Shared reading motivates children
Chris Snudden,

Chris Snudden, literacy consultant in Norfolk, explains the benefits of shared reading.

You cannot fail to have heard of the National Literacy Hour which is set to make an enormous impact on the way we teach literacy in primary-age classrooms. A key feature of the Hour is shared reading. The first 15 minutes of every Literacy Hour is spent with an enlarged text. This could be, and often is a big book. It could equally be a teacher-made resource, or an extract of text enlarged through photocopying, on an overhead or true image projector. The fact that this text is enlarged and children are exposed to a single copy of it is vital to the spirit of shared reading.

The teacher takes responsibility for the reading and exploration of the text using it to model good reading behaviour, and to make explicit the strategies the teacher uses to be an effective reader. When the text is used again throughout the week, the teacher gives the children greater control of their reading. The increasing familiarity with the text encourages a fluency in reading for even the earliest readers.

There is much emphasis with younger readers on collaborative re-reading of the text. As children become more fluent readers, and confident in the independent strategies they need for unfamiliar text, less emphasis is placed on reading aloud in unison, and more on exploring the text together.

The reading of the text is always at a brisk and expressive pace, and children are encouraged to join in as they feel confident. Children are highly motivated to participate, even the less confident reader. The teacher involves all of the children by targeted questioning and interaction with the text. Therefore children feel comfortable to engage at their level.

Shared reading involves the whole class. The teacher will use the front cover and discussion about the authors and illustrators to give the children opportunities to predict the content and type of book. The introduction to the book is used to encourage the children to want to read it. The teacher will offer a first reading of the book at a fluent reading pace, stopping at relevant points to invite the children to predict what might happen next. Depending on the objectives for the week, the teacher may also engage, at this stage of the reading, in some discussion about strategies to access unfamiliar words, for example using phonic knowledge, picture clues or re-reading the sentence.

The range of teaching possibilities is wide when using the shared book approach. It is important not to try to cover too many objectives at once and to provide frequent opportunities for practice and reinforcement. It is also vital that the enjoyment of the text remains paramount in the reading and exploration, and that the meaning is not lost. Through shared reading, teachers are able to bridge the gap between reading to children, and children being able to read independently. The high degree of teacher support, and the pleasure children gain from reading together has had a significant impact on some reluctant readers' attitudes to reading.

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