Action Research Project

Prosody: The Music of Oral Language

[Student K & Student A]
4th Grade

Mary Kathryn
Gates
Samford University
Fall 2015

Initial Meeting With Ms. White

Students discussed and chosen
Found commonalities that relate to reading
Predict number of sessions based on availability
Class schedule and both students individual schedules

Essential Question Determined

Background: Meet the Students

Student K
Fast reading rate
Inappropriate
phrasing
Lack of expression
Conversationalist
Curious
Funny

Student A
Word-by-word
reading
Inappropriate
phrasing
Lack of expression
Disinterest in
reading
Shy
Hard worker
Athletic

The Question
How can the prosodic features of
student oral reading be improved to
increase fluency?

Research and Best Practice

Research and Background

Strategies and Best Practice

Miller, J., & Schwanenflugel, P.

(2006, 2008).

Guerin, A., & Murphy, B. (2015).

Model Explicit Fluent Reading

FluencyExpressionProsody

Choral Reading

Pattern and rhythm in oral

reading

Repeated Reading

Difficult to measure
Pitch, stress, intonation
The music of oral
language

Fluency Rubrics
Reading with expression
Example and non example
MCREL

Assessments
Initial, Midpoint, and Final Assessment:
K-6 Fluency Rubric for Prosody
Book: Goldie Socks and the Three Librarians by Jackie
Mims Hopkins
Reading Interest Inventory Survey
Fluency Voice Jar

Fluency Rubric for Prosody

Based on the data
collected and
compared
between the
Initial and Final
Assessments,
Student A and
Student K both
showed
improvement in
the prosodic
features of their
oral reading.

Instruction/Practice
Vocal Prosody Card Game
Sentence Sailboats
Readers Theatre: My Friend Is Sad (Mo Willems)
Repeated Reading:
Goldie Socks and the Three Librarians by Jackie Mims
Hopkins

Reflection
Likes
Prosody
Practices
Know Students
Experience

Changes
Balance:
Expression & Prosody

Fluency Rubric
Spectrogram
Self-Assessment

References
Guerin, A., & Murphy, B. (2015). Repeated Reading as a Method to Improve Reading
Fluency for Struggling Adolescent Readers. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy.
Hudson, R., Lane, H., & Pullen, P. (2005). Reading Fluency Assessment And
Instruction: What, Why, And How? The Reading Teacher.
Miller, J., & Schwanenflugel, P. (2006). Prosody of syntactically complex sentences in
the oral reading of young children. Journal of Educational Psychology.
Miller, J., & Schwanenflugel, P. (2008). A Longitudinal Study of the Development of
Reading Prosody as a Dimension of Oral Reading Fluency in Early Elementary School
Children.
Schwanenflugal, P., Hamilton, A., Wisenbaker, J., Kuhn, M., & Stahl, S. (2009).
Becoming a Fluent Reader: Reading Skill and Prosodic Features in the Oral Reading
of Young Readers.