Book Blog 5: Shared Reading

I teach developmental reading at Central New Mexico Community College. In my classroom,  my students age anywhere from 18 to 60 and their reading levels range from 5th grade to 10th grade. One difficulty in our teaching is the lack of research and training for how to teach adult readers. Most of the exiting research and professional development is more specifically geared toward teaching children as well as teenagers. The book I chose to read also focuses on teaching children. Some of the good ideas mentioned in the book are hard to implement in our classroom setting, such as establishing an excellent class library. I get more excited when I come to this shared reading chapter because the author particularly emphasizes that this strategy can be used for students of all ages.

What is shared reading? "In shared reading, a learner or group of learners sees the text, observes an expert (usually the teacher) reading it with fluency and expression, and is invited to read along" (Routman, 130). There are multiple benefits to shared reading. First, teacher can model and guide students in all aspects of reading to comprehend--fluency, figuring out words, thinking, questioning, predicting, and rereading. Second, it helps students and teachers bond in an enjoyable process. Third, it provides a context for students to talk with one another about a text, which improves comprehension.

Not only is shared reading a powerful teaching tool for students of all ages, but also is ideal for showing how any text works-fiction or nonfiction. In my classroom, 99% of the reading material is nonfiction, didactic, and "inconsiderate" text, which tends to be a little boring and difficult to read. I think the shared reading process will be able to engage my students more and make their reading tasks less stressful.

So how is a shared reading session conducted? Routman gives two very detailed lesson examples in the book. In each of the examples, she starts her shared reading session with surveying the text and activating students' prior knowledge. When reading the text out aloud, she stops constantly and voices out what is going on in her head regarding what she has just read. She makes her own thinking very explicit because she wants students to "see" her thinking. During the process, she also pauses to let students do "partner talks"--discussing, summarizing or retelling with a peer. Besides, she also constantly asks questions to check students understanding. Through the lesson examples, I can really tell that shared reading is a highly engaging way to involve students with long texts, especially when the text itself is highly informative and entertaining.

I know this is a powerful teaching tool that I can use with my adult readers. But what are my challenges? For a shared reading session to be successful, first of all, I need to be careful about not dominating the talk. Students' active participation is key to this strategy; so it will be hard to conduct the lesson  if the group is shy and quiet. Second, plan it! As the teacher, I need to be very familiar with the text, plan my questions to ask, my thinking aloud, and students peer activities. Routman recommends putting most of your planning comments on sticky notes right in the text, which I consider very helpful. Anyway, I am excited about learning this strategy and cannot wait to give it a try.