Lesson Design

Leapin’ to Excitement

Carrie McKissick

Growing Independency and Fluency

• Rationale:

Learning to read with expression will make reading and listening more interesting for students.  The children will be more engaged if creative expressions are used while reading.  This lesson will help children to read with expression by showing students their changes in speed, volume, and pitch, as well as facial expressions.

•  Materials:

• Sentence strips “I love chocolate sundaes with whipped cream and cherries on top” and “I don’t like going to the doctor.”
• Class set of Froggy goes to the doctor by Jonathan London

1. Did the student read smoothly?
2. Where could the student use work?
3. Did the student use facial expressions?
4. Did the student use voice changes?
5. Does the student have an overall understanding of expression?

•  Procedure:

• “Have you ever listened to a good story-teller?  Did the reader make it fun and interesting by using different voices and facial expressions?  Well today children, we are going to have a lot of fun by learning how to use different expressions while reading.”

• “Okay boys and girls- I am going to read you a sentence.  ‘I love chocolate sundaes with whipped cream and a cherry on top.’ (Read monotone and no facial expressions)  Now listen to the same sentence again.  ‘I LOVE chocolate sundaes with whipped cream and a cherry on top!!’ Can you tell me which of those sentences would convince you that I really do love chocolate sundaes?  Good job-the second one would.  Can you tell me why?  You’re right-because I read the second one with expression.”
• “Now I want all of you to try.  First I will read a sentence. ‘I don’t like going to the doctor.’ (Read with a sad face)  Now you all silently think of how you would read it.  Raise your hand if you would like to share your sentence with the class.” (Call on a few children to share their reading)
• “Everybody get with a partner now. (Pass out one copy of Froggy goes to the doctor to each pair of students)  Now turn to the second page.  Do you see the funny way FRROOGGYY! is written at the top of the page?  Why do you think it is written that way?  Good job!  It is written that way because it should be said with lots of expression.  I am going to read it to you one more time and then I want everybody to practice saying FRROOGGYY! with lots of expression together.  (Model how to say it and then have the class choral read it together)  Great Job!  I think you are ready to read Froggy goes to the doctor with lots of expression.”
• “I want each of you to read through it once to get familiar with the text and then read it again to show expression.” (Don’t forget that if there is a word in the text that you do not recognize, now is the time to decode and cross-check so that when you are reading with expression, an unfamiliar word will not cause any problems.) (As students are reading through the first time, I will walk around to get an understanding where each child is.  This way I can assess on the progress the students have made.) (I will also reassure the students that they are not competing against anyone else.) “As your partner reads, I want everyone to take positive notes on the places they showed lots of expression.  You also may want to let them know where they could have used a little more expression.  Read it through again and see if the problem area(s) improve.”
• “After each of you has read it through at least three times, I want you to pick out your favorite three pages.  It is very important that you can read these three pages with lots and lots of expression because I would like you to read it to the whole class.” (Assess students based on their progress during this time.)

Reference:

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