Teaching Inflection & Voice

One aspect of good reading is inflection. Let’s face it – nobody wants to hear a robot read out loud to them. Selecting the right material is crucial in teaching young readers to read with inflection. This poem provides students the perfect chance to practice using emotion when they read. Try it, it’s fun…

 
At History I’m Hopeless (By Kenn Nesbitt)
 At history I’m hopeless.
At spelling I stink.
In music I’m useless.
From science I shrink.
At art I’m atrocious.
In sports I’m a klutz.
At reading I’m rotten.
And math makes me nuts.
At language I’m lousy.
Computers? I’m cursed.
In drama I’m dreadful.
My writing’s the worst.
There’s only one subject
I’m sure I would pass,
but they don’t teach
video games in my class.
 



Everyday Writing Project: Story Starters (free!)

My kids love writing and sharing stories, but sometimes they’re missing the basics (setting, conflict, etc.) or they don’t know what to write about. So this helps them stay focused and gets them started if they’re stuck. I have them write a rough draft (and maybe final draft) on another piece of paper. You could easily require the use of vocabulary/spelling words, specific kinds of figurative language, etc. in the story also.

Click here for the free printable PDFs: Story Starters 1-4 PDF   Happy writing!

Story Starter- Misc 1 Story Starter- Misc 2 Story Starter- Misc 3 Story Starter- Misc 4