Young elementary learners develop expression while reading. They listen as the teacher demonstrates expression when reading aloud. Individual learners read with a partner and practice using expression in their reading. When their partner...

Why should we read with expression when we read? Engage your learners in this discussion and teach them the easiest way to gauge expression: the end mark! Is it a question mark? An exclamation point? This helps you determine how to...

How is music like reading? First, listeners rank music from slowest to fastest. How does the music's pace affect your mood? How does this same theory compare to reading? Spark a discussion to identify the similarities. 

Students practice reading with expression, decoding and word recognition to become fluent readers. They read the book, "Not me!" Said the Monkey," by Cohn West and view drawings of a lion, snake, rhino, elephant and a monkey from the art...

Scholars examine the strategy of making a story map or outline to identify the main elements of a story. They discuss the who, what, where, when, why, and how of a story, in an outline form. As a class they read a short story, answer the...

What does it mean to read expressively? Beginning readers hear examples of expressive reading and partner up to practice. One partner reads The Littlest Pumpkin and the other partner reads Franklin and his Friend. While...

It's the age of technology! The idea of computer literacy and fluency are rapidly gaining importance; can your learners keep up? To keep them interacting with technology, bring them to the computer lab for small group reading...

Scholars practice rhyming and phonemic awareness using trade books and poetry. They will listen to the book Mouse Mess several times throughout the week, identifying rhyming words, and matching words that begin with the same sound. Then...

Two narrative excerpts tell the same story from different points of view. In the first excerpt (first person), sequencing words and phrases are bolded and learners write down what the bold type does. The second excerpt is in third...

Hockey, home runs, and helmets: your next sports-themed reading unit is here! Twelve tasks invite young readers to match unscramble sports words, create categories, count vowels and consonants, mark syllables, alphabetize words in the...

In this fluency and variety learning exercise, learners pick a conjunction to fill in the blanks to sentences. Students fill in 17 conjunctions to blanks in sentences.

Penny, Polly, and Peter are planning a picnic but end up pigging out instead in this fun printable book. Including dozens of p-words and amusing illustrations, this is a great resource for teaching emergent readers about the sound...

Choose from a variety of phonological activities to complement a reading lesson. The guide goes through the basic components of good phonics instruction focusing on sound types, levels of phonological awareness, assessment methods,...

Focus on poetry this summer to enhance those comprehension, fluency, and language skills with a set of resources intended to explore different types of poetry, specifically lyric poetry. The daily activities contain differentiation ideas...

Do you like music? Have your youngsters read We Play Music, practicing select reading strategies, like using picture clues to determine new words. Then, after their first independent read, have them re-read the story to a...

Read the short reading passage entitled "Clean Water Act" to help your class build reading fluency and comprehension. While most questions focus on recall, learners are asked to use the context to define select vocabulary words. This...

Readers listen and critically read fictional prose to answer prediction questions at designated stopping points, and then they give a summary of the short story. This lesson is ideal for English language learners developing English...

Learning by example is always effective if it's paired with independent practice opportunities! Model good reading practices for your class. Learners listen to the teacher model examples of reading with voice, expression, and tone...

Second graders interact with the story of Alexander's horrible day by connecting it to their lives. They practice predicting, writing paragraphs, reading aloud, discussing his problems, making a card to cheer him up, and designing a pair...

Work to improve oral expression while reading aloud. Young scholars read sentence strips, changing their volume, speed, and tone to match what is written, making the sentence more meaningful. They read an entire story with a partner who...

There are so many great reading strategies. In this lesson, learners practice decoding. They break down two paragraphs to analyze and determine main ideas and details. They each observes ways to model as they map their paragraphs.

Practice the strategy of letter-sound correspondence when identifying the short vowel /i/ sound in written and spoken words. The teacher recites the tongue twister "Icky insect is in icky sticky ink," while listeners repeat. Letter boxes...

Review the concept of expressive reading. Through modeling, the teacher shows them that more expression makes reading more interesting and enjoyable to listen to. They review ending punctuation marks and the types of expression and...

Here is a wonderful lesson designed for students with special needs. This well-thought-out lesson uses Big Books, familiar stories, and has a lot of review learning built into it. The book, The Keeping Quilt is used in the main part of...