INTRODUCTION/OVERVIEW
This module explores shared reading and its benefits for grades 3–8. You will examine the many aspects of shared reading
including purposes, appropriate texts, strategies to model, and procedures.
WHAT IS SHARED READING?
Shared reading (Allen, 2000) is “the heart of comprehensive literacy.” It is the time during which teachers model through th
aloud what good readers do with text. Students have their own copy of the text, watch the teacher (or other fluent reader) re
with fluency and expression, and are invited to read along. Shared reading builds a community of learners by helping students
teachers bond; students are partners in the learning process and see themselves as successful.
PROMINENT FEATURES OF SHARED READING:
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Teacher or other fluent reader reads text.
Students are invited to join the reading.
Teacher models reading and thinking strategies in context using self-stick notes, highlighters, etc.
Teacher models repeated readings, if applicable.
Text must be visible to all students (big books, charts, posters, overheads, textbooks, class sets, etc.).
After modeling, students take a more active role in shared reading. They reread material to the class and model their own
thinking.
Older, more fluent readers may present a shared reading lesson with teacher support.
Text level is on the average of the class.
Text supports and challenges.
ORGANIZE FOR SHARED READING
The shared reading process is similar in all grades. However, there can be physical differences in grades three and higher,
depending on the text used and room arrangement. Because shared reading builds community, it is best to conduct lessons in
homey setting, such as around a teacher’s chair, rocking chair, couch, etc. Students can sit on the floor, in chairs, or a combin
of both. If you use an overhead projector and transparency, have your students stay at their desks. Remember that all studen
must see you, and you must see all students. Keep the following items on hand for shared reading:
TOOLS FOR TEACHER
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Sturdy chart stand (or tape chart paper to wall)
Chart paper
Colored markers
Overhead markers
Basket or box to house smaller items
TOOLS FOR TEACHER AND STUDENTS
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Self-stick notes
Highlighters
Pencils
Colored pencils
OPTIONAL
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Carpet squares for students to sit on
Clipboards for students to write on (or folder or large textbook)
SHARED READING LESSON SEQUENCE
Shared reading centers around students' needs. Creating a shared reading lesson is not as simple as picking a text, making co
and teaching a lesson. Shared reading is purposeful, deliberate teaching, and the planning must be likewise.
PREPLAN FOR A SHARED READING LESSON
Several pre-lesson planning steps will benefit the teacher and students:
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Choose a Purpose. Teachers can model a new strategy, revisit a previously modeled strategy, or review/reteach a previou
modeled strategy to support readers who have not transferred the strategy to independent work.
Choose a Strategy.
Initially use informal reading observation notes to determine students’ strengths and weaknesses. Plan lessons based on tho
notes.
After you know students through individual conferences and small-group reading, identify their likes/dislikes and how well th
use strategies in a supportive environment. Plan lessons based on gathered information.
Read response journals to see how well they use strategies independently. Plan lessons based on student responses.
Possible Strategies
Think about what good readers do and model those strategies. The following strategies apply to any type of text and genre:
METACOGNITIVE AND COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES:
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Make connections (text-to-self, text-to-text, text-to-world)
Visualize
Ask questions
Infer (draw conclusions, analyze characters, make predictions)
Determine text importance (cause and effect, compare/contrast, sequence, main ideas, big ideas, supporting details, identify
what's important versus what's interesting, access prior knowledge)
Take the text apart (analyze) and put it back together in a different way (summarize/synthesize, make judgments, make
generalizations)
FIX-UP STRATEGIES
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Set a purpose for reading based on assignment or question
Know when they are confused
Know what to do about the confusion
SHARED READING LESSON SEQUENCE
NONFICTION TEXT FEATURES TO TEACH DURING A SHARED READING LESSON:
FONTS AND SPECIAL EFFECTS
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Titles and headings
Boldfaced and color print
Italics
Bullets
Captions
Labels
GRAPHICS
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Diagrams
Cutaways
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Cross sections
Overlays
Distribution maps
Word bubbles
Charts, tables, graphs
Framed text
Illustrations and photographs
TEXT ORGANIZERS
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Index
Preface
Table of contents
Glossary
Appendix
3. Select Text for the Lesson.
Teachers must know two things well: their students and available resources. Knowing your students means knowing their inte
home life, reading levels, reading behaviors (strengths and weaknesses) for both fiction and nonfiction. Collectively, this
information tells the teacher what his students know and don't know or what they like and don't like. If the teacher wants to w
on what his students know and don't know, he must identify the strategy he wants to model. The chosen text must lend itself
the strategy. If a teacher determines that his students need work on cause and effect relationships, he must look for texts tha
provide cause and effect examples.
