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If you Teach a Mouse Fluency Lesson
By: Tay Tay Stroud
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Rationale- Reading fluency is a vital part of reading. 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. The lesson was designed to helps readers become more fluent through repeated readings and timed readings. Reading, rereading, and decoding help develop fluency.
With this lesson, students will be able to read texts smoothly, quickly, and with expression, thus improving fluency.
Materials- Pencils, stopwatch, on a white whiteboard with dry erase markers, write “I love to eat brownies.” and a copy of If you Give a Mouse a Brownie by Laura Numeroff for each student, (a) a repeated reading check sheet for the students, and (b) a word count sheet for the teacher:
Peer Fluency Check
Name of Reader: ____________________
Date: _________________
1st Time: ________
2nd Time: ________
3rd Time: ________
I noticed that my partner…
After which read? 2nd 3rd
Remembered more words
Read faster
Read smoother
Read with expression
Teacher Fluency Check
Name of Reader: _______________
Date: _________________
Time: ________
Words x 60/time in seconds: _______WPM
Comprehension
“What are some things the mouse ate,”
“What did the boy do every time the mouse wanted more?”
Procedure-
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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.”
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“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!”
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Write, “I love to eat brownies.” 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): I love to oat brownies. -to oat brownies? That doesn’t make sense, I’m going to read it again: (a little more quickly:) I love to eeeaaattt brownies! (using cover-ups with my finger); that makes sense! I’m going to try it one more time: I love to eat brownies. There we go, I just read quickly, with expression, AND I understood the sentence!”
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Engage students in a book talk about If You Give a Mouse a Brownies. Say: In this book, we meet a boy who gives a mouse a brownies. Once the mouse eats the brownies he keeps asking for more and more things to go with the brownies. Who knew a little mouse could need so much? Let’s read the book to find out what all the mouse needs!”
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Explain to the class that they will now be doing repeated reading with an assigned partner. Say: “We will be doing repeated readings because they will help us to become fluent readers. The more you read a story, the better you will be able to read that story. I will read you the beginning out loud to you all, and I want all of you to follow along with me. I am going to read as fluently and as expressively as I can, so make sure you all pay close attention to the way I am reading the story.” [Read pages 1-3 aloud].
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Divide students into reading partners. [Pair one struggling reader with a successful reader]. Assign each pair of partners in a different spot around the classroom to eliminate distractions from other groups. Each partner group should get a copy of If You Give a Mouse a Brownies, a timer/stopwatch, a fluency checklist, a pencil, and a reading time sheet.
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Once students are assigned partners and placed around the classroom, the teacher will give instructions. Say: “In this activity, one of you will read first, and the other will record first. You may decide who goes first. Remember that this is not a race, so do not try to go faster than your classmate so you “win.” This is meant to help you improve your fluency so that you can read faster and more smoothly, not so that you can read faster than your partner. After the first person has read and the partner has recorded, then you will switch and the recorder will become the reader. When the recorder says “Begin” then they will start the timer. And when the partner has finished reading, they will stop the timer. Record their time on the time sheet. Be sure to fill out the fluency checklist based on how your partner did. Once you have filled out both forms, switch jobs again. Do this process three times each, so you will each read the book three times and you will each record three times.
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.
References-
Mary Lee Livingston, Falling into Fluency. https://mbl0025.wixsite.com/mlblivingston/growing-reading-and-fluency
Sally Kale Bussman, If you Teach a Mouse Fluency. https://szb0094.wixsite.com/lessondesigns2017/growing-independence-and-fluency
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