'Wanna' Share?: Making Shared Reading Effective
My First Thoughts on Shared Reading
When I started my career in education seven years ago our literacy block was Reader's Workshop with Guided Reading. It was not until I started my sixth-year degree that I fully understood what the purpose of shared reading was and how effective it can be in your classroom. Being a Kindergarten teacher, I thought shared reading was only beneficial to the primary grades. I saw many teachers using big books and picture books, but boy was I wrong! I have learned that using poems, songs, commercials, and music videos can all be used effectively as a shared reading lesson.
What your students may think Shared Reading is?
- Telling about your favorite book
- Doing a book report/ project
- Sharing a book with a friend
- Discussing their favorite part in a book
What is Shared Reading Actually Is?
Shared reading is an instructional and interactive approach where the teacher models and teaches explicit skills that do not always have to be fluency. Shared reading is done in a whole group model where the text can be repeated with a focus on various skills. A misconception is that shared reading is only done through picture books however, it is an effective tool across many genres and types of print.
Skills that can be taught in a shared reading:
- print concepts
- making predictions
- reading with expression
- sight word recognition
- phonemic awareness
- decoding
- comprehension
- vocabulary
- characters feelings
- inferring
Fountas and Pinnell- Shared Reading at a Glance
Why is Shared Reading Important?
Shared reading can be very effective as long as there is a clear focus and purpose for each lesson. It is important because it can provide learning opportunities for readers on all ability levels, it is engaging, and it makes all students feel successful and confident with their reading skills. Shared reading allows teachers to use the same text across a week with a focus on a different skill each day. With my own observations in my classroom, I have found my students to be actively engaged in the lessons and by the end of the week they know the book by heart! I see a big confidence boost in my struggling readers and my shy students are not feeling afraid or scared to participate and read along!
One important tool/advice I have learned when planning shared reading lessons is to have a clear focus and goal for each lesson. Teaching too many skills in one lesson is not effective and causes confusion for students on what you are explicitly trying to teach. When planning my own shared reading lessons I ask myself these questions:
1. What targeted skills do I want to focus on?
2. What book will help me teach these skills?
3. Are my focuses clear and have a purpose?
These questions have really helped me plan meaningful shared reading lessons where the students are learning and engaged throughout the lessons!
What Does Shared Reading Look Like in Primary Grades?
If you were to walk into a primary classroom during a shared reading you would most likely see a big book, a picture book, a poem, or nursery rhyme. The focus usually is building foundational skills such as print concepts, phonemic awareness skills, sight words, and reading with expression.
A weeks lesson may look like:
Day 1- Print Concepts/ Making Predictions
Day 2- Phonemic Awareness Skills (rhyming)
Day 3- Reading with Expression
Day 4- Sight Words
Day 5- Comprehension
Books I have used to teach Shared Reading in my Kindergarten Class
What Does it look like in Upper Elementary?
As stated earlier, I thought for the longest time shared reading was mainly done in the primary grades. After taking courses for my reading degree I was in awe on how you can incorporate media and technology while teaching reading comprehension skills. In the upper elementary grades the skills shift more to comprehension, higher-level thinking, and complex vocabulary. What I liked about incorporating media is that it allowed struggling readers to apply certain skills without having the frustration of reading a text and then trying to answer questions.
For example, a past professor used Taylor Swifts music video "You Belong With Me" as an example of shared reading. She mapped out specific skills she would focus on. I thought it was so creative and engaging!
Listen 1: Listen and jot down notes
Listen 2: Focus on characters what do you notice
Listen 3: Inferring characters feelings
I was so engaged in this lesson and it was after a full day of teaching Kindergarten!!
I recently just watched a video of a shared reading lesson in a third-grade classroom. The purpose of the lesson was to take a stance on whether they thought the character was strong or weak using evidence from the text. Once they picked their side they worked in groups to discuss and find their evidence. From there they worked with a partner and told them why they thought their character was weak or strong. It was amazing to see how well they collaborated and the students were engaged and proud of their work! The more students can engage and discuss the better!
Shared Reading and Technology
Using technology for shared reading is great to keep students engaged. Besides big books and picture books for shared reading lessons I also use my document camera and Promethean board. Raz- Kids have projectable books where you can use the highlighter and maker tools. If our focus is working on rhyming words the students can come and highlight or circle the words on the board. I have also used my document camera to post nursery rhymes and poems. I find it helpful because all students can see and it makes the lessons more interactive!
