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ELA G2:S2:C8:L39

Fluency

In this Lesson

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Daily Learning Targets

  • Opening A: I can find regularly spelled high-frequency words in a list of words. (RF.2.3a, RF.2.3f)
    • I can explain that single vowel letters in one-syllable words usually have short vowel sounds.
    • I can explain that vowel team spellings usually have long vowel sounds.
    • I can explain that in CVCe words, the vowel letter usually has a long vowel sound.
    • I can read second-grade words that "don't play fair" (irregularly spelled words).
  • Work Time A: I can read a text fluently (smoothly, with expression and meaning, rereading and self-correcting when necessary). (RF.2.4)
    • I can read at an appropriate rate based on the text type.
    • I can reread when something doesn't make sense or sound right.

Ongoing Assessment

  • Observe students during Opening A. Determine whether they can identify regularly spelled high-frequency words and explain what makes them "regularly spelled."
  • Exit ticket (see Differentiated Small Groups: Work with Teacher).

Agenda

Agenda

1. Opening (3-5 minutes)

A. Snap or Trap Review: "together," "whole," "hello," "weird," "is," "that," "it," "them," "sometimes"

2. Work Time (10 minutes)

A. Fluency

3. Closing and Assessment (2 minutes)

A. Reflecting on Learning

4. Differentiated Small Group Instruction and Rotations (40-45 minutes)

In Advance

  • Prepare:
    • Snap or Trap Word List (write the following words on index cards: "together," "whole," "hello," "weird," "is," "that," "it," "them," "sometimes")
    • Snap or Trap T-chart
    • Interactive Word Wall
  • Enlarge the selected excerpt from the Decodable Reader: "Where's Goldie?" (in supporting materials).
  • Pre-determine partnerships for Work Time A.
  • Write the following Rules of Fluency index cards: "smoothly," "with expression," "with meaning," "just the right speed."
  • Gather materials for differentiated small group instruction (see Differentiated Small Groups: Work with Teacher).

Vocabulary

Key: Lesson-Specific Vocabulary (L); Text-Specific Vocabulary (T)

  • excerpt, expression, feedback, fluency, frequently, grapple, phrase (L)

Materials

  • Snap or Trap Word List (see Teaching Notes, "In Advance" above; one of each)
  • Snap or Trap T-chart (one for teacher use; from Lesson 27)
  • Interactive Word Wall
  • Enlarged selected excerpt from the Decodable Reader: "Where's Goldie?" (one for display)
  • Rules of Fluency index cards (see Teaching Notes, "In Advance" above)
  • Individual copies of excerpt from the Decodable Reader: "Where's Goldie?" (one per student)
  • Pencils (one per student)
  • Clipboards or other hard surface, if not working at a table (one per student)

Opening

OpeningMeeting Students' Needs

A. Snap or Trap Review: "together," "whole," "hello," "weird," "is," "that," "it," "them," "sometimes"

  • Begin the Snap or Trap instructional practice:

1. Teacher displays the Snap or Trap Word List: "together," "whole," "hello," "weird," "is," "that," "it," "them," "sometimes," (mix of high-frequency regularly spelled words and high-frequency irregularly spelled words) and the Snap or Trap T-chart.

2. Teacher says: "Some words on this list are snap words and some are trap words. Today, we are going to identify the high-frequency words on this list that are snap words.

3. Teacher asks:

"What does it mean to be a snap word?" (Snap words are regularly spelled, easy to decode; they play fair; they follow the rules.)

4. Teacher says: "Yes! Your job is to find the words that are high-frequency and follow the rules. We call them snap words because we should know them 'in a snap'!"

5. Teacher reads all words listed.

6. Teacher reads "sometimes."

7. Teacher says: "I notice the word 'sometimes' is a compound word. The first syllable is a trap word, because the 'e' doesn't make the 'o' say its name. The second syllable is a snap word because it follows the magic 'e' rule."

8. Teacher puts "sometimes" card in the Trap column of the Snap or Trap T-chart.

9. Teacher asks:

"Can anyone see any other snap words? Even if you're not sure, grapple with it until you come up with a possible answer." (Example: "Them" is a snap word.)

"Great! Why do you think it's a snap word? (Because the syllable is closed, the vowel makes the short sound.)

10. Teacher says: "Yes! 'them' is a snap word because it follows an easily decodable pattern. It belongs in the Snap column."

