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Shared Reading
An Instructional Strategy for Teachers Grades K–3
The ideas expressed in this work are generalizations and adaptations based on the shared book
method developed by Don Holdaway using big books.
Description: Shared Reading is an interactive reading experience that occurs when students
join in or share the reading of a big book or other enlarged text while guided and supported by a
teacher or other experienced reader. Students observe an expert reading the text with fluency
and expression. The text must be large enough for all the students to see clearly, so they can
share in the reading of the text. It is through Shared Reading that the reading process and
reading strategies that readers use are demonstrated. In Shared Reading, children participate in
reading, learn critical concepts of how print works, get the feel of learning and begin to perceive
themselves as readers (Fountas & Pinnell, 1996). Some of the benefits of Shared Reading:
• Allows students to enjoy materials that they may not be able to read on their own.
• Ensures that all students feel successful by providing support to the entire group.
• Students act as though they are reading.
• Helps novice readers learn about the relationship between oral language and
printed language.
• Assists students in learning where to look and/or focus their attention.
• Supports students as they gain awareness of symbols and print conventions, while
constructing meaning from text read.
• Assists students in making connections between background knowledge and new
information.
• Focuses on and helps develop concepts about print and phonemic connections.
• Helps in teaching frequently used vocabulary.
• Encourages prediction in reading.
• Helps students develop a sense of story and increases comprehension.
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Appendices
APPENDIX A: Additional Descriptions
Read Aloud-are seen as the single most influential factor in a young child’s success in learning
to read. The teacher or other experienced reader reads aloud to students for enjoyment and
meaning. Favorite stories/texts, rich in language and meaning, can be read aloud many times.
Read alouds provide opportunities for students to experiment with listening and speaking skills.
As students observe and listen to experienced readers reading, they develop strategies
important for a variety of listening and speaking situations. The teacher provides a high level of
support while the students are the listeners experiencing and contemplating literary works they
cannot yet read (Fountas & Pinnell, 1996). Students may at one time or another read aloud in
class, serving a different purpose. Students may read aloud to each other, in small groups, or to
a whole group at the request of a teacher.
Guided Reading- is a situation in which a teacher supports each reader’s development of
effective strategies for processing texts at increasingly challenging levels of difficulty (Fountas &
Pinnell, 1996). In guided reading, the teacher selects and introduces the text to the students in a
small group where each student has similar instructional needs and is able to read similar text
with support. The teacher provides a rich yet short introduction of the text to be read. S/he may
work briefly with individual students as they read through the selection. All students are reading
the same material at the same time though individual pacing may vary.
Independent Reading- provides time for students to read a text without the need of assistance.
Students are drawn to texts that are interesting, eye catching and meaningful to their lives.
Students need to learn how to select appropriate reading texts for independent reading practice.
Language Experience- is an approach concerned with helping beginning readers to bring their
own knowledge and experience to construct meaning from print. Relating oral language to
written language and relating reading to writing is important. The teacher acts as scribe,
recording the dictated words, phrases, or sentences from the students. Over several days, from
a single composition, the teacher and students can read and reread the text until it becomes
familiar to the students. Students may begin to read the lines alone and begin to associate
written words with their own spoken words. From this text, students can focus on recognizing
individual words, consonants at beginnings of the words, onset and rims, and phonics, while
focusing and emphasizing the construction of meaning (Adapted from Weaver, 1994).
Lap books are smaller than big books, but can be held in the teacher’s lap. Lap books have
sufficiently larger pictures and print to enable all students in a small group to see/read when
seated near by.
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Appendices
APPENDIX B: Book Choice for Use with Shared Reading Experience
One criterion for book selection is that the book has the possibility of multiple readings for
enjoyment. McCracken and McCracken (1995) suggest six types of books that provide these
learning opportunities (pp. 41-64):
Rhythmic books. The rhythm of the text enables children to anticipate some of the words. An
example would include Leland B. Jacobs book, Good Night, Mr. Beetle, where each line follows
the format, "Good night, ________," with a culminating line for "The moon's in the sky."
Repetitive books. Many books contain repetitive text by which children can easily learn and join
in during that part of the reading. The classic story of the Three Little Pigs provides an example
of repetition:
I'll huff and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in.
Cumulative books. This type of text continually builds each page by repeating text from
previous pages and adding a new line of text with each new page. The House that Jack Built is a
good example of a cumulative book:
This is the house that Jack built.
This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the rat, that ate the malt, that lay in the house that Jack built.
Basic sentence pattern books. In this type of book, a basic sentence pattern is used to
provide support for the reader. For example, the basic pattern could be represented by,
"This is my __________," which is repeated on every page with variations in the blank
(e.g., dog, cat).
Two-part books (question & answer). Brown, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin
Jr., is a good example of a two-part book. This type of text reads like a conversation in which a
question is asked by one animal over two lines in the book, and a response from another animal
is given with a subsequent two lines.
Information books. These books do not follow a storyline, but are instead full of information
about content-related topics. Use of information books is a good way to support students as they
learn vocabulary, facts, and concepts. Examples include Antarctica by Helen Cowcher, Sharks
by Russel Freedman, and Pumpkin, Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington. Using information books
as part of the shared reading activity also provides an opportunity to teach about tables of
contents, reading tables, charts and diagrams, and the index and glossary.
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