Vinyl glycoside (GnR) was prepared and reacted with acrylamide (AM) to synthesize a novel AM copolymer (AM/GnR) through redox free-radical polymerization in aqueous solution. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, H-1 NMR spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy were applied to characterize the polymer. Several performance evaluations such as intrinsic viscosity, temperature resistance, salt tolerance, and shear resistance were also conducted. Experiment results demonstrated that the introduced GnR could endow the copolymer with excellent salt tolerance capability and shear resistance ability. The superior salt tolerance performance of AM/GnR provided some clues to the synthesis of salt resistant polymer.