Shared Reading for ELLs

Shared reading, also called Choral Reading, is one component of the balanced literacy approach where students read a comprehensible text together.  Sometimes the text is already well-known, other times it becomes familiar through repetition and practice.  This is a particularly supportive structure for English Language Learners as students in any stage of language acquisition can participate.  Students are invited to listen, participate, or lead shared reading activities throughout the week in ENL.  The predictable structure of shared reading makes all learners comfortable to take risks and test our their “reading voice.”  The Rhythmic and repetitive nature of the texts provide students with necessary exposure to the syntax of English supporting understanding of subject-verb agreement, prepositional phrasing, nouns and more!

Shared reading does not always have to be a song or poem, but we’re launching shared reading with songs in the month of September.  This week we sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star together as well as the Spanish version, Estrellita,.  Next week we’ll sing The Farmer Plants the Seeds as we continue to observe sunflowers and learn about plants in the Outdoor Classroom.  Watch and sing along with your second grader!

 

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