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Shared Reading with PoetryFun with poetry students learn without even knowing it!

What is Shared Reading with Poetry?Have you ever used the Shared Reading strategy with big books? Talk about your experiences with Shared Reading.Shared Reading with Poetry (SRP) follows the same pattern as Shared Reading using big booksFirst reading of the poem is for enjoyment onlyStudents increase participation in further readingsThe eventual goal is for students to read the texton their own

**Please click when you are ready to go to the next point, and click the speaker icon for the audio.** You are probably familiar with Shared Reading with books the teacher reads a book (often a big book) to children, first for the pure enjoyment of listening, then again and again with students participation. This activity is used by teachers all over the world and is an important part of literacy development.Shared reading with poetry follows the same pattern as shared reading with big books the teacher reads the first time for pure enjoyment, making it interesting and entertaining by using appropriate phrasing, rhythm and even voices, and supporting students comprehension with think-alouds, questions and predictions.Students then increase participation in further readings, by acting out the poem or book, reading along with the teacher, pointing to the words, or in other ways. The eventual goal would be for the student to be able to read the poem on their own.2Why use Poetry?Children love poems!Rhythms and rhymesSilly, funnyFamiliar subjectsPoetry can stimulate our imagination and creativity (Nowak-Fabrykowski, 2000, p. 271)What is your favorite poem? What is your favorite poem to share with children? Please discuss in your group.

Children naturally love poems. The rhythm and rhyme of poetry are appealing to people of all ages, and especially children. After all, we develop in the womb listening to the rhythmic beat of our mothers heart. Also, childrens poems are often silly and funny, and deal with subjects that are part of their everyday lives.Poetry is important to stimulate childrens imaginations by putting stories and ideas to dancing words. (Zeece, 1998)

3Watch it being done!Sometimes it is easier to show than to tell. Please watch this brief charming video of a teacher in S. Africa performing a shared reading with poetry lesson.

Hint: Watch the video from 3:06 5:54 for the shared reading portion. Then pause the video, come back to PowerPoint, and click to advance to the next slide.

**Please click the speaker icon for the audio, then click the video to watch it.** 4Why do it?Next to hugging and talking to children, reading aloud is the greatest gift we can give them. Jim Trelease, Introduction to Read-Aloud Rhymes for the Very YoungSRP supports all learners, scaffolding reading until all readers can experience success.SRP is based on the way that children naturally learn

Reading aloud to children is an integral part of literacy development.

Shared reading, with poetry or big books, allows students of all levels to participate in the reading, because it is a step between reading aloud and children doing their own reading. (Honchell & Schulz, 2012, p. 59)

Shared reading is based on the natural way that children learn from the adults in their lives watching, trying it out with support, then on their own. It is also based on the shared book experience that many children have with a caregiver think, the bed-time story.5Do experts support SRP?Shared Reading is based on the work by Don Holdaway (The Foundations of Literacy, 1979), and his acquisition learning model, based on demonstration and participation, which is how children naturally learn in many environments. Child observes an expert perform the taskChild joins in the task, with support from the expertChild gives it a go on their own, without an audience, though the expert is available for supportChild performs for the expert, who praises their efforts

(Nicoll-Hatton, 1992).

Relationship is important in this model. A bond between the child and the more expert other will make the child want to observe what the other is doing and emulate it. In the first step, the child observes the expert. An example I took from my own life is my daughter watching my husband and myself hammer nails into boards as we were remodeling our house.The expert allows them to join in, and guides their participation. She came to my husband and wanted to help, so he held the hammer with her while they drove the nail in.The child plays with performing the task on their own, during an independent play time. During this stage, it is important that the child try out the task by themselves, and feel safe but unobserved. Self-checking and correction is an important part of this stage. My daughter definitely experimented with this task on her own! We even allowed her to use a little brad-hammer to do so, and would find nails about our thigh-height, driven partially into the wood all over the house!At some point, the child will want to proudly show off their approximations of the task! Especially if we were working on driving nails, she would join in and say, Look! Im helping! Of course, we smiled and said, Thank you! Good job! This acquisition learning model is the basis for curriculums all over the world. Im sure it is familiar to you!6What are the steps?The steps of SRP are the based on the steps of Holdaways acquisition learning model.Read the poem aloud with expression, while students observe and enjoy. Support comp-rehension with discussion before and after the reading.Give the students suggestions on how they can join in their choice as you read the poem a second time. (Acting out, reading along with, etc.)

Start with poetry you like. If you enjoy the poem yourself, children can sense it, and it makes all the difference.

