Express Yourself
Growing Independency and Fluency (Reading with Expression)
Erin
Gray
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 read
aloud helps the children be able to hear what a difference it makes
when one
reads 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:
A
copy of Monster Manners for the teacher ,One
copy of Monster Manners for each pair of students in the class ,3 sentence strips that make up one paragraph
(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), Check-list Assessment sheets- one for each
student (Reading with expression, Using the correct tone, and Moving at
the right speed)
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. Reading
with expression
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:
Cole, Joanna. Monster Manners. New York, New York.
Scholastic Inc., 1985, 32.
Milam, Mitzi.
Where the Wild Things Are!
http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/chall/milamgf,html
Constructions