FLUENCY LESSON PLAN — 3RD GRADE WHOLE GROUP

Task 1: Mark and Model

Standard ELA.3.1: Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
• Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.
• Read grade-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.
• Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.
Background According to the National Reading Panel, fluency is the ability to read text with accuracy, appropriate rate, and good expression (NICHD,
2000). When readers are fluent, they can focus their attention on comprehending text instead of concentrating on decoding individual
words (“Fluency: Introduction” n.d.). Hasbrouck (2019) explains that explicit fluency instruction incorporates strategies such as teacher
modeling, choral reading, echo reading, and partner reading, and should provide opportunities for students to read aloud while
receiving guidance and correction. Even before students learn to decode, we can build the part of their brains that is responsible for
fluency by practicing the rapid naming of letters and letter sounds.

National Reading Panel. (2000). NIHD Hasbrouck, J. (2019, November 11). Developing fluent readers. Reading Rockets. Retrieved
January 23, 2023, from https://www.readingrockets.org/article/developing-fluent-readers
“I Can” Statement I can identify text signal that show when and how to read with appropriate expression.
Materials Copies of a passage divided by phrases
Copies of same passage (paragraph form)
Text Signals Chart
Procedure Introduce goal: to notice and mark text signals that helps us know how to read a text with appropriate expression.
• Review signals (end punctuation, quotation marks, commas)
• Model looking through divided passage to located and highlight these signals. Have students mark on their pages as well.
• Model fluent reading of phrases where text signals were marked. Think aloud about the text signals before demonstrating how
to read.
• Have student find and mark the text signals on the page with the whole passage.
Assessment Teacher Observation
Partner check
Outcome Adjust instruction for small groups based on student success in identifying text signals.

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Task 2: Echo Reading
Standard ELA.3.1 : Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
• Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.
• Read grade-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.
• Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.
Background Although fluency includes a focus on reading rate, it is not just about the speed at which students can read a text. Fluency
instruction should include opportunities for students to increase their reading rate and accuracy while learning how to read text
with appropriate expression. When students are directed to pay attention to text signals such as punctuation, quotations, and
phrasing, their increased fluency helps convey the appropriate meaning of a text (Rasinski (2018) p. 38).

Rasinski, T.V., & Cheeseman Smith, M. (2018). Megabook of Fluency. Scholastic Professional Series. Retrieved January 25, 2023, from
https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Megabook_of_Fluency.html?id=ayW8swEACAAJ.
“I Can” Statement I can imitate fluent reading of phrases and whole text.
Materials Copies of passage divided by phrases
Copies of whole passage (paragraph form)
Procedure • Begin reading the passage divided by phrases. Stop after each phrase so that student can echo back. (Teacher leads, class echoes)
•P ay close attention to the expression when reading passages with marked text signals. Reread and have student echo again if
appropriate expression is not heard.
• Use the same procedure to echo read the whole passage.
Assessment Teacher observation
Outcome Adjust student partnerships based on student need.

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Task 3: Partner Practice - Follow My Lead
Standard ELA.3.1: Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
• Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.
• Read grade-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.
• Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.
Background Students need opportunities to hear fluent reading and to practice fluent reading themselves. Rasinski (2023) shares that
“automaticity, as measured by reading rate, normally increases through regular engagement in the act of reading, not through
an instructional focus on increasing reading speed itself (p.38). For fluency, regular engagement in repeated oral reading should
include opportunities for choral reading, echo reading, and partner practice. As students become effective decoders, fluency
instruction and practice should occur in grade-level texts. For older students, in addition to that explicit fluency instruction,
repeated reading routines should be built into comprehension and content lessons as scaffolds to help all students build
fluency and successfully access the grade-level texts under study.

Rasinski, T., Bartholomew, M., Galeza, A., Nemer, R., Royan, E., Rundo, H., Viton, B., & Vogel, L. (2023). How fast is fast is fast enough:
Determining an appropriate reading rate for college and career success. Literacy Today. 40 (3), 38.
https://publuu.com/flip-book/24429/200177/page/1
“I Can” Statement I can read with proper phrasing and expression in chunked text.
Materials Passage divided by phrases
Whole passage
Reader Leader Tent Card
Procedure •D ivide students into appropriate pairs. It might be beneficial to make sure students who struggle with reading fluently are paired
with more fluent readers.
• Have students take turns reading/echoing the passage divided by phrases, followed by the whole passage.
• Move around the room to listen to students reading.
• Return to whole class instruction. Lead students in a choral reading of the whole passage.
Assessment Teacher Observation
Checklist (text signals)
Outcome Leave materials for additional practice and or independent station work. Students can work in partners to echo read and/or
buddy read.

Lesson written by Jessica Espinosa