Expression?!?! Where?!?!
Growing
Independence and Fluency Plan
Rationale:
Skillful,
lifelong readers all have something in
common. They all read with fluency. Fluency is a term that encompasses
a few
different things, such as reading quickly (faster than beginning
readers),
reading with accuracy and automaticity, having the ability to read
silently, wanting
to read voluntarily, reading smoothly, and with expression. This lesson
focuses
on reading with expression. Reading with expression is very important
in
developing fluency. Only fluent readers can read with expression. This
makes a
book come alive when you're reading it and pulls your audience into the
book. The
students will do several things with expression including listening to
different
expressions, recognizing punctuation that relates to expression, and
practicing
reading with expression to a partner.
Materials:
~
The Story of Lightning and Thunder by Ashley Bryan
~Sample
sentences (one that can be said with many different expressions) with
no
punctuation ex. We won, Help
~White
board and markers to write sample sentences and its different
punctuation
~
A Pig is Moving In! by Claudia Fries
~Assessment
sheet
___Did the student change his/her voice from high to low when needed?
___Did the student change his/her voice from loud to soft when needed?
___Did the student recognize the punctuation mark present at the end of
each
sentence and read it accordingly?
___Did the student consistently read with expression throughout the
story?
___Did the student respond well to peer or teacher suggestions when
reading?
Procedures:
1) "Class, now we are going to learn how to read with
expression.
Who can tell me what that means?" The teacher should wait for answers
and
respond to them appropriately. "Those are all very good answers!
Reading with
expression means that you read the story like you believe it would
sound if it were
happening in real life. Say that I was being chased by a dinosaur. If
that were
really happening how do you think I'd ask for help? Do you think I'd
say it
very quiet and calm? No? Would I yell it at the top of my lungs? Yeah,
that
dinosaur might get me. I would need for someone to hear me and come to
my
rescue." Write a period, an exclamation point, and a question mark on
the
board. Review with students what each mark means. "Let's go back to my
dinosaur
story. If you were writing about me getting chased by a dinosaur and
you wanted
me to cry out help which one of these marks would you use" Hopefully
they will
say exclamation mark if not ask them questions to get them to say that.
Discuss
with the class why they should not use a question mark or a period in
this
case.
2)
"Class, I need you to put on your listening ears. We're going to read a
book by
Ashley Bryan called The Story of Thunder and Lightning. I'm
going to
read it with lots of expression. Listen and see if you can tell all the
times I
use expression." You might want to explain that this a folk story from
Africa.
3)
"Did you like that book? Do you think you would have liked it as much
if I
would have read it like this?" Reread the page very monotone; maybe
even throw
a fake yawn in there. "Would
you have stayed awake if I had read it that way? I
almost put myself to sleep!! What was different from the way I read it
the
first time and the second time. Well, I did read with expression but
what does
that mean?"
Discuss this with the students. Write the example sentence on the
board. We won. Ask the class how they would say this if there was a
question
mark at the end. "We
won? That almost sounds like he didn't know that they won.
What? We won? How? How would it sound if there was a period at the end?
Good.
That's
almost like yeah, we won. I knew we would. It's
not a big deal. What
about if there was an exclamation point at the end? Ya'll
like those
exclamation points don't
you? Good job. That's
almost like wow! We won! We beat
the BEST team in the league!"
4) "Class let's practice saying sentences. I want you to think of at least one sentence that would end with a question mark, an exclamation point, or a period. Not one of all three, just think of one sentence. Think of it real hard and then we'll write everyone's on the board with the correct punctuation." Give the class enough time that everyone can come up with a sentence. Write them on the board and discuss what punctuation each sentence would have. "I love the sentences each one of you came up with. Ya'll are so smart!"
5)
Pass out A Pig is Moving In! by
Claudia Fries. "Class
we're going to read A
Pig is Moving In! In
this book rabbit, fox,
and hen all together in the same building. They find out that a pig is
moving.
They are all upset because they know that pigs are dirty, sloppy, and
smelly.
One day fox sees pig walking up to his room with a big basket of
sticks. The
pig drops a bunch of them and makes a huge mess. Are fox, rabbit, and
hen right
about the pig or will he prove to be a great neighbor? To find out I
want you
to read the book silently to yourself first. Pay close attention to the
punctuation marks that are on each page. Think about how this would
sound if it
were really taking place. After you read the book you'll
break up into partners
and read it to each other with lots of expression. When you get done
reading
silently, look up at me so I'll know that you're done."
Give the students five
or six minutes to complete.
6)
Break students into pairs of two. "Alright,
now you're
going to read the book
to your neighbor with your best expressions. It's
to feel a little silly. I
feel silly each time I read a book a loud. One of you will read the
first page
and your partner will read the next page."
7) As they are reading, I will
walk around and use the following checklist to
assess the students䴜 use of expression when reading:
___Did the student change
his/her voice from high to low when needed?
___Did the student change
his/her voice from loud to soft when needed?
___Did the student recognize
the punctuation mark present at the end of each
sentence and read it accordingly?
___Did the student
consistently read with expression throughout the story?
___Did the student respond
well to peer or teacher suggestions when reading?
-References:
-Claudia Fries, A Pig is Moving In!. Siphano Picture
Books. (2000).
Twenty-four pages.
-Ashley Bryan, The Story
of Thunder and Lightning .
Macmillan
Publishing Company. (1993). Twenty-six pages.
~Maggie Saye http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/odysseys/sayegf.html
~Vicki
Burns http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/navig/burnsgf.html