Parker VanDurand's Lessons
Moving Like A Mouse With Reading
Rationale: This lesson is designed to help with a student’s reading fluency. For a child to have fun with reading, we need to teach him or her how to read quickly and easily. The students will work in pairs and time their partner reading the fun book, If You Give A Mouse A Cookie. We will practice crosschecking and clarity as we read practice sentences. By the time we finish with practice, the students should read the book quicker and easier each time they read it using crosschecking decoding skills.
Materials:
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Class set of If You Give A Mouse A Cookie
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Stop watches
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Running record sheets
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Dry erase board and marker
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Fluency checklist
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Reading comprehension sheets
Procedures:
1. Say: “Okay class! Today we are going to learn about our reading fluency. Can you guess what that means? Well, it means how quickly and correctly read all of the words in a book. To be fluent readers, we can enjoy reading more because we are reading quickly. Today, we are going to try this with one of my favorites, If You Give A Mouse A Cookie by reading it more than once.”
2. Teacher will model how to crosscheck and decode by using a sentence written on the dry erase board. Say to your students, “Ok everyone let’s look at this sentence together.” (sample sentence: He wants a glass of milk.) “Now let’s read the sentence together. “/H/-/e/ /w/-/a/-/n/-/t/-/s/ /a/ /g/-/l/-/a/-/ss/ /o/-/f/ /m/-/i/-/l/-/k/. If I still do not know the word then I can use my cover up critter. To use my cover up critter I first uncover the first letter of the word. “W-A-N-T-S oh, wants! What does he want? Milk! That is using crosschecking!
3. “Ok now lets see look at the difference between a fluent reader and a non-fluent reader. I am going to read a sentence on the board: The mouse wants a cookie”. This is how I would read the sentence the first time I would see it “/Th/-/e/ /m/-/ou/-/s/-/e/ /w/-/a/-/n/-/t/-/s/ /a/ /c/-/oo/-/k/-/ie/.”It’s hard to understand what we are reading when we stretch out every word. But, when I read it again I can try to read it faster: “Th-e m-ou-s-e w-a-n-t-s a c-oo-k-ie” That was better than the first time but I think we can go faster. (Read it faster) “The mouse wants a cookie!” That time it was easier to understand what I said and the words flowed easily as compared to the first time. Now everyone try reading the sentence fluently aloud.” (Have the students read the sentence aloud)
4. “That was great! The more we read, the better readers we are. Do you remember when I first read the sentence and it was hard for me? That is because I had never read it before. The second time was a little bit better because I had seen it before but there were still some words that I stumbled on. By the third time, I was able to read quickly and understand what I was reading! I became fluent in reading by rereading the sentence several times until I understood it. That is how you will become fluent readers too!”
5. “To practice reading fluently we are going to read the book ‘If You Give A Mouse A Cookie’. This is such a fun story about what happens when you give a hungry mouse a cookie! You have to read and see what a little mouse can do!
6. Students will be given a copy of the book, a cover up critter, fluency chart and checklist (links are below), reading comprehension worksheets, and a stopwatch. “Now we are going to practice reading fluently by working with a partner. Pair up with your neighbor and each of you are going to take turns reading the story. Before we end you will each read the book three times. Remember to crosscheck and use your cover up critters when you get to a hard word. While you are reading, your partner is going to be timing you using a stopwatch. After you have finished reading, write down the time on the sheet! Your partner is going to listen to the second and third time and listen for excitement and easy reading! After you finish reading and filling out the fluency chart, talk about the book with your partner. Once you both have finished that, go back to your seats and finish the comprehension worksheet and turn it in!
Reading Comprehension Questions:
1. What happens when you give a mouse a cookie?
2. Why does the mouse want to look in the mirror?
3. What happens when you read a mouse a story?
Assessment: Walk around and watch as the students progress. Call each student to your desk to read the passage to you. Assure the struggling readers that this is only to help them, and not to be nervous. Time the student while he or she reads the goal is to get the student reading 85 words per minute. At the end of the lesson review the answers to the reading comprehension worksheet with the class.
References:
Clark, Katie. Wagging Through Fluency With Charlie.
https://mkc0026.wixsite.com/katieclarkslessons/growing-independence-and-fluency-de
Fluency Chart: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/246923992040269852/
Running Record Sheet: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/12807180164130072/
Book: Numeroff, Laura Joffe, and Felicia Bond. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. HarperCollins Publishers.
