Express Yourself!

Express Yourself!

Growing Independence

Rationale: For students to truly enjoy and understand a book, they must do more than decode the words. Once they become fluent readers, they should begin to use expression. This will not only make the story more ãrealä, it will make the student more confident about his ability to read aloud. The only way to become fluent is to read aloud to an audience, this lesson allows that.

Materials:

ð Sample sentences: I love to read! What is your name? Have you read this book? That was a great movie!
ð Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
ð Copies of Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss for each student
ð Check-list Assessment sheets- one for each student to include:
* Does the student use expression overall?
* Does the studentâs tone change?
* Does the studentâs volume change?
* Does the student use facial expression?

Procedure:
               1. Say, ãToday, we are going to work on reading with expression. I will    show you how to read with proper expression with these sentences.ä
                    Hold up each of the sentence strips and read with no expression. Say, ãDoes that   sound like someone talking in everyday life? No, it doesnât.
                    This is how it should be done.ä Now read with lots of expression.
                2. Read Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day with lots of expression to the class and discuss the importance of
                    reading aloud with expression.
                3. Pair the students off to read Green Eggs and Ham to one another. Before they begin to read have a brief book talk to get them interested.
                    Remind them to raise and lower their voices and use lots of expression.
                4. While one student is reading, the other should be checking to see if the reader is using vocal expression with the following check list.
                5. The teacher should walk around observing each pair.
                6. The teacher will call on individual students to come to her desk throughout the day to read the sample sentences with expression. She will
                    evaluate with the following check list.

* Does the student use expression overall?
* Does the studentâs tone change?
* Does the studentâs volume change?
* Does the student use facial expression?

Reference:

* http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/insp/sanderscgf.htmlDonât Be Silly - Expression is Fun ö Carrie Sanders
* http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/insp/sheltongf.htmlI Will Read (Do you hear me? I mean it!) With Expression ö Christie Shelton
* http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenieReading Genie

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