11. Teacher adds second snap word to the T-chart.

12. Students and teachers read snap words. When finished, words are to be placed on the Interactive Word Wall if not already there.
  • Encourage students to grapple with their knowledge of letter sounds to decide if a high-frequency word is a snap or trap word.
  • Encourage students to read high-frequency words as a whole word. Analyze word after reading it.
  • Consider color-coding "trap" words and "snap" words to visually remind students of their differences.
  • Consider using the word "irregular" and explaining how the base word "regular" has the prefix "ir," which means "not," thereby altering the meaning of the base word.
  • To deepen analysis, consider asking students to identify the number of syllables in each word and the vowel sounds they hear. Because these are regularly spelled words, they provide opportunity for students to consider the relationship between the spelling pattern and the vowel sound. For example, in the word "together," students can note the closed ("geth") and r-controlled ("er") syllable types in the word. This not only supports the goal of automaticity with sound/spelling patterns, but also reinforces the understanding that these words are "regularly spelled."

Work Time

Work TimeMeeting Students' Needs

A. Fluency

  • (Suggested transition song, sung to the tune of "The Muffin Man"):

Teacher: "Can you read this fluently? Smoothly, with expression, please. Can you read it smoothly with expression and with meaning?"

Students: "Yes, we'll read it fluently. Not too fast and not too slow. Yes, we'll read it fluently at just the right speed."

All together: "So now we'll read this fluently. Think about how smooth it will be. Now we'll read this fluently at just the right speed."

  • Begin the Fluency instructional practice:

1. Teacher displays enlarged selected excerpt from the Decodable Reader: "Where's Goldie?"

2. Teacher explains that this is an "excerpt" from the Decodable Reader: "Where's Goldie?"

3. Teacher displays Rules of Fluency index cards ("smoothly," "with expression," "with meaning," and "just the right speed") on the board and reads them aloud.

4. Teacher points to the "smoothly" card and invites students to turn to an elbow partner.

5. Teacher asks:

"What does it mean to read 'smoothly'?" (not choppy or one word at a time; words are grouped together)

6. Teacher invites one or two students to share their ideas.

7. Teacher invites students to think about what it means to read "smoothly" as they listen to him or her read the excerpt and to be prepared to give feedback on how he or she applied that rule.

8. Teacher reads the excerpt word by word but with expression and meaning.

9. Teacher points to the "smoothly" card again and invites students to turn to an elbow partner to share what they noticed about how he or she read the excerpt.

10. Teacher invites two or three student volunteers to share what they notice (example: sounded word by word), prompting them to name specific examples in the text.

11. Teacher asks:

"Does anyone have any suggestions for how I could make this smoother?" (Responses will vary. Examples: group words together, say more than one word at a time.)

12. Teacher reads the excerpt again, incorporating suggestions made by the students.

13. Teacher explains that reading "smoothly" is about reading words in phrases, or groups of words that make sense when read together.

14. Teacher asks:

"What kind of text is this?" (a story, fiction, narrative text)

15. Teacher says: "Knowing the kind of text it is helps me think about how the words should go together."

16. Teacher models annotating a text for phrasing:

      • Teacher invites students to look at the first sentence: "Sam and Nell walk to school together."
      • Teacher reads the sentence word by word and says: "Clearly that is not smooth reading."
      • Teacher asks:

"Let's see... what words can I put together that would make it sound smooth and not choppy?"

      • Teacher says: "Maybe I should try reading two words together at a time."
      • Teacher underlines as shown here: "Sam and Nell walk to school together sometimes."
      • Teacher reads the sentence again, pausing after each set of underlined words.
      • Teacher asks:

"How does that sound?" (doesn't sound right grouped/phrased that way)

17. Teacher says: "I'm not doing too well with putting these words into phrases for smooth reading. I think you should help me."

18. Teacher invites students to suggest which words should be grouped together. Teacher underlines the suggested groupings and reads the sentence aloud again.

19. Teacher says: "It's time to give this a try with the rest of the excerpt. Each of you will get your own copy and make some decisions about what words should be grouped and read together. Then you can try it out with your partner so you can hear how it sounds. That will help you know if you need to revise how you grouped words. You should do this with excerpt #1 first. If you have time, you can try it with excerpt #2."

20. Teacher distributes individual copies of excerpt from the Decodable Reader: "Where's Goldie?" and a pencil and clipboard (if not working at tables).

21. Students annotate their own excerpts for words to be grouped together and then practice reading it aloud to their partner.

