Laurel
Helm
Edok#2
Fall 2012
Dr. Cozens
McPhail, C. (2008). Reader's theater for reading improvement. Essential Teacher, 5(3). Retrieved from http://www.tesol.org/s_tesol /sec_document.asp?CID=1929&DID=11490
Central Theme:
Students need to practice reading aloud with expression to get better at interpreting the author’s meaning. Reading rate should not be the measured for oral reading success because it really doesn’t measure students comprehension.
MAIN IDEAS:
1. Cindy McPhail worked with a group of sixth grade bilingual students for 11 weeks. She had planned out ways to help the students become better readers. The group had an average of a mid-third grade reading level. First the students read through dialogues from a book they had been reading in class. Students were able to preread the different parts so this provided a safety net for them. The students had to pay attention to comas, quotation marks, and phrasing in order to all stay together.
2. Once students had practice with tone, volume, and rate of speech they were divided into smaller groups. Each student was given a character that they were to read aloud for. This made each student have to be accountable and pay attention to what was being read. They also had to determine who was speaking and how their speech might sound.
3. At the end of the 11 weeks students were able to move into independent reading. They were sometimes recorded so they could play the recording back to hear themselves read aloud. They were encouraged to read aloud to the class and were given positive feedback.
4. Students were recorded and given a score between 1 and 7 at the beginning of the year and at the end of the focused expressive reading. Students improved as much as a grade and a half. With the improvement students reading rate really didn’t change. This led to the conclusion that student’s comprehension should not be based on their reading rate alone.
5. According to the article the most meaningful result for implementing the modified reader’s theater technique was that students were much more willing to read and speak in front of their class.
AUTHOR’S CONCLUSION:
There were many benefits to implementing a modified reader’s theater to the classroom. Students were able to learn how to better expressively read as well as become more confident in their reading and speaking. Even though students became better readers, their reading rate usually didn’t increase. This shows that students reading rate should not be the only factor in determining their reading skill.
EVALUATION:
I really liked the idea of the modified reader’s theater. It really seems like a good technique to use to help your students become more confident to read aloud. This is especially helpful for ESL students. It gives them time to grow and they can look back at their progress. It also helped me to see that reading rate is not as important as I thought. Comprehension is more important and students need practice sometimes to better be able to comprehend what they are reading.
Edok#2
Fall 2012
Dr. Cozens
McPhail, C. (2008). Reader's theater for reading improvement. Essential Teacher, 5(3). Retrieved from http://www.tesol.org/s_tesol /sec_document.asp?CID=1929&DID=11490
Central Theme:
Students need to practice reading aloud with expression to get better at interpreting the author’s meaning. Reading rate should not be the measured for oral reading success because it really doesn’t measure students comprehension.
MAIN IDEAS:
1. Cindy McPhail worked with a group of sixth grade bilingual students for 11 weeks. She had planned out ways to help the students become better readers. The group had an average of a mid-third grade reading level. First the students read through dialogues from a book they had been reading in class. Students were able to preread the different parts so this provided a safety net for them. The students had to pay attention to comas, quotation marks, and phrasing in order to all stay together.
2. Once students had practice with tone, volume, and rate of speech they were divided into smaller groups. Each student was given a character that they were to read aloud for. This made each student have to be accountable and pay attention to what was being read. They also had to determine who was speaking and how their speech might sound.
3. At the end of the 11 weeks students were able to move into independent reading. They were sometimes recorded so they could play the recording back to hear themselves read aloud. They were encouraged to read aloud to the class and were given positive feedback.
4. Students were recorded and given a score between 1 and 7 at the beginning of the year and at the end of the focused expressive reading. Students improved as much as a grade and a half. With the improvement students reading rate really didn’t change. This led to the conclusion that student’s comprehension should not be based on their reading rate alone.
5. According to the article the most meaningful result for implementing the modified reader’s theater technique was that students were much more willing to read and speak in front of their class.
AUTHOR’S CONCLUSION:
There were many benefits to implementing a modified reader’s theater to the classroom. Students were able to learn how to better expressively read as well as become more confident in their reading and speaking. Even though students became better readers, their reading rate usually didn’t increase. This shows that students reading rate should not be the only factor in determining their reading skill.
EVALUATION:
I really liked the idea of the modified reader’s theater. It really seems like a good technique to use to help your students become more confident to read aloud. This is especially helpful for ESL students. It gives them time to grow and they can look back at their progress. It also helped me to see that reading rate is not as important as I thought. Comprehension is more important and students need practice sometimes to better be able to comprehend what they are reading.