Shared Reading is an interactive reading experience. It is through Shared Reading that the reading process, reading strategies and comprehension strategies are demonstrated. Shared Reading provides excellent opportunities to develop concepts about print and features of books and writing. In this environment, at the early reading level, students can learn to perceive themselves as readers. Shared Reading experiences provide a scaffold for further independent reading and language related activities. New strategies and concepts are best introduced in this approach before guided reading is introduced to small groups.The Shared Reading approach is appropriate when the challenges in a text may make it too difficult for students to read alone. A group can share the reading of a text that is relevant to the topics students are studying but is too difficult for some students to read independently. All students will then be able to participate in group learning activities based on the information in the text.
Shared reading is a link in helping students become independent readers. It allows the teacher to model and support students using prediction and confirming skills. It allows less confident students the chance to share stories/articles/poetry in a non-threatening situation. It focuses on the meaning, fun, enjoyment, characters and sequence of a story and allows them to relate it back to their own experiences. It promotes discussion, problem-solving and critical thinking by students.
Shared reading can be done with a small group/large group/whole class and can be an article/poem/story/etc. It is a technique that can be used with any level, age, ability, and curriculum area.
Procedure for Shared Reading
- Select a text which has a teaching point that meets the needs of the students. Ensure that all students have a copy of the text or are able to clearly see the text eg overhead projector transparencies or in an enlarged book form.
- Discuss with students the topic to find out prior knowledge.
- State the purpose of the text. Share the learning intentions and the success criteria with the students.
- Students to predict the text from the cover, title, and illustrations.
- Teacher reads the text with as few stops as possible. Encourage students to participate where appropriate.
- Encourage students to talk about the text and the language features of the text. Identify and discuss with students the conventions of various text forms, discuss meanings in texts relating them to their own experiences, model the use of information skills such as retrieving information from a text.
It is a key approach in the acquisition of language/reading attitudes and processes for non-English speaking background students.
