Partner Reading Favorite Books in Kindergarten

After a mini-lesson in Reading Workshop, kindergarten student engage in two kinds of reading: private reading and partner reading. During partner reading time, they have learned how to share stories together by sitting side by side with one book in the middle. They then see-saw read, or take turns following the "I read a page, you read a page" motto as a guide. 

Last week, each child found a WOW! book page to share. They selected one page from their reading that wowed them! With their WOW! sticky note, they marked the page, then took turns telling each other about the reason that page was selected. Some pages were chosen because they were silly or funny parts of the story, others were chosen because they had a connection to the story details of the page, others because it was a favorite part.

This week the children will continue reading both independently and with partners. They will use a different sticky note with a smiley face and the word ME written on it to "add a piece of me" to the page by sharing what they think. They may share what they think might happen, what they think is interesting about the page, what they think the character is thinking, what they think the illustrations show, and more.

 

When the children partner read, they are reading familiar storybooks that we have read and reread as a class. So far we have read: "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," "Caps For Sale," "Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten," "The Three Billy Goats Gruff," "Cookie's Week," and "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed." These are books the children retell using a storyteller's voice. Having heard the stories numerous times, they can retell the events of the story with detail and using some of the language from the text.

You can partner read at home too! If you have any of these books at home, or some you both love and have read a hundred times, have your child begin retelling those stories by turning the pages of the book and telling what happens.