I loved what Routman had to say about shared reading, especially as a valuable tool for middle and upper grades. Several years ago, I taught an inclusion class with our resource teacher. What was interesting about that group was that it was almost evenly split into thirds: 1/3 of the students were in special ed, 1/3 were academically gifted, and 1/3 fell somewhere in the middle. It was probably the most exhausting, but most successful, year of teaching that I have had so far. As a teacher who has always been more comfortable working with struggling students than the high achievers, I was incredibly intimidated by the split in my class that year. How could I possibly keep the gifted students challenged and engaged...and have any hope of closing the gap for those students with the highest needs? While I felt confident in my ability to help the ones who struggled, my biggest fear was that my gifted students would be bored--and even lose ground during their year in my class.
The resource teacher and I knew that we had a challenge ahead of us. Not only did we have a large group of students who REALLY needed our help, but we had a large group of students who REALLY needed a push above and beyond the regular curriculum (and a large group of parents who had some pretty high expectations as well). We weren't sure if we could pull it off, but we pretty much just jumped right in, knowing that the hour we spent together in my classroom each day was going to be a pretty intense one for all of us. Every day was different, and sometimes plans changed on the spot, but we ended up having a great time reading every day--and every student in that class made some great gains throughout the year.
Shared reading was a HUGE part of that success. While the format varied from one lesson to the next (whole-group/small group/one-on-one), the ultimate goal was always the same: teach and model a much-needed skill, using a text that we would actually enjoy reading together. We knew our resource students desperately needed this modeling, but we didn't expect the gains that we also saw in some of our highest-achieving students. As we say over and over again, good teaching is good teaching. The gifted students needed this explicit instruction, and enjoyed the opportunities to stop and talk about their reading, as much as our students who truly struggled to get through a text on their own.
Routman mentions several times that shared reading can be a safe way to help struggling readers with a text--that they are able to participate and practice those skills without "fear of failure." What's great about this approach is that it's so easy to tailor the instruction to all of our students' needs. As Routman says, it is "a purposeful teaching, discussing activity" that enables students of all levels to interact with and help each other to practice important strategies. A text of any level can be made readable for struggling students or challenging for the high-achievers, based on the discussion and analysis that the teacher expects. And in my class, they really did enjoy it! The opportunity to come together with a text that we could all read, and discuss it with our friends, made a huge difference for every student in that class. As we progressed through the year, the distinction between the "low" and "high" students--which is so evident to children, no matter how we try to level the playing field--truly started to fade. The gifted students knew that the resource teacher was there to be their teacher, too--and that anything she asked them to do was going to be a challenge. The struggling students, as well as the ones in the middle, began to see themselves growing by leaps and bounds. Groups became more fluid, and students became less surprised to be grouped with their "smartest" peers. Routman states that shared reading is "not just a shared reading of words," and that is so true. When it's done as it's intended, shared reading forces students of all ages and ability levels to really think about their reading, while giving them the opportunity to enjoy and discuss an engaging text with their peers.
Ashley, I remember that year and was incredibly impressed with how the two of you were able to pull all ability levels together so well. You're right to point out Routman's claim that shared reading of engaging texts benefit everyone. I'm sure that this experience has played a huge roll in your success as a technology specialist for all grade levels and ability levels.
ReplyDeleteHi Ashley, I was in awe reading about the year you worked with a class that literally was split into three distinct ability groups and had to work hard to differentiate instruction while also building classroom community. I've found that shared reading is a structure that really helps us find common ground with an enjoyable texts that helps us support comprehension.
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