Guided Reading for K-2 Presented by Char Cain

Agenda Organizing the Classroom. Managing the Classroom. The Guided Reading Lesson. Learning About Letters and Words.

Organizing the Classroom Large-group area/ materials. Small-group area. Independent work areas. Guided Reading area.

Large-group Area and Materials easel/magnetic board. Pointers. Markers. magnetic letters. chart paper. sentence strips. name chart. ABC chart. white correction tape.

Small-group areas Areas for centers. Enough space, materials, and chairs for the number of children who will typically be working there. Display areas.

Independent work areas Desk or table area with sufficient space for children’s materials. Baskets, bins or cubbyhole for personal materials. Commonly used materials should be clearly labeled.

Guided Reading area A quieter section of classroom. Sit at table, on floor, on small chairs. Teacher needs to be able to keep eye on whole classroom. Shelf or table for storing guided reading books.

Teacher’s materials in guided reading area Clipboard with running record forms. Sentence strips, paper and writing materials. Student records. Markers/pencils, whiteboard or easel.

A Print-rich classroom Big books in a range of genres. Leveled books for guided reading. Books for independent reading. Range of quality children’s literature for read-alouds. Charts of poems and songs. Labels and directions for materials. Informational books.

Print-rich classroom Stories, messages, lists and other written materials produced by children during interactive writing. A word wall, organized alphabetically, of frequently used words and other theme words that children can use as a resource (teacher and children create this wall together throughout the year).

Print-rich classroom Alphabet charts and similar reference materials. Dictionaries. Children’s personal collections of completed and in-progress stories and poems, all clearly labeled. Children’s individual poem books for collecting and reading.

Print-rich classroom Numerous pocket charts to hold a variety of print material (stories, lists, poems, etc.). Magnetic surfaces for the manipulation of colored magnetic letters. A name chart (first names of children beginning to read and more complex name study charts for the older children).

Centers Has appropriate materials to enable children to explore and work independently or with partners or small groups. Task-oriented with clear expectations – not just a worksheet. Has open-ended inquiry.

Centers Work best if teachers don’t have to create new lessons each day. Have ongoing rules. Best not to have more centers than you need.

Centers Introduce one at a time, explicitly demonstrating and practicing the routines for using it with children. A new center should not be introduced until the children fully understand how to use the one introduced before.

Centers Children need to know the specific tasks that are expected in the center for any given day or week. Each needs an adequate supply of necessary materials. Establish routines for participating in centers.

Storage for children’s ongoing and completed work Store daily writing folders for all in a labeled tub or a plastic or cardboard box. Use a plastic crate with hanging files. Provide personal boxes of books children are reading, would like to read, or are using for reference.

Storage Cut cereal boxes in half, cover them with contact paper and have students store their journals, handwriting books, and other small items in them. These boxes can easily be placed in the center of work tables to designate the particular children who should work there.

Managing the Classroom Teaching routines –Define clear expectations and be sure that children are comfortable with the routines before leaving them on their own in a center. –Begin year with large-group experiences that will establish the group as a learning community and build linguistic resources.

Managing the classroom Materials and work areas can be introduced one at a time so that children understand the operating procedures for using them. –Talk about and demonstrate it yourself. –Have one or two children demonstrate and applaud their efforts.

Managing the classroom If everyone can use the center at once, invite the class to participate and observe them, praising their efforts. If only a few children can use the area, keep an eye on it for the first time it is used. Keep encouraging and praising children’s self-managed behavior.

Managing the classroom Observe the center until you are comfortable that children are habitually using the area independently and are being considerate of others and of the materials.

Making Transitions Teach children to put away materials, check the work board, and move to a new area. Talk about what to do if an area is full and how they can use their time.

The Guided Reading Lesson Selecting books –The concepts in the book need to be familiar to the children or can be made accessible through the introduction. –The plot needs to be interesting and appealing to this group of children. –The text needs to provide opportunities to use what they know.

Selecting books –There need to be some words known to the children. –Other words need to be accessible through their current ability to use strategies such as word analysis and prediction from language structure or meaning.

Selecting books –The text needs to offer a few opportunities to problem-solve, search, and check while reading for meaning. –The illustrations need to support the children’s search for meaning. –They need to extend the meaning of the text. –The length of the text needs to be appropriate for the experience and stamina of the group.

