Shared Reading:

In early childhood classrooms, shared reading is the anchor of a balanced literacy program. So what does it look like. Here is a great illustration.

In Ms. Avery’s classroom, kindergarten students are sitting on a colorful rug waiting for the “show” to begin.  It’s shared reading time, one of their favorite times of the day.  Ms. Avery is sitting in a rocking chair with a giant easel to her right.  Perched on the easel is a Big Book.  It’s a brand new big book, one Ms. Avery has picked specifically for shared reading.

But before she begins, Ms. Avery warms–up by rereading a big book the students are already familiar with.  She reinforces some concepts of printed words or models a new reading strategy.  Now the students are prepared for the new book.

Ms. Avery takes the book from the easel, shows the children the cover, reads the title and author.  She returns the book to the easel.  Now she’s ready to open the book, turn the pages and most importantly, open wide the doors to new adventures through reading.

First, the students excitedly predict what the book is about.  There’s a lot of sharing going on as they talk about their background knowledge and similar experiences related to the book.  Ms. Avery prompts the sharing by asking guiding questions, such as:

• “What do you think our new book is about?”
• “Who has been to the circus?”
• “Have you ever had trouble getting out of bed in the morning?”

Then finally, it’s time for the story.

Ms. Avery reads the tale with enthusiasm and fluent expression.  No stopping the first time through.  The first reading is to let the students simply enjoy the story and note the rhythmic pattern of the words.  During the second reading, Ms. Avery will point to the words as she reads them again.  The students know they’re invited to read along if they want.

The following day, Ms. Avery reads the book for the third time.  Now she implements other shared reading strategies into the lesson. Most students will be eager to read along by this time.

Ms. Avery has covered several words with index cards or post-it notes and asks the students to think of words that would make sense.   They can use predicting skills to help them identify the word, such as looking at the first and last letter of the word.  When the shared reading lesson is over, she puts the new big book in the class library so students can revisit it during independent reading.