Guided Reading

Often times, guided reading is left out of many classrooms, especially junior ones, as the strategy is seen to be a primary one, and there are too many things to think about: what are the rest of the students doing, what texts do you use, how are small groups created, what is the teacher doing with that small group...

In Justus' class, he uses his independent reading time to meet and read with a small group.  While the rest of the class is reading quietly, he has a group meet with him to read.  In this session, he used a graphic novel to address text conventions.  In addition, he focused his small group lesson on the students' reading fluency and expression, pausing to dissect difficult words and their meaning and to check in for comprehension.

Here is a copy of the book the students in the group were reading:

While students read, Justus made anecdotal notes about their reading, focused on his goal for the lesson:

 

 

Justus has his reading groups organized and each one is responsible for handing in their reactions to what they are reading one day a week:

Remember, guided reading is not meant to be a time consuming process in the classroom.  Spending no more than 15 minutes with a group, focused on a reading skill or strategy with an appropriate text, can make a huge difference to students and their reading proficiency and comprehension.