Hi Katie! Your blog post really helped me to understand what shared reading is and where it belongs in the curriculum. I loved how you explained what shared reading looks like at both primary and upper elementary levels. Your laying out of what one weeks lesson would look like gave me a grasp on how shared reading works and what it's purpose is in a classroom. I always associate read-alouds with increasing fluency and helping student's to build their language and phonemic awareness, but shared reading takes this idea to the next level. Shared reading allows students to be more engaged in the learning process since it is so student-centered. I'm glad you also provided an example of how this would look in the upper grades because I wasn't positive how this could play out. Using music, poems or any other type of media is a great idea to engage this older population! Now I'm curious how my perspective of "You Belong With Me" would change after thinking of it from a shared reading point of view. Overall, thank you for sharing this valuable information! I am definitely looking forward to using shared reading in my future classroom.
ReplyDeleteHey Katie! I thought that your blog was constructed really nicely and very thought provoking as I never had really thought of other ways that you could incorporate a shared reading in the classroom. One of the points that stood out to me the most was the fact that shared reading is not only done through picture books but also across a wide variety of genres and types of print. I found your list on the skills can be enforced during a shared reading very beneficial because I have not had that much experience doing this in the classroom yet. I think that your blog did an excellent job of explaining and outlining how beneficial a shared reading could be in both upper and lower grades in elementary school. One of the teachers that I was working with allowed me to do this with a small group and as you mentioned in your blog by the end of the week the students knew the book by heart! (and new skills) Great post!
ReplyDeleteHi Katie, I really enjoyed reading your post as it was so informative. Like you I wasn't aware of the many ways that shared reading can be used throughout different grade levels and always assumed you needed a big book or picture book of some sort. I really liked how to addressed the misconceptions of shared reading along with examples of how it can be used at any elementary level. I like that you included how you use shared reading in your own classroom and gave the layout of lesson sequencing and example books. This is really helpful and can be used as a guide for anyone who is looking to try out shared reading for the first time! The video you included was also very helpful as it showed what shared reading can look like at a higher grade level. I found it interesting that this teacher paired her story with a debate for her class to practice taking a position and supporting it with evidence. I think this is a great way for students to come up with their own arguments and actively work out their stance with a group of peers who have the same position. This was very helpful to get a better understanding of what shared reading is. Great Job!
ReplyDeleteKatie - Great job organizing your blog and including both lower and upper elementary examples. Until some of my recent graduate courses- I didn't think that shared reading was something that could be effective with the older students. I really like how you mentioned using song lyrics and music videos to capture students attention and also cover various comprehension skills. The concept of shared reading has really evolved from the idea of just gathering around for a read aloud.
ReplyDeleteHi Katie, this is a great way to describe Shared Reading! I agree with you, shared reading was not something I experienced until starting my 6th-year. I feel that it is overlooked in many classrooms ESPECIALLY in upper grades because of the common misconception. If you asked me a few years ago whether I use shared reading in my third grade classroom, I would have said no. Teachers can use a plethora of resources to teach and guide students during a shared reading. I use shared "reading" in my classroom now more than ever with videos, passages, songs, etc. It is a great way to get the students thinking when using higher level, challenging texts. During these lessons, the teacher is not lecturing or teaching AT the children but, instead, GUIDING the students with a focus and open ended questions to further their knowledge and understanding. Shared reading can be used for a magnitude of skills in any grade, even past elementary school. I like how you added the example of a week layout of lessons in the younger grades along with a few books that you have personally used. It gives aspiring teachers as well as veteran teachers an outline of how to work Shared Reading into their plans. It truly is a hidden gem and an extremely useful resources in teaching.
ReplyDeleteHi Katie! Thank you for sharing your blog post! I thought the title was great and immediately caught my attention. I never realized not only the importance of shared reading, but also how it can be implicated in so many different lessons and grades. Something that caught my eye in your post is how shared reading looks like in upper elementary school. It is fascinating how you can incorporate media and technology while teaching reading comprehension skills and how it allows struggling readers to apply certain skills without having frustration of reading a text and then answering questions. In your example, I like how a Taylor swift song was used as an example of shared reading. It makes the lesson so engaging and fun! This is something I would definitely do if I become an upper elementary school teacher!!
