Guided Reading is a staple in my classroom starting week 1! It’s an amazing and very proud moment when you overhear a student say, “Look I can read!” or “I just read this whole book!” I feel that providing students the opportunity to read is priceless and can be started at any point- – yes even the first week of school…. Reading is so much more than knowing all of the words in a level 3 reader, being fluent, knowing how to pause for punctuation, etc. Reading is defined as simply a process of decoding symbols and ultimately in order to construct or derive
meaning like reading comprehension. Allowing students an opportunity to be successful is vitally important. I have been asked several questions about guided reading in my classroom so I will try to answer all of the questions below. At any time feel free to send me an email if you have any additional questions my email address: taradc87@hotmail.com.
meaning like reading comprehension. Allowing students an opportunity to be successful is vitally important. I have been asked several questions about guided reading in my classroom so I will try to answer all of the questions below. At any time feel free to send me an email if you have any additional questions my email address: taradc87@hotmail.com.
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I start the first week of school doing whole class “guided reading.” No, it’s not the same as the real thing…but hey we are reading! I start with low level readers and either hold up the book to read or display the book on the Smartboard. I will list my resources for books directly below. I read through the books 2-3 with the students. Obviously these books are very repetitive but that is okay because the kids are reading. I draw special attention to using a tapping or pointing finger to each word. However, this is a step that I work extremely hard on the first couple of weeks of guided reading back at my table. After I have read the books 2-3 times with the students I send them back to their seats. They are to read the book 2 times and then begin to color. When they hear the timer they place the book in their book tub and meet me back at the carpet. This is great for teaching directions with multiple steps! You can easily find those that can or can’t follow the multi step directions! This gives the students an opportunity to gain known texts within their Read to Self book tubs also.
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I have to say I am very lucky that my district understands the importance of having an abundance assortment of reading text. With our reading series, Journeys, we have 2 readers per week (a vocab reader and a leveled reader). I have a classroom set of Rigby leveled readers and my school also has a huge book room with many selections to choose from. I completely understand that some might not have this resource so I have a few places you can look into if needed! At the beginning of the school year when I am reading guided reading books whole class I love to use Reading A-Z Readers. Another great resource with free printable books is Hubbards Cupboard. I also offer a few different easy reader sets in my TpT store. See the photos below for links.
Alphabet Easy Readers {2 versions}
Sample Pages:
I also offer several sight word readers
Sample Pages
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My district uses AimsWeb similar to that of Dibels. We take is about the second week of school. We see how many letter names and sounds the student can state in 1 minutes time. Most students have much difficulty with the letter sounds! The letters are in a random order and with an equal mix of uppercase and lowercase. I also do a basic screening of all capital and lowercase letters. This is important because the AIMS data is only a random selection. Click the picture below to grab this letter naming assessment freebie! How do I to use it? Present letters to students and mark with a new color pen/marker for correct responses. You change colors each time so you can keep track of progress over time. Then graph how many they got each date you assess. This is great for the beginning of the year so you can hopefully see the student’s graph get higher and higher!
So back at how I group my students! I use their AIMS web data, their total letter names/sounds using the above assessing tool, my own teacher observations of the students during the whole-group guided reading and I also look at the student’s ability to problem solve- not just in reading but in their classroom behaviors. If a student is a problem solver they will most likely be able to solve the unknowns they will find in reading! My guided reading groups are “fluid” so if I see one student that needs to change I’ll go ahead and change it up! I have no more than 6 to each group!
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The first couple of weeks of guided reading are so important! You are starting a new routine for the kids. Not just the kids that are back at your table, but also the kids that are doing Daily 5 or centers. I establish my “bathroom signal.” This is just when the students place their middle finger over their index finger and shake it at me. I emphasize that this a nonverbal communication meaning they don’t use their words when asking and I in return won’t use words to respond. Instead, I respond with a head shake “yes” or “no.”
During the first couple of weeks I emphasize 1:1 tracking! We count the words so we know how many “taps” each page will need. I have seen a lot of fancy reading pointers but I just use a plain ol finger! 🙂 During the first couple of weeks we work the letters in our names & a lot of rhyming.
Yes! After I have established routines in guided reading and we begin to “pick up speed” we are writing! I choose to do guided reading. We write after reading our story! This helps to pull out connections the students have with the story. Below is the guided writing paper I use! Click the picture below to grab the freebie!
Below is a snapshot of my guided writing templates for the beginning of the year. I have scripted sentences with a “fill in the blank.” I use this template for the first few weeks and then go to the template I shared above!
Below are some pictures of my guided reading tub and what I have in it! All of the following activities & more are found in my Guided Reading in Kindergarten packet on TpT! See directly below the link for these activities!
Fun with magnetic letters! Capital, lowercase, and match to animal are in the packet!
Rhyme Time!
Sound boxes! I LOVE these! I have a few different versions available in my packet! Also, click {here} to grab the blank version that are in the back- not as cute but they will still work! 🙂 Sound boxes help kiddos realize that each letter makes its own sound! If we have the word fish in our story we begin working the sound boxes. We stretch the sounds slowly and write the sounds we hear in each box. My kids last year gained a solid foundation of blends and digraphs using the sound boxes. It was very easy for them to understand that “sh” is one sound so the two letters share the same box.
PSF mats. I have several of these mats in my packet in both color & black/white. You can use any kind of manipulative you have on hand: gems, cars, blocks, chips, etc.
Mix & fix… I discuss this activity as several additional phoneme awareness activities in my Guided Reading Packet!
Small Group less plan binder!
I organize my lesson plans, writing templates, black line maters, etc per week. I align my tabs to my reading series- Unit 1, Lesson 1, etc. Click {here} to view my lesson plan template!
A lot of great bloggers have shared about the comprehension friends! So I wanted to share photos and links to the “friends” I use. I have to say that my kids respond very well to having an animal friend teach them how to become great readers! I purchased my posters from Tpt. Click {here}!
Comprehension Wall
Comprehension Friends
Alright friends- that’s all for now! Have questions? Please send me an email! If you are interested in my Guided Reading packet please click one of the photos below. It is a 60 page packet for $8! Sure to get you started and more in Guided Reading!
Or grab even more great guided reading ideas view my Guided Reading Deluxe bundle!
******Updated*****
Since the date of this original post I have compiled several additional guided reading detailed blog posts! Click on the banners below to view each post! Enjoy : )
Love your ideas! Just purchased your pack and readers!!! Thanks for the great ideas and resources!
Greg
Smedley's Smorgasboard of Kindergarten
Greg, thanks so much for the kind words!
Tara
this looks great!!
Kelli
Tales From a Traveling Teacher
Tara— I love your post! I am purchasing your pack now! =)
Thank you so much!
I have been struggling with Guided Reading and this info is so helpful! I am the type who really needs things to be spelled out!
your ideas are great! thanks for sharing! leigh ann
Thanks for your post! I am going to share your site with a first year teacher!
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Do you have a video of you teaching a guided reading lesson?
Do you have a video of you teaching a guided reading lesson?