Review the texts you are using this week in both English lessons and across the curriculum. Texts suitable for shared reading are usually more difficult than those used for independent reading or in guided reading, but not so difficult that the teacher cannot lift students to apply their learnings to the text.
Suitable texts for shared reading contain teaching opportunities which enable you, the expert, to demonstrate, highlight and support students to apply skills, strategies and knowledge which is needed, in order to access or understand the ideas.
- Which texts are too simplistic, lack depth or richness, or do not provide enough opportunity for rigorous, focussed instruction, and therefore do not provide ample opportunities to lift meta-cognition?
- Which of the texts you are using this week are suitable for the teaching approach, shared reading?
- Which texts are too difficult for the shared reading approach? These texts may have too many challenging features or ideas for your students, making it difficult for the teacher to support students to construct meaning easily across a lesson.
That’s all for Part 2!
