Me and My Partner

Explicit Instruction/Teacher modeling

• Explain to students that sometimes all that is necessary to share a book is the pictures.
• Show students The Wave by Suzy Lee.
• After using the pictures to tell the story for the first few pages, ask for student volunteers to describe what is happening on the next few pages.
• After a few students have had the chance to try telling the story, talk as a whole group about the role of a listener and what active listening looks like. Guide students to the fact that good listeners are thinking about what is being said and have quiet/safe bodies as the story is being told.
• Read aloud a few more pages of the story while asking students to demonstrate their best listening skills.

Guided Practice

• Have students choose a book from the book library to share with a partner. Encourage students to choose books with sight words they already know and detailed pictures they can talk about.
• Once students have each chosen a book, come together and have students share the title page of their book with everyone. Encourage students to practice both good listening and good book sharing skills by talking about what students are doing well as the title pages are shared.
• Partner students up to share the rest of their stories.
• Before sending students off to work, remind them of any independent work time rules (i.e., only speaking in a whisper, raising hands for needs, etc.) and make sure that everyone understands the task at hand.

Independent working time

• While students are working in partners, any adults in the room should be circulating, answering questions and assessing student abilities.
• Setting up pillows and blankets in quiet reading areas spread out from one another can help minimize distractions and create a welcoming environment for sharing books.