Claire Read 3/18/14 Professor Sullivan Fluency Minilesson: Better Ex ression

Materials: For this minilesson I used two copies of an Elephant and Piggy book, I Am Invited to a Party! by !o "illems# Res onse: I planned for this lesson after the $EA% class we learned about fluency and ways to help students become more fluent# From there I chose to work on e&pression with my students for this lesson# In order to do that I chose an Elephant and Piggy book my elementary school owned and had two copies of# 'he school library had two copies of I Am Invited to a Party! (e&t, I talked to my cooperating teacher about my plans for this assignment# )he said during their circle, seat, center time I could ask two students to work with me when they were in their independent station# )he recommended I choose two students from the on level reading group# I knew that this book was on the student*s independent reading level because they are on level in third grade# 'herefore Elephant and Piggy is easier than their instructional level, and on their independent level# I chose to have the students read Elephant and Piggy because the books are full of dialog using many different e&pressions throughout# )tudents also find these books to be funny and en+oy reading them# I wanted the students to be able to en+oy this assignment while bettering their fluency reading skills# In order to introduce the lesson with a plain ob+ective I planned to let the students know the goal of the activity was to work towards reading with e&pression and practicing to improve# In the lesson I planned to incorporate a rereading of the book# )ince the students would be working towards using appropriate e&pression they would read the story once through to learn what the story is about, each character*s mood, and how they are feeling when they are speaking# ,nce the students have read it once I would have them reread the story using the best e&pression they could, based on the punctuation and illustrations# -efore allowing the students to read I talked to them about what e&pression is and

how it is read in a book# I started this by asking them what they already knew about e&pression# After our discussion I read two pages I selected from the book, modeling the use of e&pression to help them further understand# 'hen we talked about why I read the pages the way I did and some of the conte&t clues I was able to use to help me while I read# Student res onse to activity: 'he two students I chose to work with loved this activity! 'hey were e&cited when I pulled out the Elephant and Piggy books from my bag# ,ne student even said I love Elephant and Piggy! 'hen I let them pick the character they wanted to be and told them we were going to read it once through to get an idea for the story and how the characters are feeling at different times throughout# 'hen we were going to read for e&pression# )o we did so# -ut after we finished reading for e&pression the students didn*t want to stop# 'hey were en+oying it so much they asked if they could read it again, but this time switching characters# I said sure, and they did# At the very end of the book there was a part for a third character where I would +ump in and read too# 'he students also loved this# "e even reread this part a few e&tra times for e&pression# Student i! rove!ent durin" t#e readin": 'he first time the students read it out loud they picked up on most of the e&pression during the first read# -ut when they read it a second time they really had a feel for it# 'hey really showed their e&pression the second time, feeling more comfortable with what was being read# $da tations for classroo! considerations: If I have to make adaptations for kinesthetic learners I would allow the students to stand up and act their character*s part out using body movement# For my visual learners the book contains illustrations on each page of each character*s e&pression at the time# 'hese illustrations model to the reader the e&pressions of the character at the time of whatever is being read# I would also allow them to wear Elephant and Piggy masks if it will help them visually remember their character and act the part# For my auditory

learners I may conduct this minilesson with three students, allowing one student to observe as the other students show how they would e&press the part they are reading# 'hen have the students rotate# 'his is a great lesson for auditory learners because they are learning as they hear specific forms of e&pression out loud#

$ssess!ent: In order to asses for e&pression fluency I would have a copy of the reading with me and place a check mark ne&t to each sentence if they read with the correct e&pression# I would also keep time as the read to make sure they are still reading at an appropriate rate when trying to voice e&pression# 'hen I would have them read again and look for improvement with e&pression and time# %rou in": .rouping will be done at the student*s independent level# I would have three groups total# Materials needed for fluency instruction: For this specific lesson the only materials I*d need are two to three copies on the book and maybe some masks# ,ther material used to teach Fluency/ $eaders 'heater, independent level books, read aloud books, poems for two voices, allow for rereads, provide songs, allow for visiting readers in younger classrooms, and stop watches# Sc#edulin": Fluency should be 012 of the reading instruction diet# Fluency should be taught week by week switching between working towards fluency or speed each week