"Alright, guys.  Good practice today.  We're done for the day.  Jay, can I talk to you for a bit."

Jay dribbled the ball over to Coach Green.  "What's going on, Coach?"

"Your English teacher talked to me about your grades. It looks like you are not turning in your work."

"It's just so boring.  I don't care about it.  Who needs reading anyway?  I can find anything online watching TikTok."

 "Reading is important.  If you can't read, how are you going to know what your paycheck says when you get out of here?

Jay grinned and bounced the ball at coach.  Coach asked, "What's so boring about it?"

We have to read these sight words, we have to read the words without even thinking.  It's like we don't even have time to read the word before I say it."

Coach was making basket after basket while talking to Jay.

Coach told him, "That's called automaticity."  Coach stopped shooting basked and looked at Jay with a smirk on his face.  "How many baskets did I make while you were talking?"

"I don't know, like five or something? "

"Try six," coach said.  "I can keep making baskets because I have practiced making baskets for more years than you have been alive.  It's automatic for me, and for you if you keep practicing.  Reading is the same thing, she wants you to practice so that you can say the words right and immediately.  And she wants you to be accurate, so you don't have to think about what to say."

Coach took another shot- all net.

"See that's what your teacher wants you to do.  You practice sight words so that you can say words like I shoot baskets."

 Coach passed the ball to Jay.  Jay took a shot, it circled the rim and bounced on the ground.

Coach grabbed the rebound, dribbled and took a shot- two points.  "See?"

Ok, but that's not all.  She wants us to read with expression."

"That's prosody, it's the way you give words expression and feeling."

"See, who cares about that?", said Jay.  "What does she think I'm going to do?  Join the Drama club."  Jay passed the ball to coach, coach started dribbling the ball between his legs down the court.  At the free throw line he stops and makes the shot.

I could have just dribbled the ball down the court, but I had some fun with it.  Why do you do that on the court?"

 "I don't know?  To have some fun, to make things interesting.  To show the other players that I have skills."

Coach said to Jay, "Same thing in reading.  If you spoke like this." Coach said sounding like a robot.  "You would get bored in a few minutes.  She wants you to know only know what's correct, but sound correct also.  She wants you to have speaking skills like dribbling skills."

Jay started to sound frustrated as he realized he wasn't convincing Coach.  So, what's the next problem?"

Jay smiled at coach and started to tell him to "shut up" but realized that would not be a good idea.