Megan Kasl



Rationale:  It is important when trying to be a successful reader that you can read fluently.  A good way to become a fluent reader is to read often and repeat what you read over and over.  By doing repeated readings readers can gain fluency and become more confident about their reading abilities.  Repeated reading also helps them gain a better knowledge of text.  Readers who can read fluently read with a excitement and enthusiasm in their voice; making a more pleasurable experience for their listeners.  Being able to read fluently also allows readers to have better comprehension and understanding of the text they are reading.

Materials: dry erase or chalk board at the front of the room, enough copies of A Cat Nap for every pair of children in your class, pencils, chalk or dry erase markers, an eraser, enough progress charts for every child in your class (the progress chart can be a neighborhood with a sidewalk linking different house, this is where the student can write in the word counts, the sidewalk will lead through backyards or by house then finally to a basket on the porch of a house for the cat to nap in), fluency checklists (enough for every child in your class), stopwatch, one post it note for every pair of children


1.  Start the lesson out by explaining to students what it means to be a fluent reader and why its important that students are fluent.  “Boys and girls today we are going to work on a special skill for reading.  We are going to work on being fluent readers.  Being fluent means that we can read text with ease and appropriate speed.  This also means that we have excitement in our voice so the listener can enjoy what we are reader.  It is important that you are fluent when you read because this helps you be a better reader and you will be able to better understand what you are reading.”

2.  Tell the students that you are going to work on become a fluent reader by doing repeated readers today.  “Boys and girls today we are going to do something called repeated reading.  This is when we read a portion of a book for a minute.  After the minute is up you count how many words you read in that minute.  We will do this a few times, but each time we do it we will read for a minute.  It is important though that you remember what read too, speed is important but I want what you are reading to make sense to you.”

3.  “If you come to a word you do not know try and make sense of it by using a strategy.  A strategy I like to use is the cover up strategy.  Let’s say I come across this word in my book (write the word band on the board; model for the students).”  Cover up the a n d and so only the b is visible.  Make the b sound, “b makes the b b b sound….(uncover the a n d) and… oh band!  This is a good strategy to use when you are reading!”  It is important to review an old strategy for kids.

4.  Now it is time for you to model a repeated reading.  “Let me show you how a repeated reading works boys and girls.”  Write the sentence The cat sat under the house on the board.  “I am going to read this sentence for the first time… the c-c-at  s-s-a-a-t un-d-under the h-h-ou-house.  Man that took me a while to read!  I think I am going to re-read the sentence and see if I can make it sound a little better…the c-a-a-t sat und-er the h-h-hou-se.  That was a lot better but I sounded so boring!  Lets see if I can put some excitement in my voice…the cat sat under the house (do not use monotone this time).  That sounds great to me now!  See how repeated readings can help you as readers.  It makes it so much easier for me to understand what I am reading and for you as the listener to enjoy it more!”

4.  Now it is time for the children to be partnered up with each other.  Partner your students up in your class.  “Boys and girls I have just partnered you up with a friend.  This is who you will work with for your repeated reading practice.”  Pass out the speed recording sheets, post its, and books.  It’s important now that you explain to your students what they will be responsible for doing with their partner.  “In your group one of your will be the recorder and one will be the reader.  Then you will switch.  The person sitting on the right is going to be the recorder first.  Then you will switch.  I will tell the reader when to start reading.  I will give you one minute to read then when I say stop the recorder will put a post it where the reader was when I said stop. Then the recorder will count the number of words that the reader read in that one minute.  Write that number on the recording sheet.  We will do this three times.  Reuse the post it note each time.  Each time the reader reads the recorder will also check boxes on the fluency checklist.  If the reader reads smoother or faster you would check that box.  If they don’t do it then don’t check the box.”  Let the first student do their readers three times.  It is your job as the teacher to keep track of time and say start and stop.  When the children switch turns you may want to go over what the jobs are again.

5.  After each student does his/her three repeated readings pass out the progress charts.  Tell the students to record where their first, second and third word count was.  They can place the cat where their third reading count was.  “Boys and girls the goal is to get the cat home to its bed so it can take a nap!”

6.  Bring the class back together by having some students share what they thought helped them or made them read slower and less fluent.  You may want to close by reading A Cat Nap to the students so they can know the whole story!  Also it is a good idea to post the students charts up so they can see their progress with the repeated readings.

Assessment: I will assess the students work by looking at their progress charts.  The more repeated readings the child does the more words they should be reading per minute.  I will also look at the fluency checklist that the recorder did while their partner was reading.


"Race to the Finish Line".  Dorsey Tibbit. http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/connect/tippettgf.html

"Go, read. Go!" Landon McKean. http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/constr/mckeangf.html

A Cat Nap.  Educational Insights.  1990.     

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