Guided Reading
Guided reading instruction is only one part of the literacy program; the entire program also includes language/word study and writing workshops. Guided reading instruction involves using leveled reading materials from A (kindergarten) -Z (middle school) to support the reader at each level and working with students in small groups with a common need. Assessments, such as the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Reading Assessment, running records, and informal reading inventories give a teacher and parents data. The goal is to develop independent readers by helping them to internalize their strategies and having them reread the same text several times to gain fluency. Other methods include: modeling what good readers do: predicting, inferring, subtexting, clarifying, visualizing, questioning, summarizing, and noticing nonfiction text features; writing to make meaning of the text; and word study to understand how words work. Guided reading groups are constantly changing based on need. A guided reading lesson should focus on just one strategy for several lessons, and until the student has mastered it, and can articulate it.
Guided reading gives students the opportunity to read at their just right level, which means that the books provide them with a moderate challenge. Before reading, a purpose is established and a connection to the reader’s experience is made. Students working on vocabulary definitions only do so by making connections back to the text. Readers are grouped with students with similar ability, needs, and strengths. Instruction is tuned to the needs of the particular students. Without teaching at the point of need, many students will not progress. Children will learn how to think about a text, and be able to apply their strategies in other reading situations. Within a guided reading lesson plan is the opportunity to talk about story elements such as character, setting, plot, metaphors, point of view, and vocabulary, etc. The purpose of guided reading is to teach individuals to read increasingly difficult texts with understanding and fluency.
Guided reading instruction should be fun and engaging for readers. The idea of guided reading instruction is to allow the reader to become immersed in the story’s elements and in character development. Concentration is focused on comprehension: vocabulary, sequencing, predicting, inferring, subtexting, fluency, decoding strategies, making connections with characters and events, summarizing, analyzing, critiquing, retelling, using nonfiction text features, and word meanings. In determining which students should be placed in which groups, the teacher uses assessments, like those mentioned above. The students are retested sporadically to determine if they should stay in the same group or change groups.
According to Gail Boushey and Joan Moser of the CAFE, there are 5 goals to accomplish in guided reading: CAFE ~ C is for Comprehension, A is for Accuracy, F is for Fluency, and E is for Expanding Vocabulary. Within each goal are strategies to focus on until the student has mastered and internalized them. ALWAYS have the students articulate the strategies they are using.
Guided reading instruction is only one part of the literacy program; the entire program also includes language/word study and writing workshops. Guided reading instruction involves using leveled reading materials from A (kindergarten) -Z (middle school) to support the reader at each level and working with students in small groups with a common need. Assessments, such as the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Reading Assessment, running records, and informal reading inventories give a teacher and parents data. The goal is to develop independent readers by helping them to internalize their strategies and having them reread the same text several times to gain fluency. Other methods include: modeling what good readers do: predicting, inferring, subtexting, clarifying, visualizing, questioning, summarizing, and noticing nonfiction text features; writing to make meaning of the text; and word study to understand how words work. Guided reading groups are constantly changing based on need. A guided reading lesson should focus on just one strategy for several lessons, and until the student has mastered it, and can articulate it.
Guided reading gives students the opportunity to read at their just right level, which means that the books provide them with a moderate challenge. Before reading, a purpose is established and a connection to the reader’s experience is made. Students working on vocabulary definitions only do so by making connections back to the text. Readers are grouped with students with similar ability, needs, and strengths. Instruction is tuned to the needs of the particular students. Without teaching at the point of need, many students will not progress. Children will learn how to think about a text, and be able to apply their strategies in other reading situations. Within a guided reading lesson plan is the opportunity to talk about story elements such as character, setting, plot, metaphors, point of view, and vocabulary, etc. The purpose of guided reading is to teach individuals to read increasingly difficult texts with understanding and fluency.
Guided reading instruction should be fun and engaging for readers. The idea of guided reading instruction is to allow the reader to become immersed in the story’s elements and in character development. Concentration is focused on comprehension: vocabulary, sequencing, predicting, inferring, subtexting, fluency, decoding strategies, making connections with characters and events, summarizing, analyzing, critiquing, retelling, using nonfiction text features, and word meanings. In determining which students should be placed in which groups, the teacher uses assessments, like those mentioned above. The students are retested sporadically to determine if they should stay in the same group or change groups.
According to Gail Boushey and Joan Moser of the CAFE, there are 5 goals to accomplish in guided reading: CAFE ~ C is for Comprehension, A is for Accuracy, F is for Fluency, and E is for Expanding Vocabulary. Within each goal are strategies to focus on until the student has mastered and internalized them. ALWAYS have the students articulate the strategies they are using.