If the teacher wants to work on students' likes and dislikes, he must identify what type of text he wants to model. This text m
a new genre. Maybe the students don't like science fiction. To build interest, he must pick a book that is not too difficult but h
excellent descriptions for visualizing, a good story line, strong characters which appear multiple times, and cliff-hangers that
encourage readers to continue reading.
AVAILABLE RESOURCES:
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Big books—Big books for intermediate students are in print. These high-interest books can provide effective shared reading
opportunities, especially for nonfiction. Many of these books include charts and graphs, sidebar questions, and colorful pictur
Charts/Posters—Charts and posters can include texts from poetry or one or two paragraphs from an appropriate leveled te
that focus on a specific skill or strategy. For example, a teacher wants to teach making inferences. He knows that text from
book Conquering Mount Everest lends itself to making inferences. He writes those paragraphs in large print on chart paper a
uses it for the lesson. Later on, he can laminate the chart and place it in the room where students can reread it. Here is a
possible text and possible inferences:
Climbing Everest
Reaching Everest's peak is not
easy. Climbers face bitter cold
winds while trekking through
heavy snow. Deep crevasses in
the ice open and close all the
time, making the climb very
dangerous.
Then there is the blowing snow,
which makes it difficult to see.
Powerful winds have actually
blown climbers right off the
mountainside! Avalanches,
moving at speeds of 200 miles
per hour, are the biggest killers
of all.
Possible inference: Special
clothing, skills, and equipment
must be needed to climb
Everest.
Possible inference: Climbers
must have courage, be daring,
and have stamina.
At the top of Everest, there is
only one-third as much oxygen
as at sea level. Most (but not all)
climbers need extra oxygen
Upon reaching the summit,
climbers can stay for only a few
moments. If they stay longer, the
lack of oxygen can weaken them, making the trek down
difficult.
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Possible inference: Climbers
who don't exercise good
judgment risk their lives.
Overhead Transparencies—Overhead transparencies may be the easiest type of text to use for shared reading. Students
at their desks and have a copy of the transparency. While the teacher is at the overhead modeling her thinking by writing al
the side of the text, students follow along doing the same thing as the teacher. Transparencies can be made of just about
anything, including magazine articles, teacher workbooks, textbooks, picture books, novels, recipes, newspaper articles, etc.
These lessons require an overhead projector, screen, overhead markers in several colors, a transparency of the text, and on
copy of the text for each student.
Textbooks/Class Sets—Textbooks and class sets of novels are excellent sources for shared reading especially if the textbo
too difficult or the novel is too long. Again, the teacher models his own thinking using sticky notes or maybe even a journal.
strategies can be modeled using one unit of a textbook or an entire novel. For example, the students are learning about
westward expansion from a social studies textbook. Some possible strategies to cover from this topic may be nonfiction grap
sources (maps, timetables, and charts), asking questions, making inferences, and identifying cause and effect relationships.
4. Identify Vocabulary Words or Concepts That Need Direct Instruction. Go through the text and identify concepts and
vocabulary that your students might have difficulty understanding. Think of ways to connect students' prior knowledge to thes
concepts. Prepare to bring in props, if necessary.
5. Prepare Materials. Make sure each student has a copy of the text or can see the text from the overhead, chart, big book,
easel.
SHARED READING LESSON SEQUENCE
CONDUCT THE SHARED READING LESSON.
1. Introduce the Strategy.
The teacher introduces the strategy by offering a few ideas in writing, including the definition of the strategy and how it helps
readers. These notes are valuable because they may be written on chart paper and hung on a wall for students to review whe
they are working in small groups, in pairs, or independently. This instructional strategy is a good way to scaffold instruction w
students learn how to use the modeled strategy independently. As students become independent, the chart can be copied to
regular-sized paper and placed in students’ reading notebooks for continued use, as needed. See the example.
STRATEGY: VISUALIZE
Definition: Using the words from the text to create a movie in your mind.
