Fourth Grade Students

Goals

• To practice fluent reading.
• To develop meaningful phrasing.
• To model competent reading.

Objectives

Students will be able to:

• use appropriate phrasing and expression in oral reading by echoing the teacher.
• use the echo reading strategy to self-assess their own oral reading.

Prerequisites (Context)

A student has been struggling with reading fluency. The student has demonstrated a halting, word-by-word reading style with limited phrasing that suggests the student does not comprehend the text being read aloud. The student has already read the book several times and has discussed its content. The student has taken this book home and feels comfortable with the content as well as the individual words. Therefore, decoding is not an issue. The focus is on developing fluent reading.

Materials

A familiar book at the student’s independent reading level

Lesson Description

The teacher takes the student aside for ten minutes of individual instruction, using a book that has been part of previous instruction. The teacher models fluent oral reading as the student follows along in the text, repeating phrases when the teacher pauses. Thus, the student “echoes” the teacher’s phrasing and fluent reading.

Lesson Procedure

The student and teacher sit side-by-side at a table with the book placed between them so that they can both easily see the text.

First, the teacher defines echo reading and explains how it will help the student be a better reader and how it will make reading more enjoyable.

The teacher says: “Today, we are going try echo reading.  Do you know what an echo is?”

The student responds with an example or explanation of an echo.

The teacher explains that, “When we read, the author wants us to hear the message in his words in our heads, and it helps us to hear it when we read with feeling. That way we read the message like the author hears it in his head when he writes it, and that makes it more fun to read. It also makes it more enjoyable for people to listen to when we read it out loud.” 

The student and teacher discuss the book they have been reading in class. They talk about the parts the student likes best, and the teacher asks the student to find a part he would like to read.

The teacher says she will read a short part with feeling, and tells the student to follow along and read the same part with the same kind of feeling.

The teacher reads the first phrase with expression, pausing just long enough for the student to read it before she goes to the next phrase.

The student attempts to repeat each phrase after the teacher.

They follow this procedure for one or two paragraphs. 

Then the teacher says to the student, “Let’s think about the way we read this part.”  The teacher then reads the same part, word-by-word, and then asks the student, “Which way sounded better? Which way sounds like what the author wants to say?” The teacher and student have a conversation about which way sounds best. The teacher emphasizes that the first time they read with feeling; they chunked the words into phrases and it sounded more real. The second time the teacher read one word at a time, and it didn’t sound like the way we talk or like the way the author wants us to read.

The teacher invites the student to continue echo reading for the next several pages.

The teacher ends the lesson by asking the student to select a part of the story to read out loud. When the student finds the page, the teacher says, “First, read it in your head and think about how the author would want you to say this. When you are ready, read it out loud to me.”

They talk about how good it sounds, how it sounds like talking, and how it is easier to hear what the author wants to say. If the student had difficulty with the phrasing, the teacher encourages him to read it again until he thinks it sounds good.

Closure and Conclusion

The teacher says, “Later, when we have partner reading time you can read your book to your partner. When you read it with feeling and phrasing, the listeners will enjoy hearing you read.”