Perfecting Fluency with Pete!!
Growing Independency and Fluency
Emma Pincheon
Rationale: This lesson is designed to improve students’ reading fluency. Students can read fluently when words are recognized automatically and are a part of their sight vocabulary. As fluency improves, students can read smoother, faster, and become more expressive when reading children’s literature. However, students must be able to decode words before becoming fluent in reading. This lesson is designed to help teach students the specific strategies and skills to become a successful fluent reader through a repeated reading of “Pete the Cat: A Pet for Pete” by James Dean.
Materials: class set of “Pete the Cat: A Pet for Pete” by James Dean, class set of stopwatches, pencils, fluency checklist charts, reading tracker charts, exit quizzes, cover up critters, dry erase markers, whiteboard
Procedures:
1. Say: “Today we are going to practice and learn what it means to be a fluent reader. Does know what it means to be fluent in reading? [Call on students and then explain.] Being a fluent reader means you know and understand all the words in a story and can read fast and smooth when reading it out loud. You also can read a story with a lot of expression so the certain characters may have different voices depending on what is happening in the story. So, today we are going to practice becoming fluent readers.”
2. Say: “Before we practice becoming fluent readers, I want us all to review decoding and crosschecking words when we see a word we are unsure of. Let’s look at an example together. [Write a sentence on the board.] “Pete paints a picture of Goldie.” If we see a word we don’t know, we can use our cover-up critter to help us figure it out except for the first letter of the word. Let’s start with p /p/… /p/… /p/. Now, uncover i. /i/… /i/… /i/. This says /p//i/. [Continue with almost all the words being uncovered.] We can see that this word says /p//i//c//t//u/r//e/, picture. “Pete paints a p//i//c//t//u/r//e/.” Now, we can go back and reread that sentence and use the other words around it to figure out the unknown word. Fluent readers do these skills to help become a smoother and faster reader. So, after a few times, we will remember these words and we can recognize them instantly without trying to decode them.”
3. Say: “Next, we are going to see what it means to be a fluent and non- fluent reader. [Write a new sentence from the book on the board.] “I’ll make you one, says Pete.” A non- fluent reader would read it like this: [read slowly, no expression, stumble over words, add errors, make potential self- corrections with crosschecking]. Non- fluent readers might have to try and read the sentence a few times to decode and crosscheck new words. Practice is what helps you become a fluent reader. This time I’m going to try reading the sentence again, but a little better: [read the sentence again, not as slow, no expression, but all words are correct] That was much better! This time, I’m going to read the sentence one more time, and we are going to see how my practice helped me read the sentence fluently: [read the sentence fast, smooth, with expression, no errors to exemplify complete fluency with practice].”
4. Say: “Now, we are going to read the book “Pete the Cat: A Pet for Pete” by James Dean. This story is about a cat named Pete who gets a pet goldfish named Goldie. He decides to paint a picture of his new pet. Everyone in his class and his family even want a Goldie painting, but what will happen when everyone in town wants a painted picture of Goldie? Let’s read and find out! I want everyone to read this book silently to themselves at their seat.”
5. Say: “Since we all have finished reading the book silently to ourselves, I want you and a partner to get a stopwatch, a copy of the story, a reading chart, a fluency checklist, and your pencil. You and your partner are going to read three times, so six times between both of you. Each of you will switch off reading and timing each time. Whoever has the timer will start when the reader starts reading and write down words that your partner missed or didn’t know. Then write down the time on the reading chart. As you read, see if you can notice you becoming a more fluent reader as you go. Remember to hit stop as soon as the reader is done. Fill out the checklist after the reader is done reading and then switch jobs. This chart will help you see what you need to practice and what you are improving on to becoming a fluent reader. After your partner reads, I want you to compliment them on at least one thing they did well like their expression, how smooth, or how well- paced they read. I’m going to show you how to fill out this fluency chart before you break out with your partners: [model chart and stopwatch timing].
I’ll be walking around checking in on everyone, so raise your hand if you have a question.”
6. After reading and recording information on the fluency charts, students should return to their usual spots. Demonstrate the formula to complete the rest of the fluency chart to calculate words per minute [words correct x 60/seconds total]. Students can chart their reading tracker by seeing how many words they read per minute after the calculations done by their partner. After that, the teacher will collect all the checklists and assess each students’ individual fluency progression. Students can keep their own reading tracker.
Reading Tracker:
0- - - 10- - -20- - -30- - -40- - -50- - -60- - -70- - -80- - -90- - -100
7. Students will take a Reading Comprehension Quiz as an exit assessment to see their knowledge on the story itself?
1. What was one of the pets Pete originally wanted at the pet store?
2. Who does Pete give his first painting to?
3. How did Pete solve the problem of everyone wanting Goldie paintings?
References:
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Chambliss, Miranda. Making Friends with Fluency. https://mkc0040.wixsite.com/mirandachambliss/growing-fluency-design
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Murray, Bruce. The Reading Genie. https://mkc0040.wixsite.com/mirandachambliss/growing-fluency-design
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Dean, J. (2014) Pete the Cat: A Pete for Pete. HarperCollins Publishers.
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