Guided Reading
Differentiating Instruction with Skill- and Strategy-Focused Groupings (Virtual Tour)
Stage of Literacy Development:
Stage 2: Consolidation / FluencyStage 3: Literacy for Growth
Ages:
7-12
Grade Range:
3rd 4th 5th 6thFood Groups:
Primary: Reading Fluency & Expression, Reading Comprehension Strategies Secondary: Assessment
Transcript
While working with students during shared reading on the carpet, I find that different students are working at different levels and there are different strategies that each student needs to work on. I start putting together a collection of students that need to work on certain strategies and bring them together at the guided reading table to work together. The guided reading table is a differentiated place where students get to work on skills that they need to work on. The groups change all the time. It depends on the skills that they are working on at that time as oppose to which level of a reader they are. In my assessment binder I keep track of the groups that I would like to work with. As I'm working with a group and I'm finding that there are other particular strategies that a student needs to work on I put them in a guided reading group tracker. I write their name down with the strategy and as I find more students that need to work on that strategy, I put their name down in that same spot. Eventually when I have a group that is big enough I will call them together to look at that skill such as a group that needs to work on sounding out, or a group that needs to work more on their comprehension or a group that needs to work more on chunking of sounds. And that's how I keep track of making sure that I am meeting with different groups at different times based on the strategies that they need to work on. In this classroom the reading strategies that we use come from The CAFE menu. I've created a set of cards using the strategies from The CAFE to use during guided reading. I give those to the students and what they are, are cards that have a procedure, a list of steps of how to follow that strategy. For instance, Check for Understanding, the students should read a few pages, close the book and retell that part to make sure that they've understood it. If they do they can keep reading, if they don't they should go back and reread. Students can take these cards to their desks with them, while they are practicing that skill just until they are sure that they really have mastered that skill.
Related References
Additional Links:
Reading A-Z Website: https://www.readinga-z.com/
The Daily CAFE: www.thedailycafe.com
Activity Objective
The goal of Guided Reading: Differentiating Instruction with Skill- and Strategy-Focused Groupings (Virtual Tour) is to address every student's individual literacy needs through small group teacher-guided sessions. Student groups are generated through an observation-based system where the teacher identifies the reading skills or strategies that each student needs to work on. Students with similar needs are then brought together to form a reading group. During each reading group session, other strategies that may require development are recorded for future groupings.
Quick Tips
Additional Comments:
- The Reading A-Z website provides printable reading material organized by level and type of instruction including comprehension, vocabulary and close reading. These books can be printed or used straight from the website to provide support for your guided reading sessions or be used as a guideline for book selection. - Create a list of reading strategies that are used in your classroom such as word chunking to look for during guiding reading instruction. Create a chart for these strategies and leave space to enter student names. This may help speed up the observation process as well as make it less apparent to students.
Other Recipes by this Teacher
Anchor Charts: Promoting Independence in Applying Reading Comprehension Strategies (Virtual Tour)
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Daily 5 Choices: Fostering Independence in Reading and Writing (Virtual Tour)
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Close Reading: Applying a 3-Step Reading Comprehension Strategy (Virtual Tour)
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Technology in the Listening Center: Motivating Literacy with iPads and QR Code Books (Virtual Tour)
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Literacy in Science: Expanding Vocabulary in the Content Areas (Virtual Tour)
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