This is the step where the teacher reads the poem aloud for enjoyment, using rhythm and expression. Before reading, point out the title and author, and ask students questions to create interest or activate background knowledge. (Gill, 2006, p. 192) Afterwards, think aloud about what your thoughts and feelings when you read the poem, and ask questions to students.On the second (and further) readings, children can join in, act out the poem, ask questions, etc, as they wish. Its a good idea to suggest some of these ways to participate, and if you obviously enjoy the poem, children will eagerly join in.

7What are the steps? (2)The next day, after reading the poem again together, leave the poem out and available for students to play with during free time or center work. Be available to answer questions, but let them work on their own. Do this for at least two days.On the fourth day, ask for volunteers to read the poem alone. Always praise students efforts and approximations of performance.

After the first two readings, leave the poem available for children to read and practice with during free time or center time. Children have the opportunity to read it, act it out, etc. on their own. The teacher tries to notice and be available, but allow children the space to play with it independently, self-check and self-correct, and be in charge of their own learning. The sense of satisfaction that comes from doing these things is immense!Once you feel that some students have mastered the poem, ask for volunteers to lead the group in a reading of it. Be generous with your praise of their efforts and approximations they will be proud of their own work on the poem, and you should be too!

8Session ObjectivesHere are the objectives that you will be looking for during each session of Shared Reading with Poetry:Session 1: Students enjoy poem and show comprehension.Session 2-3: Students participate in the reading of the poem in some way, either by acting out, reading along, etc. Some students work with the poem voluntarily, on their own, during free time or center time.Session 4: Some students volunteer to lead the group in the reading of the poem. Most students read the poem along with the leader. Students are highly praised for their efforts.

9Another DemonstrationHere is a video of me demonstrating Session 1 of SRP, and discussing Sessions 2-4.

**Please click the video to watch it.** 10Extension activitiesYou can do so many extra things with SRP!Use the poem to reinforce phonics skills. Poems that rhyme are particularly good for working with word families.Print out the poem onto handouts and let students decorateUse shared writing to allow students to add to the poemLet your creativity and imagination run wild!

You can do so many extra things with SRP!Use the poem to reinforce phonics skills. Poems that rhyme are particularly good for working with word families. Many different activities can be used with this, such as finding rhyming words, words that start with a certain letter, creating word families using letter tiles, or writing words from word families on individual white boards.Print out the poem onto handouts and let students decorateUse shared writing to allow students to add to the poem. Let your creativity and imagination run wild!The end of the You Tube video on slide 4 shows the teacher practicing phonics with her students using the poem. This channel also has another video showing shared writing with a poem. Additional activities and a link to this other video can be found on the website I have created for this PD I will give you the link at the end of the presentation

11The PoemsMany different poems can be used for SRP. To make your jobs easier, I have compiled a collection of poems that are sure to be a hit with young children. They come from Read-Aloud Rhymes for theVery Young, selected by Jack Prelutsky. They are organized by subject matter, so you can easily use them to coordinate with other instruction.They are ready to print out and use on an overhead projector, or you write one on chart paper.

12Reflecting on our teachingAs we all know, an important part of teaching is reflecting on our teaching.There are TWO ways I am suggesting that you reflect on how your Shared Reading with Poetry is going.RECORD videos of your SRP sessions with your students. Use these videos to reflect on and write about the sessions.WRITE brief responses to the 2 Reflection Journal questions on the provided sheet.(Your reflection will also allow me to observe how well I have explained this teaching strategy.)

Reflection Journal questions:What do you think went well during this Shared Reading with Poetry session?What would you change, for the next time you have an opportunity to teach a session at the same step in the SRP process?13Do you have any questions?Please email me! At elisabeth.hansard@mavs.uta.eduPlease visit my website! Here, you will find a copy of this presentation, more links to helpful resources and videos, a forum where we can discuss SRP, and a page to send videos, forms, and questions. Heres the website: www.sharedreadingwithpoetry.weebly.com

14Thanks for listening!Enjoy using Shared Reading with Poetry!Sharing poetry with children is so much FUN!

15ResourcesGill, S. R. (2006). Teaching rimes with shared reading.Reading Teacher,60(2), 191-193.Honchell, B., & Schulz, M. (2012) Engaging young readers with text through shared reading experiences. Journal of Inquiry & Action in Education, 4(3), 59-67.Nicoll-Hatton, V. (1992). Big books revisited: an interview with Don Holdaway. Pen, 86, 1-10.Nowak-Fabrykowski, K. (2000). The Role of Poetry and Stories of Young Children in their Process of Learning.Journal Of Instructional Psychology,27(1), 59.Zeece, P. D. (1998). Dancing words: poetry for young children.Early Childhood Education Journal,26(2), 101-106.

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