Selecting books –For emergent and early readers, the text layout needs to be clear. –The print needs to be clear. –There needs to be an appropriate number of lines on a page. –There needs to be sufficient space between words.

Book Introduction Draw on the children’s experience and knowledge. Create an ‘anticipatory set’. Leave room for the children to bring their experiences to bear on the story. Explain important ideas and concepts. Discuss the plot or theme of the whole story.

Book Introduction Say (and sometimes have children repeat) the language patterns that are unfamiliar and are critical to the story. Talk about the meaning of the whole story. Talk about the illustrations and help children discover information in them. Discuss the characters in the story.

Book Introduction Draw children’s attention to the structure of the text and help them understand “how the book works.” Occasionally address letter-sound relationships or clusters in the pronunciation of unfamiliar words (proper names, for example).

Book Introduction Use some of the new and challenging vocabulary found in the story. Draw children’s attention to specific words and punctuation. Explore any aspects of text layout that affect the meaning of the story or would be tricky for children to follow.

Book Introduction Before the children begin to read, give them a purpose for reading or an anticipatory set, to keep them thinking of what’s happening in the story.

Assisted learning during and after reading All the children will read aloud the story at the same time, but not choral reading. You move from child to child, determining what they need in the way of prompting for the use of strategies.

Assisted learning during and after reading You can suggest, point out, and draw attention to what the child needs to learn to do next. After reading, discuss the text and focus on one or two points observed when listening to individuals read.

Letter and word work Spend a few moments after the reading to take a careful look at how a word works, especially if you have observed them struggling with one or two words, when listening to them read. –Use magnetic letters on an easel. –Write on a white board –Simply draw children’s attention to a word in text by using a card or a mask

Letter and word work The goal is for each reader to use various information sources while reading text, focusing more closely on the parts of words as needed, in order to construct meaning. You are teaching them to use what they know about words instead of “sounding out”.

Comprehension Examine oral and written responses –Comprehension is the central and guiding focus in a reading lesson. –Discussion and personal responses help the teacher to gather information about how the children have understood the story. It also extends their understandings. –Looking across a range of responses is the best way to be sure that understanding is central in the whole process of reading.

Comprehension: Constructing meaning strategies Making connections –Relating text to one’s own knowledge, experience, or other texts, which allows the child access to an established memory pathway with which to store the newly acquired textual knowledge. –Help children access this information by first modeling, and calling on them to tell about their connections.

Constructing meaning strategies Predicting – thinking about what one knows, using text features to make predictions about what the text is about. –Again model, and call for children to make predictions, using prior knowledge and the text as they confirm those predictions, using correct strategies when the reading doesn’t make sense.

Constructing meaning strategies Summarizing-the process of determining important events or information and compiling them into a central theme or concept, which helps the reader form memory structures that they can use to select and store details from their reading.

Nonfiction summarizing Model how children can look for repeated words or phrases and write them down. Write a sentence about the text using the words you wrote on your list. This will result in a summarization of the reading.

Nonfiction Summarizing Look for synonym/similar word usage. Write down the words that are alike. What are these words and how are these words alike? Write a sentence about the text using the ideas from the words that are alike.

Finding details Cross out all of the small or unimportant words in the text. Underline the details or interesting words in the text. Think about the details. What are they about. Write a sentence about the details you found.

Inferring Taking the author’s clues in text and extrapolating it to one’s life to recreate the author’s message. Clues and connections give you inference. A conclusion can be made after considering one’s knowledge and experience along with the author’s words.

Inferring Ask, “What do you know that the author didn’t come right out and tell you?” “What do you know about…?” Riddle books help to teach inferring.

Inferring Can be done at each grade level: –Kindergarten – emotion and location –1 – character trait and action –2 – object and time –3 – category and occupation –4 – cause/effect –5 – literary –6 – author’s bias and culture

Resources Dorn, L., C. French, and Tammy Jones Apprenticeship in Literacy; Transitions Across Reading and Writing. York, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers. Fountas, I., and G. Pinnell Guided Reading: Good First Teaching for All Children. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Pinnell, G., and I. Fountas Word Matters: Teaching Phonics and Spelling in the Reading/Writing Classroom. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Strategy Instruction in a Balanced Literacy Program. Gretchen Courtney & Associates, Ltd. Professional Development Resources.