Miss Kaley's
Sweet Reads
Building Fluency with Junie B. Jones
By: Kaley Stewart
Rationale: Readers need to become fluent so that they can focus their attention on comprehending the text rather than pronouncing the text. Fluency is crucial for readers to transition from decoding to automatic word recognition. Students develop sight word vocabulary through the practice of fluency. The method of repeated readings is the most efficient way for students to move from slow, frustrating reading to effortless, enjoyable reading. In this lesson, students will use the strategy of crosschecking during repeated readings of decodable text to gain fluency and independence in reading.
Materials: stopwatches for each pair of students, fluency graphs for each individual student, star stickers, fluency checklist, three reader response questions, expo markers, ELMO, example sentences written on board: My dog Jane is sassy; multiple copies of Junie B. Jones Smells Something Fishy.
Procedures:
1. Say: In order to be the very best readers we can be, we must be able to read fluently. To read fluently is to read with having automatic word recognition, meaning reading without having to sound out each word. By being fluent readers, we are able to enjoy the book much more because we can focus on the story rather than each word!
2. Say: Now let's look at the sentence written on the board: Blaire saw a lion! Listen as I read aloud the sentence and tell me if I sound like a fluent reader or not. Bbbb-llll-aaiii-rrrre, Blaire, oh wait I see an e on the end and an i paired with the a, Blaire sss-aaawww a lll-ii-oo-nn!. Claire saw a liun. Hmmm the last word doesn’t really make sense or sound right. Lll-ii-o-nnn. Now let me reread the sentence to check and make sure that's right. Blaire saw a lion! Did I sound like a fluent reader then or not? You all are correct. That was not fluent reading! Here is how we would read that sentence fluently. Blaire saw a lion! Notice how I didn't have to sound out any words. I spoke it smoothly and it was much easier to understand! Now, I am going to help you out one time with this next sentence, and then turn to a partner and practice reading it. I have it placed on the board: My dog Jane is sassy! Ok, here we go, M-y d-o-g J-a-n-e i-s s-a-s-s-y! Read it aloud to one another until you can each read it fluently.
3. Say: Did you notice that when I read the sentence Blaire saw a lion! I got stuck on the very last word. In order to figure out how to read it, I had to reread the sentence from the beginning and try my pronunciation. When I read liun I knew it didn't sound like a real word. Then when I went back and re-read the sentence, I realized that it actually said lion. This strategy I used to check my pronunciation is called crosschecking.
4. Say: Now we are going to practice fluent reading by reading together as a class Junie B. Jones Smells Something Fishy. Let's all read the first four sentences on the first page aloud. I see a tough new word here in the third sentence. Except I don’t like Beatrice. I heard some of you have trouble with the word Except, but I liked how you used the rest of the sentence to figure it out.
5. Say: Before we read any further let me tell you what Junie B. Jones is up to in this story. In Junie B. Jones Smells Something Fishy, Junie B. and her classmates have just received the news that pet day will be occurring soon! Junie B. is overly excited, skipping around the room shouting the news to everyone! She cannot wait to shoe off her dog, Twinkle to her friends, until her teacher told the class cats and dogs weren’t aloud. Junnie B. starts thinking of ways to make herself look like she has a cool pet. (Ask students to discuss predictions for the story).
6. While explaining, write the directions on the white board for students to look at.
Say:
-It's time to partner up with our reading friends and go to your reading nook. While one friend goes and sets up a reading nook, the other friend will come up here and get two, Partner Reading Progress checklist. Once the other friend has claimed a reading area, I want them to count all the words in the first chapter of Junie B. Jones Smells Something Fishy. Write this number on the top of your checklist forms.
-You and your partner are going to take turns reading the first chapter aloud to one another three times each. While one partner reads, the other uses a stopwatch to time them.
-Make sure to pay attention to the mistakes that your partner makes when reading aloud to you. Make a tally mark for each mistake (show tally method on board)
-Then perform a subtraction problem: the total number of words minus the number of tallies for each reading. The total number of tally marks is to be subtracted from the total number of words in the chapter. These numbers go on this line: ____total words- ____ tally marks = ____words. Then you are going to record this total of correct words and the time it took them to read in this second line: _____words in _____ seconds. Do this three times.
-After getting some progress measures figured out, answer the two questions on the progress form to tell me which reading had the fewest errors and which reading was the fastest.
-When you are each done reading, you can answer the three reader's response questions that will be displayed on the ELMO.
1. Junie B. Jones was upset she couldn’t bring her dog to school on pet day.
what actions did J.B.J do to show she was upset about pet day?
2. Regarding chapter 3, is J.B.J. still upset in this chapter about pet day? If not,
how has she changed?
3. How does J.B.J. feel about her new pet, what does she name it, what does
she do to show she likes her pet?
-Then each of you will write your own answers on a sheet of paper back at your
desk. Write your answers neatly because you will be turning your responses in
to me.
-When you turn in your papers and checklists, I will give you a graph and three
stars. I will figure out your three rates and after putting your name at the top,
your stars will go in the time spaces to show your reading rates.
-You will display your completed star chart on the fluency poster on the
bulletin in the classroom.
Assessment: I will review student's responses to the reading response questions they submitted and complete the attached rubric while reviewing students’ work throughout the lesson.
Resources:
Park, Barbara. Junie B. Jones Smells Something Fishy. 1998. Random House.
Junie B. Jones Smells Something Fishy Reading Response Unit:
Logan, Margarat Anne, Fluency Fun with Junie B. Jones
https://sites.google.com/site/margaretannesamazinglessons/fluency-fun-with-junie-b-jones
Clip art
http://69.16.194.131/tagged/Junie-B.-Jones-Photos/images/3
Return to Handoff Index
Reading Rate_________
81+
75-80
69-74
63-68
57-62
51-56
Less than 50
Wpm 1 2 3
Partner Reading Progress
Reader Name: _________________
Checkers Name: _______________
Total words in the chapter______
1. Tally Marks:
§ ____total words- ____ tally marks= ____ words
§ _____ words in ____seconds.
2. Tally Marks:
§ ____total words- ____ tally marks= ____ words
§ _____ words in ____seconds
3. Tally Marks:
§ ____total words- ____ tally marks= ____ words
§ _____ words in ____seconds
Which reading turn had the fewest tally marks (errors)? ________
Which reading turn was read the fastest? _______
Assessment Rubric
Student Name:
Date:
Evidence shown for reading three times
___/3
Responded to comprehension questions
___/3
Improved fluency
___/1
Improved accuracy
___/1
Completed Partner Progress form
___/2
Tota
___/10
