What is Shared Reading?

Shared Reading is an interactive experience. It is generally accomplished using an enlarged text that all children can see. The selected book must have the possibility of multiple readings for enjoyment. Many texts used in early stages of literacy have a repeating refrain or rhyme to increase the enjoyment of reading the story over and over. The book is initially read by the teacher to model reading strategies. In subsequent readings, the children become more interactive.

The reader involves the children in reading together by pointing to or sliding below each word in the text. This provides children the opportunity to participate. The teacher deliberately draws attention to the print and models early reading behaviors such as moving from left to right and word-by-word matching.