Monkey
Business
Growing
Sarah Lauren Harper
Rationale:
This
lesson will focus on reading expressively. Expression makes any story
more
enjoyable and creates a relationship between its character’s lives and
the
reader. Becoming more involved in the plot also increases comprehension
and
voluntary reading. Sight word recognition is the crucial element for
developing
fluency. Once the obstacle of having to decode is removed, the student
will
derive meaning, comprehension, and simple joy from books.
Materials:
·
Multiple copies of book: West, Cohn,
“Not
me!” Said the Monkey. 1987, Walker Books, Ltd.
· Drawings of animals (a lion, snake, rhino, elephant, and monkey) from art class
· Questionnaires
Procedure: -
1. The teacher will review the importance of expression when a person is speaking. The teacher will give the students a few examples for reviewing expression. “If I were to say, ‘We are going to have extra recess today.’ (said solemnly), does that sound right? How would I really say the sentence?”
2. Teacher will introduce the new lesson by talking to the students about fluency “Today we are going to learn the difference between smooth reading, and reading that is not so smooth. You may not think about how you read very much, but today we are going to learn about the way we read and how it makes us better readers. I will reveal tactics you can use that will make you all, who are good readers, even better.’
3. The teacher will model by reading the first page of “Not me!” Said the Monkey without expression, and smoothly with expression. The teacher will ask, “Which one sounds better?”
“Who
keeps drooooopping
banana (quickly) peeeeeeels around here?’
(quiety and
subdued), growled the lion. ‘’Nooooot meeeee (sheepishly)!, said the
monkey.’”
“Who
keeps dropping
banana peels around here?’
growled the lion. ‘’Not me!, said the
monkey.’” (read with expression and correct speed and character voices)
4. The teacher will have the students split into groups of five and have the students take out their animals. The students will be assigned a character and read each part the book that
corresponds to their character and hold up a drawing of their animal. The teacher will remind them to read smoothly and with expression. While the students read, the teacher will visit each group to monitor their progress.
5. The teacher will give the students evaluations for each other in the groups and the students will fill in the evaluations.
a) Recognized
Punctuation
yes
no
sometimes
b) change in voice pitch
yes no
yes,
but incorrectly
c) changed tempo in
reading
yes
no
d) attempted to
distinguish between characters yes
no
e) other comments:
6. The teacher will ask the students to vote on the best reader in their group (or the teacher will choose the reader) and have one student from each group volunteer to read a part the story to the whole class. The volunteers will all take part in reading the story aloud. The teacher will comment on how well they show expression.
Activity idea adapted
from:
Santrock, John. Educational Psychology. McGraw-lull, 2001. pg.
398.
Adams, M.J. Beginning to Read: Thinking and Learning AboutPrint.
MIT
Press:
Reading Genie Website www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/insights/gettysgf.html
Brandy
Thomas-
Lights, Camera, Action
Tara
Greene-As
Smooth As Silk