What is Shared Reading?

Shared Reading is an interactive reading experience. Children join in the reading of a big book or other enlarged text as guided by a teacher or other experienced reader. Shared Reading is generally accomplished using an enlarged text that all children can see. Student interactivity is the distinguishing feature of Shared Reading versus Reading Aloud. Selected books must be suitable for students to join in the experience. During the reading the teacher or another reader involves the children in reading together by pointing to or sliding below each word in the text. This provides children the opportunity to participate and behave like a reader. Shared reading models the reading process and strategies used by readers. The teacher deliberately draws attention to the print and models early reading behaviors such as moving from left to right and word-by-word matching. Shared Reading creates a risk-free environment, allowing children to focus on the enjoyment of the story.

The selected book must have the possibility of multiple readings for enjoyment. Many texts used in early stages of literacy have a repeating refrain or rhyme to increase the enjoyment of reading the story over and over. The book is initially read by the teacher to model reading strategies. In subsequent readings, the children become more interactive.

Teaching Methods

Initial reading (done by teacher) follows this pattern: Gather children in an area close to the book. The book must be easily seen by the children.

• Introduce book (share theme, examine title, cover, illustrations, etc. make predictions)
• Excite student's imagination and relate prior experience to text
• Concentrate on enjoying the text as a whole (Read with few stops)
• Encourage students to use background knowledge to make predictions
• Encourage spontaneous participation in the reading of the story
• Discuss personal responses to the book
• Be positive in accepting/encouraging children's responses
• Teacher is almost entirely responsible for the reading of the text.
• Close Reading- (Subsequent readings)
• Direct children's attention to various aspects of the text, and reading strategies, and skills. Many of the strategies needed for independent reading can be taught during shared reading, especially when shared reading takes place with a small group versus the whole class.
• Identify vocabulary, ideas and facts, discuss author's style, skill, and viewpoint. Remember to focus on the enjoyment of the story. Try not to draw attention away from the story with too many teaching points or too much attention to detail.
• Experiment with intonation and expression, discuss colorful phrases or words.
• Attend to teaching points as they arise.

The children's contributions may range from reading in their heads or mouthing some of the words to more complete renderings which may include a number of approximations. Techniques for children participation could include:

• choral reading
• oral cloze (where the teacher pauses or drops his/her voice out of a choral reading)
• dramatization
• recording children reading the text
• masking activities
• word work such as "Be the Words" or sorting the words

Help children become familiar with texts so they can use the book independently for writing and reading.

The benefits of Shared Reading can be extended when teachers and children choose to make their own "big book" in response to a story or text. This provides a way for the teacher to model how author's ideas can be revisited and related to one's own experiences.

Classroom Activities

• Alphabet Frame
  
  Students having learned about a topic begin recall and list words that reflect their understanding. For example students studying bears might decide that den, honey, furry, and hibernate are key concept words. They might write:
  
  • D is for bears. Why? Becaise bears live in dens.
  • H is for bears. Why? Because bears love to eat honey.
  • F is for bears. Why? Because bears are furry.
  • The students can illustrate their sentences.

Resources

Tools and Materials for a Shared Reading Tool Box

The Art of Storytelling. This ThinkQuest entry provides students with information about storytelling. It includes several folktales, along with tips for reading the story aloud.

eStories at weRead.com. From this page select eStories. This site contains a small selection of online stories. Stories are animated and include some sound.

Shared Reading Lesson Plans from Sunshine Online's Literacy Hour. This site provides activities and resources to support teachers in teaching literacy skills. The site highlights several stories and gives lesson examples and activities.

Return to the Previous Page