Assessing Reading Fluency using the Flip Video

Lesson Plan Title:
Assessing Reading Fluency using the Flip Video

Standards Addressed:
Common Core Language Arts Standard-Reading Literature: 2.10
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories and poetry, in the grades 2–3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Specific Objectives:

Students will use the Flip video camera to record the reading of a peer’s previously introduced reading fluency story.

Students will watch their recordings and complete a self-assessment of their reading fluency.

Required Materials:
- Flip video camera
- Flip tripod
- Fluency story
- SmartBoard or other projection device (optional)

Anticipatory Set (Lead-In):
“Today, we will be working in partners to record ourselves reading our weekly fluency story. One partner will be the reader and the other will be the recorder. Then, you will switch roles. When you are finished recording, you will watch yourself reading and assess how well you read.”

Step-By-Step Procedures:
1. Students will attach tripod to the Flip video camera.
2. Students will arrange a classroom table so that the tripod will sit the appropriate distance to enable the reader to fill the video frame.
3. The reading student will place a copy of the fluency story in front of them.
4. The recording student will give the reading student a “thumbs-up” when they are ready to record.
5. The recording student will begin recording on the Flip video.
Step-By-Step Procedures (continued):
6. The reading student will read his story while recording and give the recording student a “thumbs-up” when he is finished.
7. The recording student will stop recording on the Flip video.
8. The partners will switch roles and repeat the above steps.
9. Once both students have been the reader and the recorder, students will take turns watching their own recording and complete a self-assessment.

Plan For Independent Practice:
- After reviewing their video and completing the self-assessment, students will independently set goals for improvement for next week’s story.

Closure:
- “Today we recorded ourselves reading our fluency story and assessed how well we read. I would like you to think about how well you read today and review your self-assessment to see if there are areas in which you would like to set goals to improve in next week.”

Assessment:
- The teacher will also review the students’ fluency videos and do an assessment of their fluency. The teacher will select students to conference with and compare the results of the student’s and teacher’s assessments.

Adaptations:
- This lesson has been designed for a group of students in a Special Education classroom.
- Additional modifications have been made for students with cognitive disabilities to incorporate the use of visuals in the instruction of how to use the Flip video camera.
- Student with visual disabilities may benefit from the projection of the Flip video recording on a SmartBoard-enabled computer or other projection device.