2 Selecting a text for shared reading

In Case Study 1, a teacher organises shared reading from a simple story.

Case Study 1: Miss Samreen organises shared reading

Miss Samreen is a Class III teacher in Bihar.

First I prepared a big book, so that my students could see the words and pictures easily. The story was ‘A Little Red Hen’ and I narrated the story to them last week, so the students were already familiar with the story. (You can see this story in Resource 1.)

I grouped the students around me, making sure that they could all see the pages. In my class there are children of seasonal migrant workers who are often absent. I put them in the front of the group to make sure they were included and so I could monitor their participation.

Before the reading, I explained that we would be reading a book together. I showed them the cover and reminded them that they had already heard the story. I asked them if they could remember anything about it. They called out the names of one or two of the characters that they remembered.

I then told them to follow my finger as I moved it under the words in the book, listening to me and reading aloud with me. I checked that they understood the instructions by practising with the title of the book.

I began by asking the students, ‘Are you ready?’ Then I turned to the first page, reading the text aloud slowly and clearly, following it with my finger. The students hesitated a little at first, but after one or two began to copy me, the others joined in, becoming more confident with each new page. In order to emphasise the pronunciation of the words, I exaggerated the intonation slightly, changing the voices to match each character. Where I could, I made gestures and actions that the students could copy as they read, such as nodding or shaking their head, or waving their hand.

Because the students were new to shared reading, I focused mainly on the progression of the story and its characters to capture their attention and keep the momentum. Sometimes we paused before starting to read the page and I pointed to a character or picture, asking them, ‘Who is she?’, ‘What is that?’ or ‘What is he doing?’, and the students responded. Whether they were entirely accurate or not was not so important. My aim was to encourage their participation and build their confidence in reading. In order to vary the pace and create an element of suspense, I also asked them, ‘What do you think happened next?’ before slowly turning to the next page.

The story contains repeating phrases. On the second or third repetitions, I paused slightly at the start and the students continued to say the phrase themselves. They seemed delighted to have done so, seeing it as a kind of game.

When we had finished the book, I asked the students some simple questions about it. I told the students to raise their hands if they knew the answer, rather than selecting one and making them respond. This gave me an idea of how much they had followed the story. Where necessary, I paraphrased their answers in English and in their home language. I welcomed all their contributions. If they became too eager, I reminded them to listen carefully to one another and take their turn.

Pause for thought

  • What did Miss Samreen do to prepare her students for the shared reading?
  • What techniques did she use to maintain their attention during the shared reading?
  • How did she evaluate their understanding of what they read together?
  • Is there anything you particularly liked about her lesson? Is there anything you would have done differently?
  • How do you think shared reading can help to include children from marginalised groups?

Miss Samreen used a number of techniques in her lesson to help her students get involved in the story and to support their learning. You may use some of these techniques already with your students, or all the techniques may be new to you. All these techniques are simple to do in the classroom and in the next activities you try out some of these techniques with your students. Don’t be dispiritied if they don’t go smoothly the first time you use them. We all need to practise new ways of doing things – this applies to both you and your students. With repeated practice, both you and your students will become more confident in using these new techniques and your students’ learning will improve.

Activity 2: Choose a text for shared reading – a planning activity

Do this with a fellow teacher if possible. This is a planning activity for you to do in preparation for your lesson.

Select a text you could use for shared reading. It can be a story you have already told aloud, or it can be a story from the textbook of a different class or from any other book. It can be a short poem, or it can be in a subject area, for example, a simple text on the water cycle. If you choose a story or poem, try to find places where students can repeat words or phrases and join in with you.

You can also make up your own story or poem from your imagination. When you do this, you can incorporate students’ names and local landmarks.

The length of the text should be short, and the actual narration should not take more than ten minutes. Consider the criteria for the text, for example:

  • students’ interests and backgrounds
  • students’ or your own familiarity with the topic
  • students’ or your own English confidence
  • local people, landmarks or events
  • local languages – you can make a shared reading text that combines English and other languages
  • possible stereotypes to avoid or to discuss.

See Resource 1 for examples of suitable stories.

When you have chosen your text, practise reading it aloud to a fellow teacher or to a member of your family. Remember it should not take you more than ten minutes to read aloud at a steady pace.

See Resource 2, ‘Planning lessons’, to learn more about classroom organisation and planning ahead for your learners.

1 Introducing shared reading

3 Making and using a big book