My First: Shared Reading

• Relate the story to the students’ lives. While reading, stop periodically to ask students how the events in the story are similar to their own lives and what they have experienced. While reading The Day I Had to Play with My Sister, for instance, ask students about a time they were asked to play with a younger sibling, cousin, or neighbor. Was it difficult? Why or why not?

• Activate prior knowledge. Before reading a story, discuss what the students may already know about the topic. For instance, before reading the story Biscuit, ask students what they already know about puppies. Write their responses on a large poster-sized sketch of a puppy, and display it in the classroom. Read Biscuit to the class. Then remind students of their responses on the sketch puppy. Ask students how Biscuit and other puppies are similar.

• Develop a community of readers by inviting a guest reader to the classroom. It is essential for children to see important people in their lives reading and showing enthusiasm for reading. For example, invite an older friend, sibling, parent, grandparent, etc. to come to the class to read Cat and Dog to the students. Afterward, have each student illustrate an event from the story. Combine the students’ pages into a classroom book for display, or let the students take their illustrated pages home to share with their families or their guest readers!

• Enhance alphabetic awareness. Recognize letters and the sounds they make by identifying words. For example, B is for Biscuit, W is for woof, woof! By using the first letter of the child’s name, identify something else that begins with the same letter. You can also try to pick words from a page in the book and identify other words that start with the same letter.