Rationale: When students become more fluent readers
it is important for them to learn to read with expression. Reading with
expression is a skill that should be used when reading silently or
reading aloud. By teaching children to read with expression it makes
the reading process more enjoyable for them. The goal of this lesson
design is to provide the children with practice of reading expressively.
Materials: Moo Who? by Margie Palatini, lots
of books to be read with expression and on reading level, chalk,
chalkboard, prepared sentences for teacher on sentence strips (each
sentence strip will express a different mood. I am not going to go
outside in the dark by myself. You bought this present for me! Go to
your room right this second!), audio tapes for each pair, four tape
recorders, pencil, and paper. Checklist (tone changes, voice
fluctuations, and pitch changes)
Procedure:
1. Explain to the class that reading is much more fun if it is done
expressively. Can anyone tell me what expression is? ThatÎs
right, it is when we show our emotions based upon the situation we are
in. Can anyone tell me an expression that we might feel when reading a
book or story? (Angry, sad, happy, surprised, suspense) Thatâs
right, all of you had great examples of an expression that we might
feel when reading a story or a book. (List the expressions that your
students tell you on the board.) Today I am going to teach you how to
become more expressive readers. Have you ever had someone read you a
story and they changed their voice throughout the book? That is what
you call reading with expression. When a person reads and changes their
voice to fit the mood of the story, it becomes a lot more interesting
for the reader and the listener.
2. Some of the ways that you can change the expression of a story is by
reading faster or slower which could mean suspense or surprise, change
the tone of your voice which could mean happy or sad, or the pitch of
your voice to high or low which could mean scary. Now class I am going
to read some sentences that are on these sentence strips and I want you
to tell me what emotion you see and hear while I am reading. Go to your
room right this second! Angry, thatâs right I had a very deep
tone in my voice. Next sentence ãIs that present for me!ä
Surprised or happy thatÎs right you can tell by how high and soft
my voice was when I read the sentence. Last sentence is "I am not going
to go outside in the dark by my self.ä Scared, thatâs right
you could tell by the way I began to talk a lot faster towards the end
of the sentence. (Prepared sentences on sentence strips will be used
for each change of voice that has been described and how to model the
different changes in voice for the class.)
3. Now I will read aloud to the class the entire book Moo Who
by Margie Palatini. First I will read the book to the class with no
expression. Then I will reread a few pages of the book using expression
and ask the class which way they liked the story better. Which version
of the story kept you interested and excited about my reading and why?
The time when I read the story with no expression or the time when I
read the story with expression? Yes, the second time was much more fun
for me too. It was more fun and interesting because I read the story
with expression and showed you the mood of the characters and the
story. I read the story and changed my voice, which kept you interested
in what as going to happen. Can anyone tell some of the expressions
that they heard or saw while I was reading the story? (List on the
board the expressions that the class has given you).
4. Then split the class into pairs. The students will choose a book of
their interest to read to their partner. I will give the class some
examples of books that they might want to read by giving them book
talks. Some of the examples that I will give will be, Click Clack,
Moo Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin, No David by David
Shannon, and The Stray Dog by Marc Simont. All of the books
that the class with be able to choose from will be on their reading
level and give many opportunities to show expression. Now class split
up with a partner and pick a book to read. Remember if you come to a
word that you cannot read use cover-ups. Start by covering all the
letters in the word except the vowel. If the word is split then you
would cover everything but i. (Model how to use cover-ups on
the board as you are explaining the process). Then once you know the
vowel sound uncover s and p. You know that s
makes the /s/ and p makes the /p/ so blend them together to
make /sp/. The next letter is l and it makes the /l/ sound.
Then add the spl and then the vowel /i/. Then you have spli
and the last letter makes the /t/, so add it and read the word. Split,
thatâs right but donât forget to crosscheck. Have each
student read the story to his or her partner using no expression. As
they are reading they will record their story. After each student has
recorded their story I want them to go back through the book and write
down some ways that they could change their voice to make story more
interesting with expression. Once they have made a list I want them to
reread the story and record themselves reading the book with
expression.
5. Once they have completed the recording of both students reading
normally and with extra expression, I want them to listen to the
stories they have recorded. I want them to decide which sounded better.
The story read with expression or the story read without expression.
The students will come back as a pair and we will write on the board
what expressions that they have chosen to use in their story. Then ask
the students if any of them would like to read their story for the
class.
6. For assessment I will listen to the tapes that the students recorded
using a checklist. This checklist will include; tone changes, voice
fluctuations, and pitch changes. The students will be assessed by
having a check for yes they did change their tone or no they did not
change their tone. Then they will receive a check for yes they did have
voice fluctuations or no they did not have voice fluctuations. Last
they will receive a check for yes they did change the pitch of their
voice or no they did not change the pitch of their voice.
References:
Cronin, Doreen. Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type. Simon &
Schuster, 2000.
Palatini, Margie. Moo Who?. Harper Collins, 2004.
Simont, Marc. The Stray Dog. Harper Collins, 2001
Butcher, Shona. Itâs All About Expression.
http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/insp/butchergf.html
For further infomrmation, send e-mail to pridmac@auburn.edu.