Growing Independence and Fluency

Baking for Fluency

Growing Independence Fluency

Rationale: In order to become a fluent reader, there are some special ingredients needed. Fluency is being able to read with automatic word recognition. Effortless word recognition allows students to focus on what they are reading. Reading, decoding, crosschecking, mental marking, and rereading will help students improve their reading and grow into fluent readers.

Materials:

Timer/stopwatch for each pair
Sample sentences on whiteboard for teacher to model
Peer fluency sheet for each student
Reading rate forms for teacher
Teacher Fluency Checklist (for each student) with attached comprehension questions
Pencil for each student
Class set of Bake Sale by Nora Voutas

Procedures:

Say: “We are going to work towards becoming fluent readers. Once we become fluent readers, we will be able to easily understand words without having to stop and take time to figure out what words actually are. Being a fluent reader makes reading more fun and enjoyable. Let’s get started!”
Say: “Now, let’s take a look at the sentence on the board: I want to bake a cake. Okay, I want you to listen very closely and see if I sound like a fluent reader. I /w/ /w/ /w/ /a/ /a/ /a/ /a/ /n/ /n/ /n/ /n/ /t/ /t/ /t/ /t/, want...to...back...a.../c/ /c/ /c/ /a/ /a/ /a/ /k/ /k/ /k/ /e/ /e/ /e/, cake. I want to back a cake? Hmm, that doesn't make sense. It must be bake. I want to bake a cake. Did you see that I went back to reread the sentence when I finished the first time because it didn't make sense. That is called crosschecking, and it is very important to use when we are becoming fluent readers!”
Say: “Class, can you raise your hand if you think I read the sentence like a fluent reader. (Wait) If you didn’t raise your hand, you are right! Some of my words were choppy and read too slow. The sentence didn't make any sense the first time I read it because I didn't decode correctly. However, when I went back to crosscheck and read the sentence a second time it was smooth and made sense.”
Say: “Now that you know what a fluent and nonfluent reader sounds like, you get to practice your fluency. We are going to practice by reading a book called, Book Sale. A little boy named Billy has a sad problem; his bike is broken. His friends Mac and Tosh come up with a great idea to have a bake sale to raise money so Billy can fix his bike. What kind of treats will they sell? Will Billy get enough money to fix his bike? Let’s read to find out!”
Pass out the books to each assigned pair of partners. Students will read the whole book to themselves, silently. Then, students will read the book to their partner.
Pass out the recording sheets and timers/stopwatches to each pair. Say: “We are going to play a game to test our fluency. Put your listening ears on so you fully understand what we are doing. Reader 1 is going to start the game. Reader 2 will be in charge of the stopwatch. Reader 2 is going to time while Reader 1 reads the first two pages. Reader 2 will record the time on the sheet I just handed out. You and your partner will switch places after Reader 1 is done. You will each do this three times. As you are listening to your partner read, I want you to be listening for how their reading changes each time. Do they remember more words the second or third time? Do they read with more excitement? Do they change their voice? Mark these changes on your paper.”
When each partner is finished, one student at a time will come to the teacher’s table to read the first two passages. They will bring their record sheet, and the teacher will attach it to their assessment sheet. The teacher will time students as they read each paragraph aloud and record how many words per minute they read. When students are not at the teacher's desk, they will complete the reading comprehension questions.

Reading Comprehension Worksheet:

Who has the idea of the bake sale?
Who did the baking? What did they bake?
Why are they raising money?
Was Billy able to fix his bake?

Fluency Checklist:

Student’s Name:______________ Date:_________

Partner’s Name:___________________

Title of Book:______________________

After 2nd Reading: After 3rd Reading:

_______ _______ Remembered more words

_______ _______ Read faster

_______ _______ Read smoother

_______ _______ Read with expression

(Words x 60)/seconds = WPM

0- - - - 10 - - - - 20 - - - - 30 - - - - 40 - - - - 50 - - - - 60 - - - - 70 - - - - 80 - - - - 90 - - - - 100

References:

Madison Wilhite, Baking for Fluency https://sites.google.com/view/maddiewilhitectrd3000/growing-independence-and-fluency

Sarah Crawford, Baking Into Fluency https://sarahkcrawford99.wixsite.com/lessonplans/growing-fluency

Book: Nora Voutas, Bake Sale https://4.files.edl.io/e229/09/16/18/232156-0fffd825-82e3-4492-b64d-0518a19b3ad0.pdf

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