Teach prosody through dramatized contrasts, slashed passages, and modeled expression¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

This strategy focuses instructional time on reading with expression. The guide defines prosody as "reading with expression, appropriate pitch and tempo, and pauses at the right places," and suggests dramatizing its importance by reading a paragraph twice—once flat and fast, once with prosody—then discussing which rendition was easier to understand. Students practice pausing at commas and stopping at periods, read passages marked with slashes showing phrase breaks, and can audio-record themselves to compare recent to previous recordings.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Present passages on the board with slashes marking where sentences and phrases end
• Provide feedback on what students did well and how they could improve expression or tempo

Constraints¶

Target Learners¶

• Students in grades 4-9 with reading difficulties

Target Learning Goals¶

• Reading aloud with expression, appropriate pacing, and pauses that support comprehension

Related Strategies¶

• Reading Fluency Practice
• Readers Theatre
• Paired Repeated Reading
• Reader's Theater
• Repeated Reading for Fluency
• Echo Reading
• Choral Reading
• Rereading

Examples¶

-

Key Sources¶

• Vaughn, S., Gersten, R., Dimino, J., Taylor, M. J., Newman-Gonchar, R., Krowka, S., Kieffer, M. J., McKeown, M., Reed, D., Sanchez, M., St. Martin, K., Wexler, J., Morgan, S., Yañez, A., & Jayanthi, M. (2022). Providing Reading Interventions for Students in Grades 4–9 (WWC 2022007). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE), Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/PracticeGuide/29