Modeling Reading, sometimes called Shared Reading, is something that I recall learning a lot about in Block I, RE 3030. However, I didn’t realize that this teaching technique could benefit students with so much impact. By reading this article, I am convinced that having Shared Reading in my classroom will be worth the time and effort spent on it. It seems as though it is something that most students not only enjoy, but that they can follow and understand.
As for the more technical portion of Shared Reading, there are 4 components involved: Modeling Comprehension, Vocabulary, Text Structures, and Text Features. By acknowledging these components when having Shared Reading in the classroom, the teacher helps to better ensure that students will gain as much as they can from their experience. Obviously modeling comprehension and vocabulary is something that pre-service teachers are aware of, but as for text structures and features – this may be something new. Recognizing that texts are usually written with a text structure in mind, it isn’t something that people usually stop and think about. For me personally, I know that when I read something, I realize that it’s easy to follow by the way it’s set up; but I don’t necessarily think about it as being done purposely, just more of something that happens. If you stop and think about it carefully, you realize that if a text isn’t written with a specific text structure in mind, it could cause chaos for the student reading it. It would cause mass confusion and would be too difficult for young students to follow. Therefore, these things are just aspects in a text, they are each very important and could make a Shared Reading activity very successful or not so successful.
