Perhaps, as you watched the presidential debates in the last election and observed the candidates arguing over statistics and supposedly partisan government reports, you might have been questioning their grade school marks on reading comprehension. At times they each quoted the same reports, and yet came up with very opposing interpretations.
That said, it's our obligation to improve the reading comprehension of today's students - who may become tomorrow's politicians. Just think - the future prosperity of America could depend on how well you teach reading comprehension today!

I'm sure each of you has a student (or two or three) in your class who reads without expression. Besides hindering their future prospects as a motivational speaker/politician, poor reading expression can also affect reading comprehension. Students who run over punctuation, don't vary their voice for dialogue and don't make questions sound different from statements often get confused about what they're reading. Just the simple act of running sentences together can greatly affect the meaning of a story or passage.
Here's an idea that might help your students improve their expression and their comprehension. Put the following statements up on the overhead and have students read them using different kinds of voices. For example, say it as a kindly, old grandmother, an angry boss, a sad father, or someone grumpy:

Children, do your homework.

It's time for bed.

Don't forget to feed the dog.

Your dentist appointment is today.

Have students take turns emphasizing certain words and hear how it changes the underlying meaning of the sentence. For instance, "Your dentist appointment is today!" is different than "Your dentist appointment is today!"

After doing this as a class, have students look up examples in the books they're reading of passages that need a reader's good expression. Have them read to a partner using different types of voices, as you did with the whole group. It's important that you do this last step so that students will transfer this activity to their everyday reading. Otherwise it may be remembered as just something fun you did as a class, but it may not be applied.
This idea, and many others, are in the book "Snapshots: Literacy Minilessons Up Close" by Linda Hoyt. She wrote "Revisit, Reflect, Retell" and has done several videos as well.

Debating the debate debacle,
Heather Wall

Winners never quit. Quiters never win. But if you never win and never quit, maybe you're just stupid.
~ Anonymous