3321 MON. NIGHT ARTICLE: WHAT IS SHARED READING?

Shared reading is when the teacher and the students have the opportunity to unit in the reading and re-reading of a great story, discussing the pictures, and connecting the context with the meaning of the story. It consists of a careful choosen large book and story that the students really like so they will be excited about reading and enjoy it as well. In this time of shared reading a large group of students follow along with the teacher as she models good reading skills, behaviors, strategies, and engages the students to use theirs as well.

This article has helped me to truly realize how important shared reading is and how important the teacher's part is; not only in the class room, but at home as well. A child's first class room is their home and their very first teacher is the person at home that reads to them. Making the shared reading a fun experience is what helps to ground a child in becoming a reader for life and possibly a writer also. In my past experience, I recall a student retelling a story he heard me read to the class. He retold parts of it to himself as he played during free time. I noticed it, but never really connected it to shared reading since I did not know what it was called.

One thing that really caught my eye in this article was the Respecting & Responding to Learners Section. The little girl "Sarah" in the article was never told to be quite, to stop acting silly while her mother read to her, to be still, nor corrected in a negative tone of voice. Unfortunately this is what happens all too often in class rooms today. Children are not permitted to express their individuality, their interpretation of a word or phrase they are simply told to be quite, or wait. This can cause a child to be turned off from the story, get mad, or feel that his or her opinion or comment is not of any value. In shared reading is how children learn to pronounce words, and follow the story without loosing interest and get bored. It is how the students relate the reading to thier own life, as well as increase in thier involvement in future reading of that same story. Learning while having fun in reading should the number one key factor. I believe this will keep children interested in reading for a life time.