Fluency Instruction in the Second-Grade Classroom
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University of Northern Iowa UNI ScholarWorks Graduate Research Papers Student Work 7-2004 Fluency Instruction in the Second-Grade Classroom Kati L. Stephens University of Northern Iowa Let us know how access to this document benefits ouy Copyright ©2004 Kati L. Stephens Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/grp Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Stephens, Kati L., "Fluency Instruction in the Second-Grade Classroom" (2004). Graduate Research Papers. 1588. https://scholarworks.uni.edu/grp/1588 This Open Access Graduate Research Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Work at UNI ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Research Papers by an authorized administrator of UNI ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Fluency Instruction in the Second-Grade Classroom Abstract This project is a classroom project for implementation in a self-contained second-grade classroom. It is a specific fluency curriculum, focusing onesear r ch-based teaching strategies and the use of authentic children's literature to promote second-grade students' reading fluency. This open access graduate research paper is available at UNI ScholarWorks: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/grp/1588 This Project by: Kati L. Stephens Titled: Fluency Instruction in the Second-Grade Classroom has been approved as meeting the research requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts in Education. Deborah Tidwell Date Approved Graduate Faculty Reader Rick Traw Gra~uate Faculty Reader Rick Traw Head, Department of Curriculum and Instruction FLUENCY INSTRUCTION IN THE SECOND-GRADE CLASSROOM A Graduate Project Submitted to the Division of Department of Curriculum and Instruction In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Education UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA by Kati L. Stephens July, 2004 Table of Contents Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 1 Description ........................................................................................................................... 1 Rationale .............................................................................................................................. 1 Purpose ................................................................................................................................. ] Importance of Project. ......................................................................................................... 2 Methodology .................................................................................................................................... 2 Procedures ............................................................................................................................ 2 Literature Review................................................................................................................. 4 The Project. .................................................................................................................................... 22 Organization ....................................................................................................................... 22 Components ....................................................................................................................... 22 Schedule ............................................................................................................................. 23 Section I: Fluency Strategies .............................................................................................. 25 Choral Reading...................................................................................................... 25 Fluency Development Lesson ................................................................................ 26 Paired Oral Reading............................................................................................... 27 Reader's Theatre .................................................................................................... 28 Section II: Theme 1 Pet Show Today!. ............................................................................. .30 Getting Started: Three Cheers for Tacky ............................................................... 30 The Cats of Tiffany Street. ................................................................................... .32 Arthur's Pet Business ............................................................................................ 34 Julius ...................................................................................................................... 36 Table of Contents, continued Section III: Theme 2 Nature Detective .............................................................................. 38 Animal Tracks ........................................................................................................ 38 Nature Spy.............................................................................................................. 40 What Lives in a Shell? .......................................................................................... .42 Where Does the Trail Lead? .................................................................................. 44 Section IV: Good Friends .................................................................................................. .46 My First American Friend ...................................................................................... 46 Watch Out, Ronald Morgan! ................................................................................. .48 What Kind of Baby-sitter is This? ......................................................................... 50 Ruby the Copycat. .................................................................................................. 52 Section V: Family Photos ................................................................................................... 54 Clean Your Room, Harvey Moon!. ........................................................................ 54 A Chair For My Mother......................................................................................... 56 Now One Foot, Now the Other. ............................................................................. 58 Too Many Tamales ................................................................................................ 60 Section VI: Theme 5 That's Incredible! ............................................................................ 62 The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash ..................................................................... 62 What Happened to Patrick's Dinosaurs? ............................................................... 64 An Octopus is Amazing......................................................................................... 66 Section VII: Theme 6 Tell Me a Tale ................................................................................ 68 Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain.......................................................................... 68 Two of Everything ................................................................................................. 70 Table of Contents, continued The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush ..................................................................... 72 Conclusions and Recommendations .............................................................................................. 74 Conclusions ............................................................................................................ 74 Recommendations .................................................................................................. 75 References ...................................................................................................................................... 76 Appendices Introduction Description This project is a classroom project for implementation in a self-contained second-grade classroom. It is a specific fluency curriculum, focusing on research-based teaching strategies and the use of authentic children's literature to promote second-grade students' reading fluency. Rationale I decided to develop this project for several reasons. First of all, as a second-grade teacher, I noticed that many of my students could read well, but they could not read fluently. The basal series I was using, Houghton Mifflin's Invitations to Literacy Level 2 (Au et al., 1996) offered only a few choices for fluency instruction. Second, in my experience as a Title I teacher, I have learned that fluent reading is needed for comprehension of the reading material. Fluency is a skill that many Title I reading students struggle to attain. Finally, after reading the Report of the National Reading Panel (2000), which covered fluency instruction, it was evident to me that I needed to help my students with fluency. I developed this project as an extension of the activities in our basal series to specifically promote fluency. Purpose The purpose of this project is to provide fluency strategies and lessons that are easy to implement in the classroom and require little instruction time. It is expected that the included lesson plans, strategies, and resources will help second-grade students become more fluent readers. 2 Importance ofProduct As a teacher in the Oelwein Community School District, I should be addressing fluency instruction