Express
Yourself!
Growing Independence & Fluency
(Reading
w/ expression)
By:
Jenna Sumlin
Rationale:
In
order for children to learn to make stories more interesting they must
realize
that simply being able to decode a book is not enough.
Hearing books being read aloud helps children
be able to hear what a difference it makes when you read with
expression. Modeling how to read with
expression and
enthusiasm allows students to understand how reading in this way keeps
an
audiences attention and makes stories “come to life.”
The following activities allow students the
opportunity to see, hear, and practice reading that is filled with
expression. Learning to read with
expression helps children develop a love for reading.
Materials:
Procedure:
1)
Begin
the lesson by discussing what it means to read with expression. “Have you ever heard someone read a good
story but they read it in a way that made you bored?
Well, that is what happens when you read
without expression. When you read without
expression it makes your audience lose interest. But,
when you change the sound of your voice
throughout the book it keeps the audience interested because you are
reading
with expression.”
2)
“Let’s
take a look at some sentences. I am
going to read them once with expression. (Read the sentences: I had a wonderful day at school today; The
teacher was dressed up like a pumpkin; She gave us coke floats and
chocolate
chip cookies) How did that sound to you? Did it make you want to listen to me
read? (Allow time for students to
respond). That’s right.
It sounded boring and it made you lose
interest. Now I am going to read them
with expression (Read sentence again).
What differences did you hear between the two time I read? (The second time you- as the teacher- should
read with excitement and enthusiasm saying them in a higher tone with a
happy
sound to your voice) Which way seems
more interesting? (Allow time for
students to respond) Very good! You all noticed what a positive difference it
makes when you read with expression.
Whenever you are reading with expression it makes the audience
‘be on
the edge of their seat’ waiting to hear what comes next.”
3)
Now I am
going to read a really funny book called Monster
Manners. It is a book about a
monster named Rosie who keeps forgetting her monster manners- which, as
you
might have guessed, are what we would call very poor manners! As I read I want you to listen carefully to
decide whether I am reading with expression or not.
At the end of each page I want you to either
stand up and do a monster pose if I was reading with expression. If I finish a page and I wasn’t reading with
expression I want you to stay seated and do a sleepy pose (model this)
to show
that a book gets boring when you don’t read enthusiastically.” (Read 5 or 6 pages changing up the reading
pattern and allow the students to “strike a pose.”
Be sure to make it clear that just because
you may read softly at some points does not mean that you are reading
without
expression. It depends on what is
happening in the story as to how you express yourself).
4)
“Now I
am going to stop here so that you can read to each other and see what
happens
next.” (Put the students into pairs and
give each pair a copy of the book. Have
the students take turns reading alternating pages in the story. Tell the students to critique each other when
they get done. They must tell each other
one thing they did that was great and one thing they could work on. Tell the students: “If
you want you partner to stay interested
you better read with expression.” Allow
them to read their page silently before they read it out loud so that
they can
read with more expression.
Assessment:
In
order to assess the students call them up to your desk one by one after
they
are done reading with their partner.
Allow them to pick a page out of the book that they want to read
to
you. Use your checklist to assess
whether they are:
1)
2)
Using
the correct tone
3)
Moving
at the right speed
Give
each student a score between 0-3 on each part of the assessment. 3 being they did an excellent job and 0
meaning that they did not try at all.
References: