Toe-to-toe, knee-to-knee, eye-to-eye. Who would have thought that three small phrases such as these ones could signal something so powerful among our students? When students are given the opportunity to share their opinions with a partner through this pair and share activity, their feelings and thoughts are not only validated, but their mind wheels are churning and we've got them thinking.
I really like this activity. I had never seen it executed until my first field experience at Stalker Elementary in Bedford, IN last semester. The kids seems to really enjoy this time, and I think it is really worthwhile. It definitely is time efficient as well.
One of the other shared reading activities that struck me was the "Dan the Flying Man" big book activity that Ms. Vale's class was creating from the video. I think creating any sort of product like a big book that the students can take ownership of and have a large hand in the creating of will really help make the activity that much more meaningful and engaging. From start to finish Ms. Vale had a plan and each step of the way she appeared to be gradually releasing more responsibility onto the students as she believed they were ready to handle it. I thought it was a great idea for her to start by reading the story and then go into a mini lesson which turned into a shared event by having the students pinch the word "and" on a page. Slowly but surely, they were making class lists and then, in pairs students were responsible for the creation of a page of the story. This is a great activity to do with students, and I really liked the gradual release of responsibility as well!
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