ReplyDeleteHi Katie! I really enjoyed reading your blog post! I love how you shared the perspective of what students may think Shared Reading is. I feel that is it definitely beneficial to view things from your student’s perspective. I enjoyed how you also stated, “A misconception is that shared reading is only done through picture books however, it is an effective tool across many genres and types of print.” It is very helpful to address any misconceptions that can be held about a given subject that you are discussing. This allowed me to understand the topic in a much deeper and more effective manner. I also loved how you went on to discuss what Shared Reading looks like in primary grades and upper elementary. This gave a very clear picture of how this could be incorporated in our classrooms. You even broke it down into a week’s lesson, day by day. This visual was awesome. Overall, I loved the organization of your post. It was very easy to follow and flowed nicely.
ReplyDeleteHey Katie! I loved reading your blog. From the title alone, you really grasped my attention. I really liked when you gave your own experience to shared reading, "With my own observations in my classroom, I have found my students to be actively engaged in the lessons and by the end of the week they know the book by heart! I see a big confidence boost in my struggling readers and my shy students are not feeling afraid or scared to participate and read along!" This is such a great thing as a teacher to see. I also really enjoyed how you explained not only primary grades, but also upper grades as well. This was such a great addition to your blog. It was so greatly explained too but how you showed a weeks lesson plan. Overall, this blog was awesome! It really helped me understand how beneficial shared reading is, great job!
ReplyDeleteHi Katie – great work on your blog! When I saw your blog was about shared reading, I was excited to dive into your work and read about your thoughts on it. I feel like I see shared reading occur a lot at my internship, but I didn’t even realize it was shared reading until I read the list you include! When I think of shared reading, I usually think of a teacher sitting with her students at the rug and the class listening to the story. However, there is more to this when it comes to shared reading. I really like how you included why shared reading is important in a classroom. When us as teachers use shared reading, we have to make sure our focus is clear and our students are ready to be engaged. After reading this section in your blog, it brought me back to a time when I was in the first grade classes at my internship. They teach new reading strategies every few days based on books that they have. Since they have a clear focus of what strategy they are learning that day, they can really focus on that while the book is being read. The fact that you included shared reading in lower compared to upper elementary is a great way to understand the difference between what you may see in the different grade levels – I really like this part of your blog! Thanks for a great blog post on shared reading… I will definitely be keeping some of the tips you included in your blog post in my future classroom!
ReplyDeleteHi Katie I found you blog post extremely informative and engaging. I love how it reads like a story in the sense you keep building on the previous section. It helps the reader get acclimated to what you are speaking about and address some misconceptions. I appreciate your breakdown of shared reading and how it truly impacts students and the class as a whole. It was also interesting to read about using less traditional modes of text including digital resources. Students growing up today will always be surrounded by digital media and resources so it should be important to have them interact with them in the classroom. One part in particular I found most interesting was making it a point of having a clear focus when you are having the students participate in shared reading. It is one thing to just have students do the reading but it is another to have them do it with intention. Thanks for that awesome post and all the information you shared!
ReplyDeleteHi Katie! Believe me when I say that this blog post kept my attention from the beginning to the end. Though I'm currently only certified to teach 1-6, I have always been interested in kindergarten. Your take on this topic as a kindergarten teacher really amped up my desire to be birth-K certified. I've taken literacy classes that have talked about shared reading in the past but it was always limited to books or short stories. None of my professors ever talked about the possibility of using a poem or video as a shared reading. I loved your professor's example of using a Taylor Swift music video as a way to teach inferring. There are so many topics you can cover with a shared reading lesson and now that my mindset isn't stuck solely on using big books, I can't wait to develop lesson around other types of media that might keep kids a little more interested in the learning. Thanks for a great thought-provoking post!
ReplyDeleteKatie, great blog. I actually needed a refresher about what shared reading is and how to effectively use it in the classroom. I agree that it really is an effective tool when used correctly. I really liked your examples and ideas for good read alouds to use in the classroom.I thought your approach to bring it to older grades was really helpful. I think modeling is so crucial for children and read alouds , if done correctly can teach so many critical literacy skills.
ReplyDeleteHi Katie, this was an amazing post! I really like the discussion about shared reading because I think that multiple perspectives about topics in life are a great thing. I am a big believer in students learning from their peers and educators learning from their students. I feel during shared reading all three sides of the shared reading can learn so much positively about one another and also bring light to new ideas to work on deeper. Great post!
ReplyDeleteHi Katie! I loved this post!! I learned so much! I like how you listed the specific skills that can be taught just during shared reading, amazing. I also loved how you broke up shared reading into what it looks like in the primary grade versus the upper grades. Shared reading using Taylor Swift's music video? No way, so cool! It was awesome to learn that shared reading isn't just with books. Thank you for a great post!
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