Lexia Reading Core5

Primary Standard: RFS.5.4b - Read grade-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy,
appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.
Supporting Standards: RL.5.10,RFS.5.4a,RFS.5.4c,RIT.5.10,RFS.5.3a

LEXIA LESSONS

LEVELS 17 & 18 | Fluency

Passage Fluency, Lesson 4

Description
This lesson is designed to help students read with expression, conveying meaning with their
voice. The general term prosody includes the elements of pitch, stress, and phrasing that make
for expressive reading. Prosody makes reading sound like spoken language. By listening to
good models and practicing with varied texts, students make the necessary links between
prosody and meaning that characterize fluent readers.

Teacher Tips
The following steps show a lesson with short texts for students to listen to or read. If necessary,
substitute simpler or more complex examples from students own independent-level reading.

Preparation/Materials
Sample Passage at the end of this lesson

Reproducible page at the end of

this lesson

Direct Instruction

going to talk about reading with expression. When we read aloud, we try to use
Tourodayvoicewetoareshow
what the author means. This helps us to think about the meaning of what
were reading as we read it.

Display or distribute the Sample Passage at the end of the lesson with sentences grouped as
indicated below.

Reproduction rights for PALM SPRINGS UNIF SCHOOL DIST for use until June 30, 2017.
Printed by Leann Hoelscher.
This material is a component of Lexia Reading www.lexialearning.com
2016 Lexia Learning Systems LLC

Tell students to listen as you read the first part of the story aloud and to think about how you
can improve your reading. Use a robot-like monotone to read the following sentences.

glanced around the school yard, looking for his friend Fabio. The boys were
Tyrese
going to do a research project together, and Tyrese was eager to choose a topic. Finally,
he saw Fabio sitting on the grass, so he hurried over.

hat sounded strange and hard to understand. I was not varying the pitch of my voice. A
Tpersons
voice naturally changes when speaking, so a readers voice should also vary.
Reread the sentences naturally, varying the pitch and emphasizing the important words, such
as looking, together, topic, hurried.
sentences make more sense when my voice rises and falls naturally. I also show meaning
Tbyhegiving
the most important words more stressI say them a little more strongly than the
other words. Lets listen to the next part of the story.

As you read this part aloud, show a variety of inappropriate phrasingsread word-by-word, pause
after two-word phrases, pause in the middle of meaningful chunks, and ignore punctuation.
Fabio! Tyrese said. Are you ready to plan our project?
Hi,
Fabio didnt answer. He was crouched down close to the ground, squinting at something.
good reader groups words that belong together and pauses between the groups. Sometimes
Athere
is a comma to indicate a slight pause, but at other times its the meaning that indicates the
need for a slight pause. End marks, such as exclamation marks or periods, always indicate a
slightly longer pause.

Script page 1

Lexia Reading Core5

Primary Standard: RFS.5.4b - Read grade-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy,
appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.
Supporting Standards: RL.5.10,RFS.5.4a,RFS.5.4c,RIT.5.10,RFS.5.3a

LEXIA LESSONS

LEVELS 17 & 18 | Fluency

Passage Fluency, Lesson 4


Reread the segment. As you read it aloud, add single slashes at points where you pause very
briefly. Add double slashes to signal a slightly longer pause at an end mark. For example:

 Hi, / Fabio! / Tyrese said. // Are you ready to plan our project?//
Fabio didnt answer. // He was crouched down / close to the ground, / squinting
at something. //

Guided Practice
Have students reread the coded sentence.

Lets read these sentences again together. Well make a very short pause at the single slashes,
and a slightly longer pause at the double slashes that come at the end of a sentence.
students read the segment with you, mark the rest of the story to model appropriate
After
phrasing and practice reading it together.
at these ants! / said Fabio. // I dropped my cookie, / and now theyre carrying
Look
it away / in pieces! // How do they work together so well / as a team? // How do they
communicate? //

I dont know, / said Tyrese. // But I have an idea / for the topic / of our research project! //

Discuss the following strategies and features as appropriate with given text. List these on the
board if needed.
End marks (period, question mark, and exclamation point) indicate a pause at the end of a
sentence.
Commas indicate a slight pause within a sentence.

Reproduction rights for PALM SPRINGS UNIF SCHOOL DIST for use until June 30, 2017.
Printed by Leann Hoelscher.
This material is a component of Lexia Reading www.lexialearning.com
2016 Lexia Learning Systems LLC

Quotation marks often indicate words spoken by a character in the story.

Draw students attention to punctuation marks in the displayed passage. Have students
identify each end markperiod, question mark, exclamation point and comma. Review that
each punctuation mark signals a pause. Reread a sentence ending with each kind of end mark,
telling students to listen to how your voice changes depending on the end mark: to make a
statement, it goes down and to show strong feelings, it is more intense. Have students read
selected sentences aloud to show these purposes.

Reread sentences with commas, focusing attention on the shorter pause.

Point out the punctuation signaling dialoguequotation marks, commas, and end marks.
Support students as they take turns reading aloud the dialogue to show how the characters
and narrator sound.

