Expressing Your Reading!
Rationale: When
students
become more fluent readers they should learn
to read with expression.
This should be done when reading silently and
aloud. This lesson
is designed to help students read with expression to
better understand the
text.
Reading fluently includes reading smoothly, reading expressively,
reading
silently, and speed-reading. This will be achieved by practicing with
short
sentences and reading whole text. The children will become
aware of how changing the loudness/softness of your voice affects
reading.
Materials: Chart paper, one copy of The Three Little Pigs, enough age-appropriate decodable books for each student in the class to have (they must be books that can be read with expression.), (Dr. Seuss has good books available to be read with expression, but you may want to choose something a little shorter for them to read in their partner groups), sentence strips with a variety of sentences that can be read with many different types of expression like, Why do you think the sky is blue or He opened the closet door and BOO!!! , tape or something to sick the sentence strips on the chart with, age appropriate paper and writing utensils.
Procedures
1. Introduce the lesson
by explaining that a story is much more fun to read and listen to when
it is read with expression. Explain to the students what reading
with expression means. To read with expression we need to know
what
a sentence ends with. Sentences can end in periods, exclamation
points,
and question marks. Start lesson by explaining to the children that it
is a wonderful thing that we can all read books. But, that there
are some things we can do to become better readers. ãOne
thing
we can do while reading is to read with expression.ä
ãCan
anyone tell me what expression means?ä ãThat is
right,
it means making the way we read more interesting for the people who are
listening to us.ä ãSome ways of expressing our
reading
voice is changing how loud or soft our voice is, changing how fast we
read
or changing the pitch of our voice.ä ãToday we are
going
to practice these different ways of expressing our reading.ä
2. Review sentence
structure.
This includes beginning a sentence with a
capital letter and reading
left to right, and top to bottom. Also review
crosschecking.
Say:
Remember to first try the word, then finish the
sentence, then go back if
a word doesnâtt make sense. Remind the
students that reading must
always make sense. Explain that reading with expression also helps to
make
stories more sensible also. Ask the students: ãHas anyone
ever heard someone read a story that was really exciting because of
their
expressive voice?ä Explain to the children that the reader
may
have made the story exciting because of the different reading
expressions
they used such as a voice change or how fast or slow the reader read
the
story.
3. Give each student a
sentence
strip. The teacher should have a strip
with an example of each
type of sentence. (Who are you? This is fun! My name
is Kate.) Model how to read each one to the class.
Say:
When we see a question mark at the end of a sentence, our voice goes up
after the last word (read the first sentence). When we see an
exclamation
point at the end, we make our voice sound excited and happy all the way
through (Read sentence two). When a sentence ends with a period
our
voice goes down at the end) Read third sentence). Have each child
read their own sentence strip aloud to the class. This is an
opportunity
to make sure students understand the lesson. Hearing their
classmates
read will also reinforce expression.
4. Then take out a book
such as The Three Little Pigs and model reading to the children without
using expression and tell the children to pay attention to how it
sounds.
ãDid the story sound exciting?ä (Children respond)
ãHow
can I make it more exciting?ä Make a list on the board with
the children. Let them tell the teacher what expression you can
make
and where in the story to make it. When you are done making the list,
reread
The Three Little Pigs. When rereading the book model how to use
the
expressions on the board. When done rereading ask the children
which
version of the story sounded better, the first time with no expression,
or the second time with all the expressions they said to use.
5. When done rereading The
Three Little Pigs group the children in twoâs. ãWhen
I put you with a partner I will give you a book.ä Give each
group a different age appropriate book so that each group is not
reading
the same book. ãI want each person to read the book that I
gave you to your partner without using expression.ä
ãRemember
if you have trouble reading it you can use cover-ups to figure out the
word you do not know.ä ãWhen you are done reading the
book I want you and your partner to make a list on a sheet of paper of
the different expressions you can make and where you can make them in
the
story, just as we did on the board.ä When the children are
done
making the list they then reread the book using the expressions they
have
on the list.
6. While sitting with
partners,
have the kids read Yo! Yes? or any age
appropriate book with lots
of varying punctuation. Have the kids
crosscheck their reading
and make sure that they are reading with
expression. Give a book
talk along with introducing the book. Say: This book is about two kids
who are trying to communicate with each
other, letâs see if
they become friends. When they are done have each group come to
the
front of the class and read their book using expression.
ãEveryone
needs to sit quietly to see if you can hear the expressions your
classmate
is making while reading their book.ä When they are done
reading
they should show the class the list of reading expressions they
made.
ãYou all did a wonderful job using reading expressions to make
your
story more exciting.ä
7. When the class has
finished
these activities, for assessment have a shelf of age appropriate books
that each child can read. Have each child get a book of their
choice
that they want to read. Tell them to read it and make their own
list
of expressions (just like we did earlier.) When they are done
have
different children come up to your desk at different times of the day
to
read their book using the expressions on their list. If the child
needs help then the teacher can help him/her. By doing this the
teacher
can determine if each child is understanding the reading expression
lesson.
8. Finally, have students
write their own summary question or
exclamation to summarize
the story.
Reference:
Adams, Marilyn
Yager.
Beginning to Read: Thinking and learning about
print. c 1990.
Designs:
Science
and Creativity in Reading Instruction, Spring
1999,Edited by Dr. Bruce
Murray. Really Read It! Katy Jurgensen, p.58.
Raschka, Chris. Yo! Yes?,
1993,Orchard Books, New York.