The Pigeon Has to Grow Fluency!

Rationale: Fluency allows us to recognize words automatically, effortlessly and accurately. The goal is for students to read with automatic word recognition, which allows faster, smoother, more expressive, and silent reading, and which encourages voluntary, avid reading. In this lesson, students will practice fluency by learning tips and reading then rereading the book The Pigeon Has to Go to School. They will read silently then be with a partner so they can learn together. If they come across a word that is unfamiliar, crosschecking will be used to figure out the word.

Materials:

“The Pigeon Has to go to School” by Mo Willems
Pencils
Paper
Timesheets
Stopwatches
Coverup Critters
Fluency Checklist

Procedures:

1. Begin class with, “Today we are going to learn how to become a fluent reader. What do you think of when I say a fluent reader?” Wait for student responses. “A fluent reader can read all types of books. When we are fluent, we can read effortlessly and with expression to make the text more exciting because we recognize words automatically! Fluent readers can comprehend all types of texts which makes reading so much more fun!

2. Next, say: I have written a sentence on the board that reads, “What if the teacher doesn’t like pigeons!” If I read it to you, tell me if I sound like a fluent reader who reads it quickly and smoothly. Here I go. “W-w-w-h-a-a-t-t-t-t, if the t-t-t-ea-a-ch-er-r what if the teacher does-n’t l-i-i-i-k-e like p-i-g-e-o-o-n-s-s penguins. What if the teacher doesn’t like penguins. Let me try again with my cover-up critter. P-i-g-e-o-n-s, oh pigeons! What if the teacher doesn’t like pigeons. I messed up on the last word pigeons but I understood it didn’t sound right. I reread the sentence to help myself. Then I got the word right. What I did there was crosschecking which is essential for us to be fluent readers! I would have no problems if I was a fluent reader. I would read “What if the teacher doesn’t like pigeons.” That was super easy because I have had practice and lots of it! Now I want you to try and then turn to your partner and discuss it. Look on the board where the sentence says, “What if I learn too much!” I want this sentence to be effortless when you look at it so practice a little right now.

3. Say: “When you get a word you don’t know you can use your cover up critter to figure out what the word is. Let me show you an example.” Write the word “has” on the board. “I’ll use the cover up critter to help me figure out this difficult word. First, I start with the vowel and cover up every other letter. The vowel here is “a,” and I know that a=/a/. Once I figure that out, I’ll uncover the letters before the vowel. In this case, it is the letter h, which says /h/. Then I’ll put up the h and the a together to get /h/ /a/. Now I’ll uncover the letter that is left, s. I know it says /s/. Now I’ll put it all together… /h/-/a/-/s/… ‘has.’

4. Give an engaging book talk about “This Pigeon Has to Go to School”. Say: “In this book we meet a pigeon who thinks he already knows everything! When he finds out he has to go to school he is a mess! He does not want to go to school! He doesn’t know anything about school! What will he do? Will he never go to school? Will he change his mind? Let’s read and find out!

5. Explain to the class that they will now be doing repeated reading with an assigned partner. “We do repeated readings because they will help us become more fluent readers. Each time we read a story it gets easier to understand! I will read the beginning out loud to you all, and I want you to follow along with me. I will read as fluently and expressively as I can, and I want you to follow along closely as I go.” Read the first 3 pages aloud.

6. Divide the class into reading pairs. Give each pair a copy of the book, a timer, a fluency checklist, a pencil, and a reading time sheet.

7. Once students are ready to go, give instructions. Say: “With your partner, one of you will read first, and the other will record on the fluency checklist. Each group gets to decide who goes first. Your partner will tell you when to start because they are timing you as you read the entire book. This is not a race, so do not try to be the fastest reader because you cannot “win”. This is an exercise to increase your fluency, not finish a book faster than your partner. After you have read, and your partner has recorded your time, you will switch roles. When you are the recorder, tell your partner when to begin reading, and remember to start the timer when you say “begin”. When your partner has finished the book, remember stop the stopwatch and record their time. You will fill out the fluency checklist and then repeat this process three times. This will test to see if your fluency has improved through each of the readings.”

8. While students are doing their work you can walk through the room to keep up with your students’ progress. The teacher can offer a little bit of help but keep in mind this is a task that is meant to monitor their fluency as readers.

Assessment: Students will assess each other by filling out the fluency checklist and the time sheet. The teacher assesses each student by using the fluency formula to determine words per minute: (wordsx60)/ seconds. Also, the teacher will comprehension questions while walking around the classroom. “why do you think the pigeon does not want to go to school? What is the pigeon scared of? Do you think there is anything that will make him change his mind about school? Lastly you will assign each student to write a summary paragraph of the story. This helps to assess the level at which each student is comprehending the lesson.

Fluency Checklist:

I noticed that my partner….

After 2nd Reading…

After 3rd Reading…

My partner remembered more words - yes or no

My partner read faster - yes or no

My partner read smoother- yes or no

My partner read with expression - yes or no

Reading Record Time Sheet:

Name: __________________

Date: ___________________

1st Reading: _______________