Growing
Independence:
Hopping into Fluency with Frog and Toad
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Lesson by Claire Smith
Rationale: This lesson is designed for children to help with fluency
and to better understand what they are reading. Fluent reading is the
ability to quickly read with accuracy, speed, and proper expression.
Being a fluent reader can help with comprehension and the understanding
of the text they are reading. The goal of this lesson is to teach and guide students to become more fluent by different strategies like decoding, crosschecking, and reading/re-reading aloud.
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Materials:
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Days With Frog and Toad (classroom set)
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Stopwatches
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Fluency checklist
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Second Reading Checklist
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WPM chart
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Comprehension questions: Who was the terrible ghost? How many times did the terrible ghost jump rope so he could get hungry? What did Frog do to get away?
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Practice sentences: I like to ride my bike. She wants to buy a hat.
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Primary paper
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Pencils
Procedures:
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Say, “Okay class, today we will be taking steps toward our goal of reading fluently! There are a few qualities of being a fluent reader, what do you think they are?” *Call on a couple of students who think they know the qualities* “Right! Fluent readers are able to quickly read with accuracy and speed. They also use proper expressions, like being sad *say it in a sad voice* or mad *in a mad voice*.
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*Pull practice sentences up on the board* “Now let’s look at a few practice sentences. I want you to tell me if I sound like a fluent reader. I ll-iii-ckkk (/lick/) tt-ooo rrr-ii-dd (/rid/) mm-yyy b-iii-kkk (/bik/). I lick to rid my bik? Oh! I like to ride my bike. That makes more sense. Did you all notice how I got stuck on a few words? I had to go back and crosscheck by re-reading the sentence. Because I fixed the words that I messed up on, it helped me become a more fluent reader. A fluent reader would read it like, ‘I like to ride my bike.’ Do you see how smooth the sentence sounded?” “Now, with a partner , you will do the other practice sentence on the board. *Point to the sentence ‘She wants to buy a hat.’* Keep crosschecking this until you and your partner get it right.”
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Say, “Since we have practiced reading some sentences, I think it’s time we start reading a chapter out of our book, Days With Frog and Toad. Everyone, get out your book and turn to page 28, a chapter titled, Shivers. This chapter is about Frog telling Toad a spooky story about what happened to him when he was a small frog, and it may or may not be a true story. How about we read to find out what happens! I want you to read Shivers to yourself, silently. Lay your head down with a thumbs up when you are done.” * Wait until everyone is done with their reading*
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Say, “Now that everyone is done reading silently, I am going to pair you up, so you have a partner to read with. I’m going to pass out a stopwatch and a fluency reflection. I want you and your partner to read aloud 2 times each to practice working on fluency. When your partner is reading, I want you to use the stopwatch to record their time on the time chart. After each time someone reads, fill out the fluency reflection and the time chart. Remember to take turns and you are to help them not criticize them! After the second reading, I want you to fill out the second checklist. I will be walking around, so if you have questions please ask!” *Walk around the room, observe, and take note of each students reading. Make sure they are using the stopwatch correctly, recording the time correctly, and filling out the fluency reflection.*
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Say, “I am going to put a few comprehension questions on the board about the chapter you just read. I want you to answer each question. While you are doing this, I am going to call you up one at a time to review what we did in class today!” *After the students are finished with the partner reading and reflection. Call each student up to your desk (or to a quiet area in the classroom). Go over their time and fluency reflection to make sure they understand what it means. Then have them read the story to you. Take more notes and analyze where this student is at, related to fluency. Fill out a WPM chart of the student reading.
Fluency Checklist
Title of Book:________________
Name:____________________
Partner’s Name:__________________
Time after 1streading: _______________
Time after 2ndreading:______________
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After second reading… (Put a check mark if true)
The reader remembered more words. ____
The reader read faster. ____
The reader read smoother. ____
The reader read with facial and voice expression.____
Comprehension Questions:
1. Who was the terrible ghost?
2. How many times did the terrible ghost jump rope so he could get hungry?
3. What did Frog do to get away?
WMP:
(Words x 60) / seconds = WPM
0----10----20----30----40----50----60----70----80----90----100
References:
Similar lessons:
Miss Campbell – Fluency with Frog and Toad
https://cac0199.wixsite.com/my-site/growing-independence-and-fluency
Grace Loggins – Swimming for Fluency!
https://sgloggins17.wixsite.com/mysite-1/growing-independence-fluency
Book:
Lobel, Arnold. Days with Frog and Toad. Findaway World, LLC, 2019. Pages 28-41.
