Growing
Rationale:
As
beginning
readers start to master phonemes and learn to decode words, they begin
to focus
more on fluency.
Materials:
- Wemberly
Worried. By:
Kevin Henkes.
Greenwillow Books, 2000. (multiple copies—enough for each pair of
students and
teacher)
- Sentence strips with sentences
on
them—used for students to practice reading with vocal and facial
expressions
-
"Yippee! Today I get to go to the water park! I am going to have so
much
fun!"
-
"It is raining today. I will not be able to go outside and play when I
get
home from school. My mom said it is going to rain tomorrow too. That is
not
fun."
-
Peer
Evaluation Form/ Checklist for teacher assessment of students reading:
1.
Does your partner/ the student read
smoothly?
2.
Does your partner/ the student vary
their tone of voice?
3. Does your partner/ the
student change
tempo in the reading when necessary?
4.
Does your partner/ the student show
emotion with facial movement?
-
Pencil
Procedure:
1. Ask the
students to
raise their hands if they enjoy being read to. Explain that today; we
are going
to listen to the teacher read a few sentences from the book, Wemberly
Worried. Review the reading
strategy
of cover-ups: Remember if you come to a word you do not know, you can
cover
parts of it up to help you figure out what the word is. For example, in
my
reading, I came across this word crack,
and I did not know what word it was. (Do not say the word yet, just
have the
word written on the board) I would start with the /a/ and cover up the
other
letters. Then, I would uncover the c
and the r to say /cra/, and finally I
would uncover the ck and blend all
the sounds together--/crack/. The word I did not know is crack.
If necessary review that the ck says /k/ when they are
together. Note: Teacher should model using the cover
up strategy by writing
the above word on the board and then using an index card to cover the
parts of
it up.
The teacher should make a note to not tell
students about using expression when reading yet. The teacher will read
a short
passage with a monotone voice and then ask the following questions,
"Who
enjoys the book so far? How did you like the way I read the sentences?"
Allow for response time from students. Now the teacher reads the same
sentences
again, but with a much more expressive voice. Ask the students who
enjoyed the
second reading better? The class should discuss why they liked the
sentences
better the second time.
2. Explain to
the
students that as good readers we want our audience to enjoy what we are
reading,
and we want to enjoy it too. To get your audience interested in a
story, you
could read with expression. When I read the sentences the second time,
I read
with expression and everyone enjoyed it better. One way we can do that
is to
use the voice the character would use when speaking. If the character
is happy,
we should use a happy voice, but if he is angry we should use an angry
voice,
or in our case, when our character is worried, we should speak in a
worried
voice.
3. Next, the
teacher
should read the same set of sentences again using vocal expressions as
well as
facial expressions. "Who liked the way I read it that time? What did
you
notice about my expressions?" (The students will give a variety of
answers
here depending on teacher reading.) "Did anyone notice my facial
expressions? You can use your face to show how characters are feeling.
Every
one should watch my face as I read this sentence." The teacher should
pick
a sentence in which the character is feeling sad, happy and/or angry,
and then
model the facial expressions for the class.
4. Next, the
teachers
should have 2-5 sets of sentences written on sentences strips. Have
students
raise their hands and read the sentences for the class using different
voices
and expression. The following sentences are included as examples.
- Students
should use a
happy, excited voice for these sentences. "Yippee! Today I get to go to
the water park! I am going to have so much fun!"
- To give the
students
practice using a sad voice, students could read these sentences.
"It is raining today. I will not be able to go outside and play when I
get
home from school. My mom said it is going to rain tomorrow too. That is
not
fun."
5. The teacher
will do a
book talk. Example book talk: "A
mouse named Wemberly is a bit of a worrier. She worries about
everything in
fact! Soon, Wemberly has a new thing to add to her list of worries: her
first
day of school is coming soon, and now Wemberly is really
worried. Does Wemberly make it through the first day without
much worry? We will have to read our book to find out." Each pair of
students
should receive a copy of Wemberly
Worried, and two copies of the Partner
Evaluation Sheet (one for each student). Explain that you want each
student in
the pair to take turns reading this book out loud with expression.
While one student
is reading, the other student should fill out the sheet on the
expression their
partner uses while they read. Go over the Partner Evaluation Sheet and
discuss
each question so that students fully understand the evaluation. Ask if
anyone
has any questions about reading with expression?
6.
Assessment:
-
Teachers should use the partner evaluation sheets, as well as walk
around and
observe the students as they take their turns reading. Teacher should
complete
their own checklist of how well students use expression.
-
Students will write an entry in their daily journal about their
worries. The
teacher should listen to the students read their journals, and note the
expression as well as the content of the journal entry.
Reference:
Wheeler,
Emily. Exciting Expression. http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/guides/wheelergf.html
Henkes,
Kevin. Wemberly Worried. Greenwillow
Books, 2000.
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