22. If time allows, consider inviting one or two students to come up and read the excerpt to the group. When they are done, the teacher can invite students to name one star and one step.
  • The word "excerpt" may be unfamiliar to many students. Consider modeling this vocabulary by extending one hand, palm up, and explaining that this represents the whole text in the Decodable Reader. With the other hand, model pulling out a "piece" of the text. This "piece" is the "excerpt."
  • Consider providing the entire Decodable Reader (from Lesson 37) for students to use when partnering up and practicing fluent reading.

Closing & Assessments

ClosingMeeting Students' Needs

A. Reflecting on Learning

  • Emphasize that successful learners take responsibility for their own learning. Invite students to reflect on ways they took responsibility for their learning during whole group instruction or how they plan to take responsibility during differentiated small group instruction. Example:
    • "My goal is to think about what words will make sense for me to group and say together. I am going to work toward that goal in small group time."
  • For students who may need additional support organizing their ideas: Provide sentence frames. Examples:
    • "When I read the excerpt, I tried out different groups of words together, and I _____."
    • "After I got feedback about _____ from _____, I read the excerpt again and made it sound _____."

Differentiated Small Groups: Work with Teacher

Suggested Plan: Teacher works with students in the Partial Alphabetic and Full Alphabetic groups. If possible, teacher should also meet with the Consolidated Alphabetic group at least once per week.

Note: Groups not working with the teacher at a given time should be engaged in purposeful independent rotation work. Refer to the Independent and Small Group Work guidance document for more details (see K-2 Skills Resource Manual).

Partial Alphabetic:

  • Students complete exit ticket:
    • Students work with an excerpt from a decodable text using patterns they are working on. (Consider using the Assessment Conversion chart to identify an appropriate Grade 1 cycle and use the Decodable Reader from that cycle.)
    • Students use a highlighter to find and highlight punctuation in the text (examples: periods, question marks, exclamation points, quotation marks).
    • Teacher guides students to understand what the identified punctuation communicates to us as readers. (Example: a period tells us to stop for a moment, quotation marks tell us to make it sound like someone is talking.)
    • Teacher follows the process outlined in the whole group lesson work time to annotate and practice reading in phrases with this text.
  • Use the Assessment Conversion chart to determine appropriate Grade 1 lessons and Activity Bank ideas to use in daily small group instruction.
  • Check in with Accountable Independent Reading.
  • Additional Supporting Materials:
    • Highlighters (one per student)
    • Copies of a previous or the current Decodable Reader: "Where's Goldie?" (using patterns students are working with)

Full Alphabetic:

  • Students complete exit ticket:
    • Consider beginning with the silly sentences produced by students in the Consolidated Alphabetic group during Lesson 38. Guide students to review the spelling pattern and then guide them to practice reading them fluently.
    • Students work with excerpt #2 or another page in the Decodable Reader: "Where's Goldie?" (from Lesson 37).
    • Students use a highlighter to find and highlight punctuation in the text (examples: periods, question marks, exclamation points, quotation marks, commas).
    • Teacher guides students to understand what the identified punctuation communicates to us as readers. (Example: a period tells us to stop for a moment, quotation marks tell us to make it sound like someone is talking.)
    • Teacher follows the process outlined in the whole group lesson work time to annotate and practice reading in phrases with this text.
  • Check in with Accountable Independent Reading.
  • See Activity Bank Fluency activities (F) for Readers Theater options.
  • Additional Supporting Materials:
    • Silly sentences produced during differentiated small group instruction from Lesson 38 (optional)
    • Highlighters (one per student)
    • Copies of Decodable Reader: "Where's Goldie?" from Lesson 37

Consolidated Alphabetic:

  • Students complete exit ticket:
    • Students reread the Engagement Text: "Principal Pack Saves the Day!" focusing on fluency.
    • Then they become television reporters and write a script to show what they would say.
    • Finally, they practice reading the script and conduct a Readers Theater.
    • This can be done individually or with a partner.
  • Look over the scripts with student(s). Analyze parts that are fluent and provide feedback for fluency as needed. Listen to Readers Theater performances and provide feedback.
  • Use leveled readers for fluency practice. (Refer to Independent and Small Group Work guidance document for guidance; see K-2 Skills Resource Manual.)
  • Check in with Accountable Independent Reading.
  • See Activity Bank Fluency activities (F) for Readers Theater options.
  • Additional Supporting Materials:
    • Individual copies of the Engagement Text: "Principal Pack Saves the Day!" (from Lesson 37)
    • Paper and writing utensils

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