Shared Reading Creating an Anchor Chart SCRIPT
Literacy Partner Meeting September 16th, 2008
Admin Meeting September 17th, 2008
Narrator: You are going to experience a shared reading lesson through a teaching strategy called the fishbowl.
Your teacher – Lynn, will take one PLT. I will guide you through the process, as obviously we cannot experience all
days of the multi-week plan (or you will be here until Saturday!).
At the end of this two week block students will write a formal letter of explanation, an informational text form.
Using the planning map we have provided – you can see that the selection used for the Read Aloud was a letter
from ZOOM Airlines explaining the refund process for cancelled flights. During the Think Aloud that day Lynn
focused on strategies she uses for determining important information. The focus for the Shared Reading lesson on
Day 1, was also determining important information. Day 2 the focus for the lesson was working with words.
Day 3, during the Before component students used prior knowledge to label/identify the parts of the mentor text,
a letter:
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Heading
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Inside Address
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Salutation
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Body
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Closing
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Signature
The demonstration will highlight the During component of the Day 3 Shared Reading Lesson
Teacher: We are going to create an anchor chart which will capture our thinking about how a message is
communicated in a letter of explanation. As we read each paragraph think about how you would summarize the
purpose of the paragraph. You will have the opportunity to share your thinking with an elbow partner and then the
whole group. Let’s begin with the introduction.
Whole group reads paragraph one, elbow partners discuss how they would summarize the purpose of the
paragraph. Move to whole group, add one statement which encompasses the thinking about the introduction to
the anchor chart. Possible questions to consider: How are the ideas sequenced in the letter? What do you notice
about the writer’s choice of words? How did the writer conclude the letter? How do you think the people who
received this letter felt about the actions taken?
Proceed through the mentor text one paragraph at a time. Possible points to be included:
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Describe the situation
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Explain all actions taken
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Explain the thinking behind the actions
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Link to safety of students UP-FRONT and bring it back to safety in the CLOSING
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First person approach- voice of the school
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Active voice- (not in past tense)
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Strong/concise words
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Sentences short and clear for readability
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Always include a contact, with a phone number
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Thank you for your continued support and understanding regarding this matter, key line
Narrator: We will now turn to the writing week. On Day 1 the teacher modelled his/her thinking while writing a
letter of explanation. Day 2 the whole group composed one together. We will highlight Day 3 when the students
are practicing writing a letter of explanation in a small group. We will now leave the fishbowl and have each PLT
group complete the task which has been handed out to you. You will have five minutes to talk and ten minutes to
write a group letter in response to the task. After 15 minutes you will pass your letter to another group for
feedback based on the anchor chart we created during our shared reading lesson.