Shared reading is when students "share" in the reading with the teacher. Students enjoy the thrill of practicing shared reading. They can "echo read" , learn about print, act out the reading, and reread again and again. Patricia Cunningham is well known for her contributions in her writing about shared reading.
Reasons to do shared reading lesson plans are, to discover the meaning of text, print conventions, vocabulary and sight words, phonological patterns or using drama. A shared reading piece is typically read over the duration of a school week, but may go longer as necessary. I have some shared reading texts that I teach with for one week, but refer to them throughout the school year. The Pledge of Allegiance is one of them.
Primary teachers use big books, poems, chants, songs or nursery rhymes for shared reading. The shared reading text is enlarged either on a poster, on chart paper (teacher-made), songs, an Interactive Writing piece (refer to my article on Interactive Writing) or in a big book for all students to see.
The beginning of the school year is a great time to introduce patriotism by using the Pledge of Allegiance in one of your shared reading lesson plans. A Performance Indicator for Social Studies (in New York) states that, "students know the roots of American culture, its development from many traditions, and the ways many people from a variety of groups and backgrounds played a role in creating it. SS1.E.1A: "
To show students that the same piece of information can be written in different forms, I would show them three forms of the the shared reading text, The Pledge of Allegiance: The Pledge of Allegiance on an teacher made poster by me, a store bought poster of The Pledge of Allegiance and in a book, The Pledge of Allegiance (Scholastic, Inc. 2001).
Identify the purpose of reading the Pledge of Allegiance to the students first. Kindergarteners are expected to learn the pledge but have no prior knowledge as to why we say it. They recite the pledge every day and usually get the words wrong, especially, "and to the Republic for which it stands", most likely words Kindergarteners have never spoken before and certainly don't comprehend.
This book will not only give you a great shared reading text, but will be the start of reading a text for comprehension and understanding while learning the history of the flag and the reasons that we say the Pledge of Allegiance. This Shared Reading text will also give you a great start for teaching proper pronunciation of words. There are scenes from all over America in the book and even an astronaut on the moon holding the American flag. In the back of the book there are explanations about where the photographs in the book were taken and why. I also use the books, The Flag We Love and My Country Tis of Thee for this historical theme (pictured below). Please see www.loc.gov for many great history lesson ideas and free downloads for teachers and families.
