Growing Independence  and  Fluency:

  Don’t be Silly- Expression
Is FUN!!
 Carrie Sanders

 

Rationale:  “Fluency means reading faster, smoother, more expressively, or more quietly with the goal of reading silently.  Fluent reading approaches the speed of speech.”  (Murray)   The goal of this lesson is to help children to learn how to read with expression and why they should.  The teacher will model reading with expression to the class and then the children will have a chance to model to eachother.  Finally the students will model reading with expression individually for the teacher.

 

Materials: a copy for each pair of students of Today I Feel Silly and Other Moods That Make My Day by Jamie Lee Curtis, packs of index cards with expressions on them such as happy, sad, silly, angry, excited, etc. for each pair, assessment checklists that the teacher will use for each child.

 

 

Procedure:

 

  1. “TODAY WE ARE GOING TO LEARN ABOUT HOW TO READ WITH EXPRESSION.  WHEN YOU READ WITH EXPRESSION, YOU BRING THE STORY TO LIFE.”
  2. “WHEN YOU READ WITH EXPRESSION, YOU KNOW HOW TO READ BY THE PUNCTUATION MARKS IN THE STORY.  THE PUNCTUATION MARKS WE WILL TALK ABOUT TODAY ARE THE PERIOD, THE QUESTION MARK, AND THE EXCLAMATION POINT.” (Review the marks with the class)  “ITS VERY IMPORTANT TO LOOK AT EACH SENTENCE CAREFULLY AS YOU READ. (Review sentence structure and reading strategies on bookmark).  “TAKE A SHOT.  READ THE REST.  CHANGE A GUESS.  READ AGAIN.
  3. “IF I READ A SENTENCE THAT ENDS WITH A QUESTION MARK, HOW DOES IT SOUND? (class involvement)  AN EXAMPLE IS, “WHAT IS YOUR NAME?”  IF I READ A SENTENCE THAT ENDS WITH A PERIOD, HOW DOES IT SOUND? (class involvement) AN EXAMPLE IS, “MY NAME IS SARAH.”  IF I READ A SENTENCE WITH AN EXCLAMATION POINT, HOW DOES IT SOUND?  (class involvement)  AN EXAMPLE IS “I FOUND A FOUR LEAF CLOVER!”
  4. Read the book, Today I Feel Silly and Other Moods That Make My Day aloud.  Read the book first with expression.  CLASS, COULD YOU RAISE YOUR HANDS AND TELL ME EXAMPLES FROM THE STORY THAT SHOWED EXPRESSION?  WHY DID THEY SHOW EXPRESSION?  Then read the book without expression.  CLASS, COULD YOU TELL ME THE DIFFERENCE IN THE FIRST READING AND THE SECOND READING OF THE BOOK? HOW DOES EXPRESSION MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
  5. Now, hand out a copy of the book and expression cards to each pair of students.  STUDENTS, I WANT YOU TO TAKE TURNS READING A PAGE EACH TO ONE ANOTHER.  AS YOU READ THE PAGE, THE OTHER PERSON SHOULD HOLD UP THE CARD WITH THE EXPRESSION ON IT THAT THEY THINK THAT PERSON IS READING.  THEN TRADE ROLES, AND DO THE SAME THING.

 

Assessment: 

Have each child come to your desk and read, with expression, a page out of their book. This will assess their understanding of punctuation and expression.  Have a checklist for assessment so that you can see what they need to work/or not work on.

 

 

Assessment Checklist:

 

Do they use expression(overall) when reading?      Y or N

Do they use facial expression when reading?          Y or N

Do they use differences in tone when reading?       Y or N

Do they use differences in volume when reading?  Y or N

 

References:

 

http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/openings/tragesergf.html.  Say it with Feeling.  Jan-Marie Trageser.

 

http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/openings/willoughbygf.html.  Boom with Expression!  Misti Willoughby.

 

http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/openings/mcdonaldgf.html.  Expression is the Key.  Melinda McDonald.

 

Stuck on a Word? (bookmark)

 

Curtis, Jamie Lee.  Today I Feel Silly and Other Moods That Make My Day.  Harper

            Collins Children’s Books, 1998.



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