Shared Reading 5-Day Plan

For this Shared Reading Plan, Ive used Olive A. Wadsworths Over in the Meadow as an
example. These strategies can be used with any text, including all the poems included in
my Reading Comprehension resource.

Day 1 Focus: Engaging Readers

Warmup: Familiar, brief poem (phonics poem or nursery rhyme), such as Make New Friends.

Reread once or twice to get all students participating.You could also echo read (teacher reads
a line, students repeat it), or alternate lines (teacher reads a line, students read the next).

Introduce Poem:
There are various ways to introduce a poem:
Picture Walk (if illustrated)--flip through the pages, thinking aloud or asking students
about what the poem is about.
Many poems are not illustrated, so the teacher can give ask a brief question or offer a
connection to pique interest (for example, with Halloween Party--this poem is all about a kid
getting ready for his schools Halloween Party. How do you think hes feeling?)
Reading:
Read fluently from start to finish, without stopping. Encourage readers to join in from
the start. Over in the Meadow has a predictable pattern, repeated phrases, and illustrations that
support the text, so many readers will be able to keep up. The first reading is an opportunity to
model sustained, fluent reading, and give students the opportunity to listen and participate for
enjoyment.

After Reading

For many poems, you might have students help you retell the story. In a rhyme without a clear
plot, like Over in the Meadow, you might ask students to help you recall the pattern as you flip
through the pages. (Did you notice a pattern with all these animals? We started with one
turtle...then two fish)

Day 2 Focus: Cross-Checking To Solve Words

Teacher Preparation: Read the poem, and select 4-5 tricky words that you want to

encourage students to read correctly (for Over in the Meadow, they might be: nest, dive, seven,
chirp, gate). These should be words that carry a clear meaning, so that students can use context,
syntax, and the illustrations to solve. Cover them with a post-it.
Warmup: Same as Day 1.
Reading: Compliment students on the work they did yesterday to read the poem. Tell them

that today theyll be playing a guessing game with the poem, where theyll use all they know
about reading to uncover some tricky words.
As you read, fluently and with students joining in, stop at the covered words. Ask students to
guess what the word could be.
Over in the Meadow, in the reeds on the shore,
Lived a mother muskrat and her little ratties four.
______ said the mother.
We dive, said the four.
Encourage students to use the pictures and what they know about the poems pattern to guess
the word. When you have a few guesses, uncover the first letter. Ask which guess fits with that
letter. If none of the guesses match, ask for new guesses based on the first letter.
The first letter is D.Which one of our guesses makes sense?
Ask students which letter they think theyll see next.
If its dive we should see an I next. Lets see
Finally, peel away the post-it and read the whole word. Read it within the sentence and ask:
Does it look right? Does it sound right? Does it make sense?
Repeat this process with the rest of the words. For mutisyllabic words, students can practice
chunking the word.
After Reading

Compliment students on their careful reading and how they solved tricky words. Remind them
that in all their reading, they should check tricky words by asking: Does it look right? Does it
sound right? Does it make sense?

Day 3 Focus: Word Study

Teacher Preparation: Identify parts of the text that go along with your desired word study
focus, like a certain spelling pattern, sight words, or rhyming words. Over in the Meadow has many longvowel rhyming words, so it would be a good opportunity to review those.

Warmup: Read the first page of Over in the Meadow all together, now that students are familiar
with the text.

Reading:

During reading, stop on pages that have your word study focus. There are various ways
to record student learning for this process:
-If youre projecting onto a whiteboard, volunteers can circle/underline the words.
-Volunteers can add to a list on the board.
-Students can bring white boards to the shared reading area. The teacher can cover up
the words that fit the pattern, and ask students to spell them on the board before uncovering
the word: Ill give you a hint, this word is dive. Show me on your board how you think its
spelled.

After Reading

Remind students that word study is not just for spellingits for reading, too. Encourage them
to notice spelling patterns in their reading, especially as they come across tricky words.

Day 4 Focus: Fluency

Warmup: Same as Day 3

Reading:

Let students know that youre about to read a little differently, and youd like to see if
they can tell whats different.
Read the first 1-2 pages in a staggered, slow way. Ask students to point out what they
noticedwhat sounded different? Was it easy to listen to? Did I seem to be enjoying my reading?
Invite students to practice reading this way.
Remind students that when we read fluently and with expression, it makes reading easier
and more enjoyable. Over the rest of the book, practice strategies for fluency and expression,
like:
-Rereading to improve expression.

-Scooping Up more words at once.

-Paying Attention to Punctuation.
-Adding Drama to dialogue.

After Reading

Remind students that fluency and expression isnt just for reading aloud. In all their reading,
students can use these strategies to make their reading stronger.

Day 5 Focus: Celebration

Warmup: Same as Day 1 & 2.

Reading:

Remind students how much hard work theyve done on this poemtheyve used all they
know about reading to solve tricky words, theyve found words that use the spelling pattern
theyre working on, and theyve practiced ways to make their reading sound right with fluency
and expression.
Tell students that today, theyll be using all of those things to make this reading the best
one yet. Tell them you will all read it together using your most confident reading voice, so that
they can hear what great work theyve done.
Read from start to finish, modeling fluency and expression.

After Reading

First, students can give themselves a round of applause!

If its a short reproduceable poem, students could add a copy to their book bin. If its a book, the
teacher could add it to a Books Weve Read Together display in the library.

Resources Used:
Over in the Meadow (cite)