Shared Reading Day 4: Let Me Try

By Day 4, students should have a solid understanding of the text.  Here we will work at the highest level of Bloom's.  Based on their knowledge of the text, vocabulary and sentence structure, students will now evaluate or connect this text.  Often the daily task asks them to practice their Short Answer Question (SAQ) skills.  For the sake of time, we often have our students only plan the short answer.  After composing, they can then share with a partner or with the class, and it's time to turn that puppy in.  This is a good summative assessment of the depth of student thinking.

A word about grading:

Do I read every word?  Ummm...NO!  You have been monitoring student work and listening as they share.  You've got a pretty good idea of what's gone on.  I will choose one or two activities that I care most about to read every word of and grade.  

A word about absences:

When a student is absent, they are responsible for the Shared Reading day that they missed.  I print the list of activities for the week and project it from the document camera.  I will show the current day and the previous day at the same time.  This gives them a chance to double time it and catch up.  They are also welcome to come borrow the questions and get caught up when they have time during the class period or after school.

If I had to choose the number one teacher tool I have to prepare for STAAR, Shared Reading would win every time.  After talking to my students, it is clear that they believe in their benefit as well.  This practice allows me to cover genres more frequently than I ever could with an extensive, whole-group text.  It allows for repetition of academic terms.  The Shared Reading forces inferencing skills because of how concise it is and where it picks up in the larger work.  In summary, GO Shared Readings!...Ra Ra Ra!!! 

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