Morgan Anderson's
Lesson Designs
"Fluency Fun with the Cat in the Hat"
A Growing independence and fluency lesson
Rationale: This lesson aims to help students develop fluency. To read fluently means to read where nearly all the words are sight vocabulary, results are speed and expression when reading. Throughout this lesson students will practice their fluency and gain experience with reading text silently as well as reading to a partner.
Materials:
·Stopwatches (enough for each pair of students)
·Fluency Graphs for each child
·Cat in the Hat stickers
·Class set of “The Cat in the Hat” by Dr. Seuss
·Partner Reading Progress checklists
·Reader Response form
·Grading rubrics
·Sentence on the whiteboard: “The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play.” Then on a separate line, “So we sat in the house all that cold,cold, wet day.”
0 - - - - 10 - - - - 20 - - - - 30 - - - - 40 - - - - 50 - - - - 60 - - - - 70 - - - - 80 - - - - 90 - - - - 100
Correct Words Per Minute
Fluency Checklist:
Title of Book: __________________________________
Date___________
Student’s Name: ____________
Partner's Name: ______________________________
After 2nd Reading After 3rd Reading
_________ _________ Remembered more words
_________ _________ Read faster
_________ _________ Read smoother
_________ _________ Read with expression
Procedure:
1. Explain the activity: Say, “today we are going to talk about how to read fluently. To be able to read fluently means we understand what we are reading. The more fluently we can read the more we can understand what we are reading and what is happening in the story. Also, when we read fluently, we can read with more expression. We can change our voices to match certain text like whispering when a character uses a quiet voice or reading loudly when a character is yelling. To become a fluent reader we have to practice our reading skills. Today we are going to do that.”
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2. Model: Say, “I am going to read this sentence on the whiteboard two times. I want you to listen to how I read it and tell me which time sounds more fluent, or which one sounds better.” “The s-uuu-n did not shhh-in, shine. It w/A/s, was, t-ooo wet to Pl-ayyy.”
“The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play”
Which sounds better? [let students answer] That’s correct! When I said it the second time it sounded much better. Why does it sound better? [let students answer] Yes, it sounds better because I read the words effortlessly because they were a part of my sight vocabulary. I also was able to read it with more expression. I was also able to understand what I was reading because I wasn’t as focused on decoding like I was during my first attempt. A big part of fluent reading is having a large sight vocabulary so that you can recognize words automatically.
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3. Review strategy: We already know some skills to help us read fluently. The first skill we already know is decoding. We use this when we get stuck on a tricky word. We can get help decoding by using our cover up critters. We use the critter to break the word into smaller pieces. Breaking it down helps us recognize and read the word. If decoding doesn’t work we can cross check. Did you notice the first time I read the sentence I said shin instead of shine, but that didn’t make sense and I realized the word was shine. I realized this by crosschecking. You use crosschecking when you come to a word you don’t know. Remember when we cross check we use the words before and after the word and try to use that information to determine what the word might be. Then we mentally mark that shine is not shin, it is sh/I/n. After we are done decoding and cross checking we always reread the sentence in order to make sure we understand the text.
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4.Practice together: Say, “lets read this next line together, “So we sat in the house all that cold,cold, wet day.” I heard some of you struggle with the word “house”. If you were reading this alone and you didn’t know the word you could use your cover up critter to look at these beginning sounds, /h/ /o/ and decode the rest of the word but if that doesn’t work than you can cross check. You could look at the rest of the word and realize that word is “house” and then reread the sentence to understand it.
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5.Book talk: Say, “Sally and her brother are stuck inside on a rainy and cold day. They are bored and their mother is not home. Suddenly they hear a knock on the door and the cat and in the hat walks in. He comes to have fun with Sally and her brother so he brings along thing 1 and thing 2. But thing 1 and thing 2 and the cat in the hat make a huge mess and Sally, their pet fish, and her brother all know that Mom will be very angry when she gets home. Do you think they will be able to clean up the mess before mom gets home? We will have to read to find out!”
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6. Partner Practice: Say, now we’re going to do some practice building our fluency with partners. Let’s pair up with our reading partner and come get a Partner Progress Checklist, Reader Response Form, a stopwatch, and two copies the Cat in the Hat. I will write the number of words in the book on the board so you can use it later. You are each going to read the book out loud three times. For the person whose turn it isn’t to read, while your partner is reading you are going to use the stop watch to time them. You are going to pay close attention to how many mistakes your partner is making, make a check mark on your sheet (show which sheet) every time you hear a mistake. Remember it is not a bad thing to make mistakes while were building fluency, you are going to make mistakes the first couple times you read this book. Mistakes only will help you get better and more fluent. Once your partner is done reading you are going to subtract the number of words missed from the total number of words. You will also write down the time each reading took and then when your partner has read all three times write down which time was the smoothest and which time had less errors. After you and your partner have each read I want you to discuss the answers to the questions on the Reader Response Form and write your answers down individually. Then I want you to come see me and I will give you a fluency graph so you can monitor your progress.”
Assess student progress by evaluating answers on the Reading Response Form and determining each student’s WPM using the formula and mark their progress with a Cat in the Hat sticker on their fluency chart. Make sure to update each students fluency charts to set appropriate and attainable goals for each student.
Partner Reading Progress Checklist
Total # of words in chapter: ______
Reader: ___________________________
Checker: __________________________
1: ___ Words in ___ seconds
2: ___ Words in ___ seconds
3: ___ Words in ___ seconds
Which turn sounded the smoothest? _______
Which turn had the least number of errors? ______
Reader Response Form
Name ________________________________
Directions: On a separate sheet of paper, answer each question with at least one complete sentence.
1. Why are the kids bored?
2. What did the Cat in the Hat call the game that involved Thing 1 and Thing 2?
3. How did they clean up the house?
4. If you were Sally and her brother and had to answer moms question “what did you do?”, what would be your answer? Would you tell her the truth?
References:
Adapted from Sarah Hassett “Spring into Fluency!”
https://smhassett3.wixsite.com/lesson-designs/growing-independence-and-fluency
Seuss, Dr. (1957). The Cat In The Hat. New York: Random House.
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