Arnold Lobel for each student, (a) a repeated reading check sheetfor the students, and (b) a word count sheet for the teacher:

 

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Procedures for carrying out the lesson in detail, with numbered steps.

1. Say, “Do you want to understand a book that you’re reading while you’re reading it? Of course! People write book so that readers can understand their stories, and it’s so fun to read when you can understand the story! You’re going to get to do this because we’re going to practice reading a book over and over! You’ll get to have a partner to read with, and you’ll take turns getting to play teacher and reader.”

2. “Now remember, if you have trouble with a word, cover it up with your finger and read the letters one by one, then blend them. Finish the sentence; if the word doesn’t make sense in the sentence, then try to use what the sentence says to figure out the word! Read the sentence again with the right word to store the word in your brain for the next time you see it!”

3. Write, “Frog ran up the path to toad’s house.” on the white board. Say, “Watch me! I’m going to practice reading fluently, and then it will be your turn! I can’t wait to hear y’all practice! Ok, watch me now: (Slowly): Frog ran up the paatt to toad’s house. –Frog ran up the pat to toad’s house? That doesn’t make sense, I’m going to read it again: (a little more quickly:) Frog ran up the p-a-atthh to toad’s house! (using cover-ups with my finger); that makes sense! I’m going to try it one more time: Frog ran up the path to toad’s house. There we go, I just read quickly, with expression, AND I understood the sentence!”

4. Have y’all ever woken up and really wanted to play, but everyone else is asleep? This happens to toad one day after all of the winter snow his melted. He wants to play outside and make plans with toad, but toad has slept the whole winter and says he’s still tired. Isn’t that silly?! Let’s see if Frog can get Toad up to play! I hope he does; I bet he’s lonely!”

5. “I want each of you to read the first chapter of Frog and Toad are Friends on your own. Then one of you is going to be the teacher and the other the reader, and then you’ll switch. I’m going to give the teacher a checklist and a stopwatch. Start the stopwatch as soon as your partner starts reading. Count the words your partner got right, even if he/she had to try a few times to get them! Now reader, I want you to read your very best and focus on the story, reading the chapter aloud two times. Teacher, compare your partner’s reading to the animals on the checklist! Each time your partner reads the chapter, count his/ her right words and check the sheet. Switch roles after he/ she has read to you twice! I can’t wait to hear y’all try hard and enjoy the story!”

Assessment: Students will read to me individually; I will time them, ask comprehension questions after each reading, and count their correct words to calculate their correct words per minute. I will use this as a base line by which to make their personalized, motivational chart, which will track their improvement. Comprehension questions for Frog and Toad are Friends would include those such as, “What was Toad doing when Frog got to his house,” and “what did everybody do when they saw Toad get out of the water in a bathing suit?”

 

Ÿ References:

Lobel, Arnold. Frog and Toad Are Friends. Harper, 2017.

Bailey Burns: Crawl into Reading with Corduroy!

         https://sites.google.com/site/lessondesignsbaileyburns/gf-design

Sarah Hassett: Spring into Fluency!

https://smhassett3.wixsite.com/lesson-designs/growing-independence-and-fluency