About the Strategy: Visualizing helps me remember what I've read. It makes the words interesting and makes me want to r
more. I can create a movie from any genre, including fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Descriptive words and phrases help me
visualize.
As lessons continue, chart information can increase and include specific examples that help the reader visualize.
Chart paper may also be used to document focus strategies and texts for each shared reading lesson. This instructional strate
helpful when teachers want students to recall a previous lesson. For example, the teacher can tell students, “Determine text
importance, summarize, and synthesize were taught three weeks ago using a one-page handout and the social studies textboo
That strategy is being revisited this week.” By reviewing information on the chart, students remember the lessons and make
connections from previously read material to new material. See the example.
CLASS SHARED READING LOG—FOURTH GRADE CLASS
Date
Text
11/01
The World Series (one page)
11/02
The World Series
11/03
The World Series
11/04
11/05
11/07
Social Studies book (pages on
early explorers)
Social Studies book (pages on
early explorers)
Social Studies book (pages on
early explorers)
Focus Strategy
Determine text
importance
Summarize
information
Synthesize
information and
write a response
Determine text
importance
Summarize
information
Synthesize
information and
write a response
2. Introduce the Text. Give students an overall synopsis of what the text is about.
3. Teach Vocabulary and Concepts. Directly teach pertinent information about the text, including vocabulary words and con
4. Read the Text Aloud While Modeling the Strategy. Allow time for student responses and questions during the lesson.
SHARED READING LESSON SEQUENCE
Use the following language prompts or sentence starters to model the chosen strategy.
METACOGNITIVE AND COMPREHENSION PROMPTS:
MAKE CONNECTIONS
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This reminds me of a time when I …
I know about this topic because I …
The setting of this book is just like …
This book is something like …
What’s going on in this book is just like what’s happening in the ________ area of the world.
ASK QUESTIONS
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I wonder why€¦
What does this word mean?
Why did ____________ do that?
What questions do I have before, during, and after reading?
What is going to happen next?
Why did the author put that part in the book?
VISUALIZE/CREATE IMAGES
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The author gives me a picture in my mind when he describes …
I can see what the author is talking about when he …
I can draw a picture of what the author is describing.
MAKE INFERENCES
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The author says this, but means …
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If I read between the lines, the author is telling me that …
The clues to prove my inference are …
Because of what the author said, I know that …
From the clues or information the author gives, I can conclude that …
I think that ____________ will happen next because the author says ____________.
DETERMINE TEXT IMPORTANCE
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I know these parts of the story are important because they match my purpose, which was …
I think the author thinks ____________ is important because …
I think the author’s opinion about _____ is ______ because …
In which text structure is this text written? (cause/effect, problem/solution, description, compare/contrast, sequence/steps i
process). Using a graphic organizer will help me understand. I can draw a graphic organizer in text margins.
I think the author’s purpose for writing this was to …
There is a lot of information right here. I need to identify which parts are important and which parts are just interesting.
How does this graphic source (charts, tables, graphs, etc.) help me interpret this information?
How does this text feature (boldfaced words, font changes, bullets, captions) help me locate what might be important?
SYNTHESIZE
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This story or passage is really about€¦ My views on this are …
My opinion of _________ is …
I first thought ________ about the topic. Now I think …
I’ve read a lot of information. Let me stop and think about this for a minute.
All of these ideas are important, but I think some are more important than others. I need to determine which ideas are the m
important.
Let me take the big ideas and summarize the text.
My judgment of this information is …
From this information, I can generalize that …
Intermediate Shared Reading Planner (Five-Day Cycle)
Based on Text Savvy: Using a Shared Reading Framework to Build Comprehension
By Sarah Daunis and Maria Cassiani Iams
Text:
Planning for Each Day…
Unit of Study Connection:
Monday: Having a First Glance
Text Introduction
Previewing the text and having
I chose this article because of all the great work we are doing with Dimes for
expectations
Charity. It reminded me of how important it is to respect others around us,
not just saying please and thank you but to respect their needs.
 previewing text
 scanning page and pointing out
Direct Readers’ Listening of the Content of the Text (I’d like you to look
features
and listen for…”)
 defining genre
As I read the article, I want you to follow along with me and pay attention to
 confirming genre after text is
the author’s purpose Remember that there are 4 purposes in reading:
read
Persuade, Inform, Entertain, and Explain. As I read, think about which part
 setting expectations for the text
of the PIEE the author wants us to eat.
 setting a purpose for reading
***Teacher Reads Entire Text Aloud
***Text Discussion
Connection We have been working on personal narratives, but as I read this
I thought of how this could become a personal narrative for us as well!
