Dr. Pearl's Place
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Literacy Pearls

Literacy Pearls Blog...

Shared Read-Alouds #doctoralpursuit 

11/6/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
"If we want our students to be excited about literacy, they need to have teachers who love coming to work, who are literacy learners themselves, who find ways to make curriculum relevant to children's lives, and who can put high-stakes testing in perspective." -Regie Routman -The Essential Reading Life

I read a chapter in the book "Reading Essentials" by Regie Routman. The chapter reading gave me some incite into shared reading. The chapter noted that shared reading is a part of the literacy block that-for some educators-is missing or non-existent. Routman defines shared reading by saying: "In shared reading, a learner- or group of learner- sees the text, observes an expert (usually the teacher) reading it with fluency and expression, and is invited to read along." (Essentials of Reading, Routman 2003) Shared reading is a way to show children how to read text, how they can think through text, and see, in a safe way what good readers do. It can be the scaffolding students need to feel successful. The chapter also mentions the Optimal learning Model, in the model (pictured) we see that teachers make reading "visible" and "explicit" during a shared reading and gradually release that responsibility (scaffolding) with exposure to the text. When students are in kindergarten the shared reading looks like the teacher rereading a familiar book with catchy repeated text that the students remember seeing and repeat as the teacher touches and says the words with them. By the time students are in second grade, shared readings are good ways to practice various aspects of reading in a way that students can feel safe to participate with the teacher. The chapter mentions a few reasons why shared reading is important:
  • Shared reading is ideal for showing how any text works
  • Shared reading is cost effective (you only need one copy of the textP
  • Shared reading is an ideal context for guided participation
When we use a read aloud as a shared reading we combine the read-aloud, with interactive reading and shared reading. This idea of a shared read-aloud is good for all children. Routman uses the whole class shared read-aloud to demonstrate and discuss:
  • Flunecy
  • The author's craft
  • How text works
  • How to figure out vocabulay
  • Character motivation
  • Summarizing
  •  Predicting
  • Asking questions
  • Making connections
  • Inferring
  • Confirming (predictions, difficult vocabulary
  • learning new information
  • Enjoying reading
She also mentions some benefits of completing a shared reading is this way. "its quick and time efficient, with no need to worry about what the rest of the class is doing." (Routman, 2003) The shared reading and the shared read-aloud can be used to hook students into a lesson because they are built around books that are of high interest to the students you work with. Just remember that you will need a way to:
  • Track the print
  • Have text big enough for students to see
  • Plan it
Routman, R. (2003). Reading essentials. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Check out this video of a shared reading using a read-aloud.



Thanks for reading. Feel free to leave feedback and look out for my next post.
0 Comments

Cultivating Thinkers  #doctoralpursuit 

11/4/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture

"Ideal conversation must be an exchange of thought, and not, as many of those who worry most about their shortcomings believe, an eloquent exhibition of wit or oratory." Emily Post 

Many teachers read to children, some daily; as they should. Reading aloud is one good way to begin a conversation about literature. What are we talking about when we read to them? Are we having conversations about what is read? How often do we have conversations with them at all? In today's times I am seeing more and more children who are not good thinkers., because they are not allow to. Students are being taught to sit still and be quiet. Which says to children; "What you think does not matter.'" I see children who are not good at expressing themselves. We still have quiet classrooms with straight rows of children. No student autonomy at all.  Children don't know how to have conversations because they are not allowed to talk to each other. Conversations are not happening at school or at home. We need to change that and one way to do it is to have conversations about what we are reading to them and what they are reading to each other. Completing those think aloud and allowing those "turn and talks" about literature is one way to cultivate that need.  Children should be given the chance to express what they think about what they hear and read in good literature. The classroom needs to be a safe place for students to express themselves and what better way than to have conversations about reading.
​

Thank you for reading... 
0 Comments

    Author

    Pearl Garden, Ed.D has completed her dissertation research involving understanding the vocabulary instruction practices of early grade teachers. She has a passion for the new and novice educator, and it is her goal to help educators tackle the achievement gap with her research findings. She will use this blog to share what she has learned in “pearls of literacy”. The ideas come from her dissertation titled “A Content Analysis of the Vocabulary Instruction Habits by Early Grade Teachers”.

    Archives

    December 2022
    October 2022
    July 2022
    March 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    May 2021
    February 2021
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    December 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
Photo used under Creative Commons from shixart1985
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Literacy Pearls