FLUENCY LESSON OUTLINE

1. TYPE OF LESSON
Readers Theater
A. About the Lesson
i. Objective for reading with expression
ii. Small group of 5-6 students
B. Materials needed
i. In My Heart by Jo Witek
ii. Index cards
iii. Pencils
iv. Colored paper hearts

2. PROCEDURES
A. To introduce the lesson, I will explain to the students the importance of fluency when
reading. I will tell them that today will be focusing on reading with expression because it
adds meaning to the story.
B. I will ask the students to write a sentence on their index card about themselves. Students
will be allowed to share their sentences if they desire.
i. Fall is my favorite season.
ii. I have a lot of homework to do this week.
C. I will model to the students by first reading the story In My Heart. I will ask them to
listen to what I am saying, but more importantly how I am saying it. After the reading I
will ask students what they noticed about the way I read the story.
D. We will read the story again but this time, each student will be given a heart. They will
be given a colored heart to represent the part of the story they are reading. I will ask
them to express their reading with the same emotion that their heart is feeling in the story.
E. After reading the story I will ask the students to return to the sentence they wrote before
the reading. The students will then read their sentences aloud using an expression they
find appropriate. The other students will try and guess the emotion the student was
feeling when they wrote the sentences, based on their expression when reading it.
REFLECTION
I planned a fluency lesson by combining ideas that were discussed in class, with my

cooperating teacher, and knowledge of student understanding. I have observed that my

students enjoy participating and being involved with the topics that they are learning. I

decided that a reader’s theater would be a way for them to practice and involve themselves

with the concepts of fluency. My cooperating teacher supported me in selecting students

who were on a third grade reading level and are working to improve specific skills. Since I

knew all of the participants in the lesson were on level, I selected a book that would be easy

for them to read. I wanted the students to focus more on how they were reading in

comparison to what they were reading.

The focus on my fluency lesson was emotional expression so I selected a book that

described the feelings of certain emotions. I first modeled the reading to the students, asking

them to listen to my voice and compare it to the meaning in the text. Each student was then

given an emotion to read, and they practiced before reading together as a group. The

students appeared to be engaged and enjoy the activity. They were often extra expressive

when reading and some would include gestures that complemented their expression.

I completed a pre and post assessment with the students to gage how their reading

progressed during the lesson. I asked them to read a sentence at the beginning of the lesson

and again at the end, but with more intentional emotional expression. The readings at the end

of the lesson had more noticeable tone and pitch in comparison to the beginning.

This is a lesson that I would like to use again with students in the future. However, I

would make an adaptation so that students would have more time to practice reading the text.

I think the lesson would be even more effective if it spanned a few days, allowing students to

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fully connect to the text. I was able to experience a separate example of this, though a

fluency lesson implemented by my cooperating teacher. She allowed each student to choose

a poem that was a “good fit” for them. They had three days to practice their poem and then

present them to the class. My cooperating teacher allowed me to complete the rubric for

each student. The fluency of the students was much more noticeable when they were reading

a text they were familiar with. It was also easier to notice what specific fluency concepts

needed additional practice.

I would also like to modify this lesson so that it can be even more specific to the students

reading levels. All of the students I chose for this lesson are on a third grade level, however,

one of the students had just advanced to this level. During the lesson, some of the students in

the group expressed frustration or became distracted because of this difference. There were

some occasions where the group had to wait longer for the individual to read or gain teacher

support. These moments also caused the individual having difficulties to display some

discouragement. When doing this lesson again, I would make groups as aligned as possible,

while students are still trying to develop their skills.

In my future classroom, I would like to incorporate literacy as a unit plan so that students

have the opportunity to practice their skills over a period of days. For the first day, I would

complete an individual assessment for my students by having them read a text aloud and

making note of their abilities. I would then have students rotate to stations for the next

couple of days, that each focus specifically on an aspect of fluency, including tone, pitch,

speed and expression. I would group the students by reading level to ensure that they have

an appropriate text and can focus more on how they are reading. Grouping students this way

would also make it easier and less frustrating for them to read as a group.

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 Similar to my own lesson, I would then have students practice a text to present in a

reader’s theater. Depending on the abilities and group of students, I would like to select a

book that all students could read together. I could then assign parts out of the book that align

more specifically to student abilities. The students presentation of the reader’s theater would

be used as a post assessment to measure progress.

Through the planning and implementation of this lesson, I learned how important the

development of fluency is in a readers progression. I was also able to see that the most

efficient way for students to learn these skills is though modeling and practice.

Individualized lessons and attention should be given to helping support fluency skills, as they

are essential to helping learners become more advanced readers.