Shared reading is so valuable in the classroom! It provides a time for the creation of a joint or collaborative experience as a group of learners. Within and from that experience, a myriad of learning opportunities can be encouraged or developed. Learning becomes meaningful for students when they can make connections.
Most obvious is the development of early reading skills but the list of learning possibilities truly is endless. The best part about spring-boarding from a text to multiple areas is the rich natural connections students will make within their own learning.
We recently wrote a short rhyming text about two starfish friends - Starfish Day. It is perfect for a shared reading experience. Print it out and make it into a classroom book or bulletin board story - the Powerpoint version can be projected onto your digital/electronic board or device too.
It has some gentle messages about friendship that can be explored after reading, in class discussion.
We've included a list of questions that you can use to encourage discussion, comprehension and connection to the text. These are ideal of a second or third read of the text. During the first read, just allow students to listen and join in to the reading.
You can also watch, listen and read with our animated version on Youtube!
A 'one page read' is perfect for little learners to practice independent reading and start to work with the language and features of the text. Ask them to read along with you a few times, read to a partner, and then look for the nouns and verbs.
Six comprehension activities are also provided. You can do these activities as a whole class, particularly if you project them onto the whiteboard, in guided reading groups or independently when more capable.
An activity is provided to help students develop the strategies of:
- making connections
- monitoring
- predicting
- questioning
- summarizing
- visualizing
Students can write their own starfish themed story using a planning page and publishing pages provided.
We added some activities for phonics (consonant blends st and sw) and fine motor (pinning and tracing) to integrate with the starfish theme.
Although the text is short, to allow emergent readers to feel successful, plenty of rich learning can follow, including a discussion on friendship and play. Following a class talk about appropriate play in your learning environment, help students break down the steps needed for successful friendship and play with this poster. The steps are gently uncovered in the text. Ask students to role play how to establish and initiate play with their peers.
You can snag the poster FREE today, here on the blog!
There are 10 activities included along with the original rhyming text - enough for a whole week of literacy engagement! See more detail over in our TpT store
Having some ocean and starfish themed books in your classroom book library would complement this shared reading experience perfectly. Here are some of our favorites!
Star of the Sea by Janet Halfmann
Starfish by Edith Thacher Hurd
Starfish Where Are You by Barroux