Independent Application
Review the behaviors for students to focus on.

s we read, we think about how to sound like someone speaking naturally and show what the
Aauthor
means. We make our voice rise and fall, we stress some words more than others, and we
group words in ways that make sense. In order to do this we often use punctuation.

Script page 2

Lexia Reading Core5

LEVELS 17 & 18 | Fluency

Passage Fluency, Lesson 4

Have students work in pairs. Distribute the passages found at the end of this lesson. Give
students time to read each item silently and ask for any help with decoding.

se your voice to show what the sentences mean. Use the strategies we have discussed, paying
Uclose
attention to punctuation and meaningful word groups. You may want to add slashes to
help you remember to pause.


Have students read the passages aloud to each other. Encourage them to reread as many
times as necessary to give an expressive oral reading.

Wrap-Up
Check students understanding. Choose two sentences from a text that students are reading
independently. Give a halting, dysfluent oral reading and ask students to play the role of teacher
and show you how to read the sentences to express meaning.
Use students responses to guide your choice of activities in the Adaptations section on the
following page.

Reproduction rights for PALM SPRINGS UNIF SCHOOL DIST for use until June 30, 2017.
Printed by Leann Hoelscher.
This material is a component of Lexia Reading www.lexialearning.com
2016 Lexia Learning Systems LLC

Primary Standard: RFS.5.4b - Read grade-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy,
appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.
Supporting Standards: RL.5.10,RFS.5.4a,RFS.5.4c,RIT.5.10,RFS.5.3a

LEXIA LESSONS

Script page 3

Lexia Reading Core5

Primary Standard: RFS.5.4b - Read grade-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy,
appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.
Supporting Standards: RL.5.10,RFS.5.4a,RFS.5.4c,RIT.5.10,RFS.5.3a

LEXIA LESSONS

Adaptations
For Students Who Need More Support

For Students Ready to Move On

Option 1: To develop a better sense of

how punctuation affects their prosody,
create mini sentences using three to four
letters from the alphabet with a variety of
punctuation marks. For example: Abc. Def!
Ghij? Klm, nop.

Option 1: Provide extended practice with

both narrative and informational text and
have students use their voices to show
meaning. Remind students of the following
strategies. Have them work with a partner.

Option 2: When students are ready to move

into text, be sure the text contains words that
are easily recognized by the student as well
as simple sentence structures.
Echo Reading is a method for modeling
fluent oral reading that students can
imitate. Display the text so that students can
follow along as you read aloud one or two
sentences at a time. Have them repeat the
text as they run their finger under it.
Option 3: Help students develop sensitivity
to changes in stress. Display one sentence
at a time and stress different words in it.
Talk about how the meaning changes as
one word is spoken more strongly than the
others. For example:

Reproduction rights for PALM SPRINGS UNIF SCHOOL DIST for use until June 30, 2017.
Printed by Leann Hoelscher.
This material is a component of Lexia Reading www.lexialearning.com
2016 Lexia Learning Systems LLC

LEVELS 17 & 18 | Fluency

Passage Fluency, Lesson 4

When reading a story, imagine how the

character probably feels. Try to express
that feeling as you say the characters
words.
When reading information, imagine that
the author is speaking. Try to use your
voice to sound like an author explaining
ideas clearly.
Option 2: Have students identify end marks,
dialogue, and punctuation in their own
independent reading. Ask them to explain
what those features guide readers to do.
Select short passages for them to rehearse
to express meaning with appropriate pitch,
stress, and phrasing. These can be read
aloud or performed in front of a group or
with a partner.

I want that apple.

(The apple is for me.)
I want that apple.
(I really, really want it.)
I want that apple.
(I want that one, not a different one.)
I want that apple.
(I want the apple, not something else.)

Script page 4

Lexia Reading Core5

Primary Standard: RFS.5.4b - Read grade-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy,
appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.
Supporting Standards: RL.5.10,RFS.5.4a,RFS.5.4c,RIT.5.10,RFS.5.3a

LEXIA LESSONS

LEVELS 17 & 18 | Fluency

Passage Fluency, Lesson 4

Sample Passage

Tyrese glanced around the school yard, looking for his friend
Fabio. The boys were going to do a research project together, and
Tyrese was eager to choose a topic. Finally, he saw Fabio sitting on the
grass, so he hurried over.

Hi, Fabio! Tyrese said. Are you ready to plan our project?

Fabio didnt answer. He was crouched down close to the ground,
squinting at something.

Look at these ants! said Fabio. I dropped my cookie, and now
theyre carrying it away in pieces! How do they work together so well as
a team? How do they communicate?

Reproduction rights for PALM SPRINGS UNIF SCHOOL DIST for use until June 30, 2017.
Printed by Leann Hoelscher.
This material is a component of Lexia Reading www.lexialearning.com
2016 Lexia Learning Systems LLC

I dont know, said Tyrese. But I have an idea for the topic of our
research project!

Students who complete this lesson should return to the online activities in Lexia Reading Core5.
For further development of automaticity with these skills, provide students with Lexia Skill Builders.
Script page 5