Key+Links+and+Shared+Reading

=Shared Reading at St Therese=

Background In 2011, the Southern Region of CEO Sydney began work on a project titles "Reading Does Matter". St Therese welcomed this invitation to be part of the project. Representatives from the school were selected after a nomination process. The Team was represented by a Stage One Teacher, a Stage Three Teacher and the Teacher Educator. The team attended Professional development sessions but most significantly, the Inquiry Model was applied. The school needed to write a Literacy Plan, become a member of a Professional Learning Commitee ( which involved regular meetings with three other schools in the area, to share and support each other. A PLC Leader was appointed to facilitate this process. In our case it was the TE at St Therese. Ongoing PD was provided by the Southern Region both during release days and twilight sessions. The success of this was through the sharing of best practice from schools in the region and the networking. Data analysis was also a key component of this project.

The ability to find leaders within the classroom teaching staff was significant. Teachers are very talented and need to be provided with opportunities to showcase these talents. The two teachers selected, who at first were reluctant in their ability to think of themselves as leaders were two Terms later organising and facilitating a Staff Development Day!

**Peer Mentor Model** The success of the introduction of Shared Reading and its sustainability lays in the Peer Mentor Model. For approximately four week the TE demonstrated Shared Reading in the Year Two classrooms. One class was a job share and the other class was with an Institute Teacher. After demonstration lessons, the model changed to Team Teaching. The Institute teacher then became a mentor to Early Stage One and Stage One teachers and Stage Two teachers The mentor was released to teach one class in each of the grades while teachers of that grade observed the mentor teach. Debriefing sessions were then held and additional release was provided to all teachers to plan Shared Reading for the following week. Support Staff were also involved in this process.

It was amazing to observe the buzz around the school as a result of this model. As a TE who was not even present in the school during this period but returned to observe lessons being taught by the classroom teachers several weeks after, I am confident of the sustainability of the Shared Reading at St Therese.

Why did it work? The mentoring was coming from a new face. A younger member of staff was empowered and this reinforced the fact that we are all leaders. The resources were available for use. Teachers felt valued and in control and supported in the process. Strategic Planning by the Leadership Team paid off. The Strategic Plan was owned by all staff. Time was provided for the project both to implement, reflect and refine. All members of staff were accepted and development given from the point that they were at.The Whole School was involved.

A decision was made to just use fiction texts for the Term. Some teachers were comfortable using the Key Link Series, while others used other Big Books and resources. At first, the staff decided that the program was quite detailed and that is what they wanted. In future, the program proforma will be modified as confidence increases. Non - fiction texts will also be introduced.



**Resourcing** Shared Reading at St Therese was introduced through a Scholastic Resource called Key Links. Why? Research showed that teachers (and adult learners generally) will adapt and willingly change if they can see a purpose for what they are being asked to do. They need to feel secure in order to adapt and it needs to be supported in a way that they can feel in control of the process.

Through communication and networking with other schools in the ares ( non SSNP schools) the ESL teacher and the TE herd about Key Links and accepted an invitation to attend a twilight session sponsored by Scholastics and facilitated by Jill Eggalton. The resource presented ticked all the boxes and were indeed a quality product. In addition to the big books, there was additional video evidence available so that teachers could see shared reading in action. They were able to have access to youtube clips that demonstrated effective teaching.

media type="youtube" key="jfGjgOc-rJw" height="349" width="560"



[|Wow Word Chart (Thanks Mel!)] [|Ohiorc website]

[|Reading Rockets] [|Shared Reading] [|Graphic Organisers to use in Shared Reading]

[|Shared Rea][|ding.p][|df] [|Benchmark Website] [|Sheena Cameron]

[|Shared Reading display staffroom.docx]