Guided Reading

During every independent reading time, I meet with a small group of 3-4 students for guided reading. These students are grouped by the same instructional reading level. Before meeting, I have preselected a text at that same instructional reading level to read with the students. When we gather together, I introduce the book to the students and point out any vocabulary words that do not follow typical English patterns—words that they would be unable to use typically strategies to solve, such as sight words. Each student reads individually, and I rotate through reading with each student, teaching into a variety of skills that are individual to each student. For example, I might teach more word solving strategies, work on their fluency, or help a student develop stronger comprehension as they read. Students continue to read and reread until everyone has finished the text. At that point, I lead the students in comprehension questions that are specific to their instructional level. I use Fountas and Pinnell's Literacy Continuum to help prepare level-appropriate questions. Fountas and Pinnell categorizes reading into the following categories: critiquing, analyzing, searching for and using information, self-correcting, word solving, fluency, adjusting, summarizing, inferring, synthesizing, making connections and predicting. During guided reading, it is my goal to touch on as many of these skills as possible. After the discussion we work on a single word study pattern together—one that is typically found in books at that instructional level. This may include topics such as compound words, synonyms, or grammar rules. The entire guided reading group takes roughly around twenty minutes. It allows for close instruction and individual guidance for multiple students at once. I find it to be an extremely effective strategy for teaching reading.