Teaching Point previewing the text can help you understand what the text is
about and the genre. This can help you understand if a text is informational
fact or opinion Preview the text by pointing out the pictures and the blurbs
underneath. Point out the quotation.
Hmm. he talks about ways that he tried to raise money. This seems to
support my thought that the author is writing to inform us, but I am not sure.
Let’s read further.
Active Engagement
Teacher Demonstration (TO) I am going to read the second
paragraph, and I want you to think about what the author’s purpose
is. Hm… He talks about when he first started this project he was
only 6 years old. Can you believe that! 6 years old. Listen to the
facts.
Teacher and Students Collaborate (WITH) As I read the second
paragraph, pay attention to whether the author is writing to inform us
or to.
Student to Student Work (BY) I want you to read the last paragraph,
to determine why the author is writing this piece.
Tuesday: Doing a Double Take
Locating oneself in the text
 thinking, “What do I know about
this topic already?”
 thinking, “What might be new
information for me?”
 explaining, “These connections
help me understand the text
because…”
 explaining, “These
questions help me
understand the text
because…”
 reading and thinking,
Connection Yesterday we discussed the features of the informational article
and noticed that a nonfiction article can be to Persuade, inform, entertain or
explain.
Teaching Point: Today as we read the article together, I want you to think
about what questions that you have and how they can help you understand
the rest Students will stop and jot in their NB.
Active Engagement
Teacher Demonstration (TO) Teacher will read and point out a
question that she has in the first paragraph. Wow! how can they exist
with such limited resources? Teacher will jot this in her notebook.
“What is the text mostly
about?”
 reading and thinking,
“What information is
important and what
information is interesting?”
Wednesday: Filling in the Picture
Envisioning
 creating a movie in your mind
 thinking about what you see in
your mind’s eye
 creating graphic organizers you
can see in your head
 reading and “filing” information
 sketching a picture or diagram
Teacher and Students Collaborate (WITH) Read and jot down some
questions together.
Student to Student Work(BY) complete chart in their RNB- work
with partner or individual
Connection
Yesterday we read the article to pose some questions that were bothering us
as we read the article.
Teaching Point creating an organizer to summarize the information.-timeline
Active Engagement
Teacher Demonstration (TO) As I read the article, I noticed that the
author jumped back and forth in his explanation. I know a timeline
will help me organized this information so I can summarize it
effective.
Teacher and Students Collaborate (WITH teacher and student will
complete a timeline.)
Student to Student Work(BY) students will add to timeline
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Thursday: Digging Deeper
Inferring
thinking about the big ideas in a
text
thinking about the moral or
lesson of a story
paying close attention while
reading to detect the author’s
tone and slant
identifying the author’s
perspective
Connection Yesterday we talked about creating a timeline to organize
information so we can summarize it
Teaching Point: Today I want you to think about the big idea in the story.
and the important parts to remember.
Active Engagement
Teacher Demonstration(TO Reread to determine perspective. I
noticed that the first paragraph sets the purpose but I don’t see any
relevant information. It does say that it is important to have clean
water and other places don’t have it...
Teacher and Students Collaborate (WITH) look at next paragraph to
choose locate information.
Student to Student Work (BY) students work with partner.
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Friday: Getting the Big Picture
Synthesizing
reading and thinking, “What do I
know now about this topic?
Where is the evidence to support
my thinking?”
reading and thinking, “How has
my thinking changed? How
have I revised my thinking?”
stating what the text is mostly
about
having ideas about the text as a
whole
preparing for accountable
conversation
Connection: We have been working all week on dissecting an informational
text article... Today we will summarize the article using only the important
information.
Teaching Point
 stating what the text is mostly about
Active Engagement
Teacher Demonstration(TO) We have also been working on retelling
in reading and summarizing. We know that summarizing is taking
the important information only and telling about it. Teacher
demonstrates as a Shared writing piece..
Teacher and Students Collaborate(WITH) Students add to the piece.
Student to Student Work(BY) Allow students to rewrite the title to
summarize the article.