Lesson
Design – Reader’s Theatre for
Lauren
Cauthen Growing
• Rationale.
Fluency
in reading involves three components: speed, smoothness, and
expression. Each
of these reading fluency goals will enable students to
read aloud in a speech-like pattern, which in
turn helps to increase comprehension, further aiding in the reciprocal
relationship that fluency and comprehension share. By
• Materials.
·
Photocopies of the The
Three Billy Goats Gruff
Reader’s Theater script for each student (I used a version found in Reader's Theater, Grade 1
by Evan-Moor published in 2003.)
·
Dry erase board with
marker/ overhead/ Smart Board
presentation with sentences: “We are having hot dogs for lunch” and
‘The red
team won the ball game”.
·
Evaluation sheet for
each student (below)
·
Previous student
exposure to the book The Three Billy
Goats Gruff (version of the teacher’s preference) would be an
optional, but
favorable, condition prior to using this lesson plan.
• Procedures
for carrying out the lesson in detail, with numbered steps.
1)
Explain the importance
of reading with expression and model
the skill. “The better we learn to read, the more reading out loud will
begin
to sound the same as when we talk. When we talk, you can hear in our
voices and
tell by our faces if we are sad, happy, excited, or angry. We call that
expression. I am going to read the same sentence to you two different
ways. See
if you can tell the difference in my expression. If I came up to you
and said (
revealing sentence and speaking as if upset), ‘We are having hot dogs
for lunch
today’ would you think that I liked hot dogs? Probably not. I sounded a
little
mad that we were having hot dogs because my voice was lower and my face
was a
little pouty. But if I came up to you and said (excitedly) ‘We are
having hot
dogs for lunch today!’ would you think that I liked hot dogs? It sounds
like I
do! I sounded happy about having hot dogs! I said that with a happy
expression
in my voice and a happy look on my face. My voice sounded high and
cheerful.
2)
Practice reading some
sentences as a class. “Let’s see if
you can try reading with expression. Everyone read this sentence
together. (reveal:
The red team won the ball game.) Great! Now let’s read it again, and
this time,
let’s read it like we are all fans of the red team, and we are really
excited that
they won the game! Great job! I heard lots of high, happy voices and
saw some
happy faces! Now, let’s read it again, but this time, let’s pretend
like we are
fans of the blue team, and we are really sad that the red team won.
Wonderful!
I heard lots of lower voice tones, and saw some sad looks on some
faces!
3)
Introduce reader’s
theater. “When we go to a play, or watch
a movie, the actors and actresses use expression in their voice to help
tell
the story and make it seem real. Last week, we read a story called The
Three
Billy Goats Gruff. Today, I have the scripts for a reader’s theater
for
that same story! I am going to hand out the scripts to each reading
group, and
you will be the highlighted character on the script that I hand you. In
this
story, there is a little billy goat, a medium billy goat, and a big
billy goat.
(Talking in a little voice) I think the little billy goat might talk
like this!
What do you think? Can everyone say, ‘I am the little billy goat with
me in
their best little billy goat voice? Ready, go! I am the little billy
goat!
Excellent! I heard some wee little voices! What do you think the big
billy goat
might sound like? Wonderful! I heard some biiig, deep voices. What
about the
mean old troll who says, ‘You can’t cross my bridge’? Yeah, he sounds a
little
angry and grumpy!
4)
Pass out scripts so
that each reading group gets every
character in the story. “First, I want each of your to whisper-read
your parts
to yourself to make sure you know all of the words in your part. Then,
practice
reading the scripts among your group and pretend you are getting ready
for the
upcoming school play! Remember to use lots of expression to help tell
the story!
I will walk around and give you help and listen for some great
expressive
readers.”
Assessment.
As you circulate the
room, listen to students to see if they
are using expression. You might help them with prompts, such as “How do
you
think he is feeling when he says that?” I have also found that modeling
the
same voice yourself while posing questions, such as saying (in a big
mean
voice), “How do you think that mean old troll sounds here?” really
helped
students to get into the spirit of the reading to see that you yourself
are
having fun with it.
Listen
to each groups
performance, and answer the following questions about each child:
-Was the student able to use voice
tone to portray expression?
-Was the student able to use facial
movement to portray expression?
-Did the student’s application of
expression show comprehension of the mood of the story?
It may help to carry a script around
with you and write the student’s initials on your copy next to an
excerpt where
you noticed them using expression well.
• Reference
to a source that can tell us more. Provide all we need to track
down the
source.
These alternate lesson
plan ideas for
expressive reading are available online:
-Maggie
Saye, 'Express Yourself?'.
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/odysseys/sayegf.html
-Amy Berger, 'We're Messin' With Expression'.
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/odysseys/bergergf.html