Froggy's Fluency

By: Emily Little

Rationale: The goal of this lesson is to guide students toward fluent reading and to give them tools to help them read independently and work towards fluency. Reading fluency, which is reading with automatic word recognition, is important to being able to use reading comprehension (Murray, 2020). If students are not fluent in their reading, they spend too much time worrying on decoding and blending rather than comprehending the story. The goal of this lesson is to help children grow in their fluency through repeated readings, timed readings, and assessing questions to help them become focused on reading fluently and comprehensively.

Materials:

A teacher copy of Froggy Learns To Swim by Jonathan London
Student pair copies of Froggy Learns To Swim by Jonathan London
Stop watches for each pair of students
Strip of paper that will be shown on the board large for students to see, saying: “It’s a great day for a swim!”
Fluency graph to show improvement in speed
Fluency checklists for students/parents
Fluency checklist for teacher/comprehension question list
Pencils

Procedures:

Say: “Today we are going to learn how to become expert readers! In order to become an expert reader, we must be able to read fluently. Who can tell me what it is like to be a fluent reader? [Wait for responses] Right! Fluency is the ability to read automatically, smoothly, and at a steady pace. When we are fluent readers, we can understand the story better and comprehend the text. This allows us to also read with expression! Let’s practice reading fluently!”
Say: “Have you ever been reading a book and come across a word that you do not recognize immediately? This means we have to read and sound out each part of the word. Sadly, when this happens, you may spend too much time trying to figure out what the word says that you forget what’s happening in the story. If this happens to you, try finishing the sentence and then return to the word that you do not recognize and try to use your context to figure it out. After you have read this new word, try rereading that sentence several times so you will be ready to recognize it again later. Let’s look at a way this might happen to you in the story and how you can overcome it.”
Say: “Does anyone remember what I do if I come across a word in a sentence that I do not recognize and it doesn’t make sense? [Wait for responses.] Right, crosschecking! I am going to finish my sentence and crosscheck so I can figure out what the word could be that makes the most sense. For example, let’s look at the example I have up on the board. I want you to listen to me as I read it out loud. It’s a greet day for a swim! It’s a greet day for a swim? That doesn’t make much sense… oh! It’s a GREAT day for a swim! We thought the word was saying greet, but that did not make sense. When reading today and every day, make sure you are practicing your crosschecking skills. Finishing the sentence helps you identify a word that you may not know to also figure out the meaning. Once you figure out this new word, make sure you reread the sentence so the next time you see it, you will recognize it quickly and will not have to waste time on it again. Getting this word in the sentence helps us also remember the story better and have better comprehension.”
Say: “Sometimes when we pick out a new book, there could be words we do not recognize. For example, I will pull a sentence from our story today. He grabbed hold of his mother and climmed on. He grabbed hold of his mother and climmed on. That doesn’t make much sense…. Oh climbed! He climbed on his mother. This sentence is telling us that he grabbed onto his mother and climbed on top of her! Let me reread this sentence like a master: He grabbed hold of his mother and climbed on. [Read with expression] He grabbed hold of his mother and climbed on! Which sounded better when I read, the first time or the last time? That’s right, the last time! I used more expression in my voice. Every time I reread the sentence, it got easier, faster, and more expressive every time. Now I want to see if you all can become fluent readers.”
Say: “Now we are going to get a chance to practice being a fluent reader by reading Froggy Learns To Swim by Jonathan London. This story is about a frog named Froggy and his family on a nice day at the pond. Froggy’s family is having a good time swimming, but he thinks he can’t swim! Isn’t that a little silly? A frog that doesn’t want to swim? Well, do you think Froggy will ever get in the water? Do you think he will learn how to swim? Read silently to yourself to figure out what happens. Use your eyes to read and brain to think, but do not use your mouth to whisper when you silent read.”
Say: “Everyone find a partner, and we are going to practice our reading with each other. We are going to take turns reading aloud to our partners. If you cannot decide quickly for who goes first, I will decide for you. Each partner will get a turn. You will use these stopwatches to time your partner as they read. [Pass out stopwatches.] You will record how long it took them and anything else you observed about your partners reading. These could be things like their expression while reading, their crosschecking patterns, or even words they may be commonly missing. One partner will read to page 10 while the other is timing and taking notes. Make sure after each partner has read to page 10, you write down their time. Then, use the reading graph to track your partner’s improvement. Please participate, be kind to your partner, sit still in your seats, and try your hardest, because this will be turned in for a grade.”

Peer fluency checklist

Total number of words in 10 pages read:

Reader:

Timekeeper:

_____ words in ______ seconds
_____ words in ______ seconds
_____ words in ______ seconds

What changes did you notice:

Remembered more words?
Less cross checking?
Read faster?
Read with more expression?
Read smoother?

Say: “Now I want each student to come up to my desk and read these 10 pages once more! I will be checking to see how fast you are reading and what information you can comprehend. I will be timing you, just like your partners did, and I will also give you a list of questions to ask about your comprehension of the story. This will allow me to determine how many words you can read per minute and if you understand the context of the words you are reading. [Chart the students’ scores.]

Teacher Fluency Checklist

Name of reader: ______________

Words X 60 / time in seconds: _____________ WPM

Comprehension Questions:

Who jumped in the pond first?
Why did Froggy not want to swim?
How did Froggy first get in the water?
What kinds of gear did Froggy need to go swimming?
Who taught Froggy how to swim?

Fluency Chart:

Students will receive this fluency progression chart with our main story character, Froggy. As they increase in their words per minute, they will be able to move Froggy along the progression chart.

Fluency Progression Chart:

I will keep track of student progression through the

first quarter of school to see how they have

improved in their fluency.

References:

London, J., & Remkiewicz, F. (1995). Froggy learns to swim. Viking.

Murray, B. A. (2012). Making sight words: Teaching word recognition from phoneme awareness to fluency: How to help children read words effortlessly without memorization. Linus Publications.

Little, Emily (2021) fluency chart and fluency graph

“Mooing to Fluency”, Hannah Helton, https://hch0030.wixsite.com/ctrd3000site/growing-independance-and-fluency-de

Picture of Froggy, https://www.pinterest.com/pin/220606081720112238/

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