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Guided Reading Support from the Reading Recovery Training Center at Clemson University 

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Guided Reading Support from the Reading Recovery Training Center at Clemson University 

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"It is through guided reading, ... that teachers can show children how to read and can support children as they read. Guided reading leads to independent reading that builds the process; it is the heart of a balanced literacy program." -Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell

How To Use The Guided Reading Module

This module explores small group guided reading instruction in the primary grades. In a small group setting, children are immersed in meaningful reading as they learn how reading works. Short, focused word work and writing are included in the lessons. This helps children benefit from the relationship between reading and writing and provides immediate application of skills to connected text.

Guided Reading is situated within a balanced literacy agenda. To establish the context for Guided Reading, we suggest viewing the Reading Process, Engagement and Independence: Creating Classroom Environment, and Formative Assessment sections of this module first, and then proceeding to Sample Lessons by Level.

The Sample Lessons by Level are intended to support teachers in meeting the many challenges that both novice and experienced teachers face in teaching Guided Reading. Although the children in a group are reading at about the same book level, their strengths and needs and rates of growth differ. Providing the right support for each child takes knowledge, skill, preparation, close observation and instantaneous decision-making. Therefore the sample lessons show how the focus in teaching guided reading shifts as beginning readers grow in their understanding and application of the reading process. Guiding questions are provided for reflection on the video clips. For many of the lesson segments, the teachers have also provided commentary on the goals and intentions of their teaching moves and language.

Please note that the book levels listed are Reading Recovery (RR) levels. Consult "Book and Reader Characteristics" under each module for correlations of these levels with Fountas and Pinnell Guided Reading (F&P) and Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA).

We would like to thank the following teachers from Anderson School District Five who are featured in the videos:

Patsy McGregor at Homeland Park Primary (Levels 1-2)

Amy Sanderson at Centerville Elementary School (Levels 3-5 and 10-12)

Karen Branch at McLees Elementary School (Levels 6-9 and 13-16)

Angela Rardon at Nevitt Forest Elementary School (Levels 17-20).

We would also like to acknowledge the support of Cindy Martin, Director of Elementary and Early Childhood Programs for Anderson Five; and Jean Ridley, Reading Recovery Teacher Leader in Anderson Five. And most of all, we thank the children in the guided reading groups and their parents whose support made their participation in this project possible.

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"It is through guided reading, ... that teachers can show children how to read and can support children as they read. Guided reading leads to independent reading that builds the process; it is the heart of a balanced literacy program ." -Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell This module explores small group guided reading instruction in the primary grades.

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Reading Comprehension Support from the Reading Recovery Training Center at Clemson University 

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Reading Comprehension Support from the Reading Recovery Training Center at Clemson University 

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"As an adult reader, I think all the time while I read. And I have found, even with kindergarten children, if I'm very explicit in explaining to them the types of thinking I do as an adult reader, and that that's the same type of thinking they should do as a little reader - I've found that when you expose them to that kind of terminology, that kind of thinking, then they get it. And when they get it, it really boosts their comprehension immensely." -Irby DuBose, Kindergarten Teacher, Darlington, SC

How to Use This Module

The Reading Comprehension module is designed to support teaching children in the primary grades to think and understand as they read, listen to, and view texts. In the 1970s and 1980s, many educators and researchers recognized that reading comprehension was not a set of discreet skills that could be taught sequentially through workbooks and worksheets. They studied what proficient readers actually do in order to read effectively, and found that they exhibit specific kinds of thinking as they read. (See image below.) This module features video clips of effective ways to teach children to use these research-based comprehension strategies as they interact with text.

Before studying the Sample Comprehension Lessons, we recommend viewing and discussing Engagement and Independence: Creating Classroom Environment, Lesson Structure, and Assessment. (For teachers new to this type of instruction, Assessment may be more beneficial after the first strategy has been studied.) Return to any of these introductory sections over time as questions arise from classroom practice. You may have studied Engagement and Independence in the Guided Reading Module. If so, it will be helpful to review parts of it, especially Part 6: Peer Interactions, in which teachers present their perspectives on Turn and Talk, a critical element in comprehension lessons.

Each Sample Comprehension Lesson in this module, one per comprehension strategy, is taught in a kindergarten, first, or second grade classroom in South Carolina.

Children need explicit instruction in what the strategies are and how to use them. However, strategies should not be taught in isolation, or as ends in themselves. Usually this instruction works best in the context of a unit of study around a topic or genre. For example, in the sample lessons you will see children studying Determining Importance to help them understand what's important to remember in a unit on Famous Americans. Learning to infer is embedded in a poetry unit. We always keep in mind that proficient readers use a combination of strategies as they need them to support their understanding.

The introduction to each strategy includes: what the strategy is, why we teach children to use it, how we teach various aspects of the strategy, and information about the sample lesson. We suggest reading and discussing the Introduction before viewing the video clips of the sample lesson, and returning to it during the Final Reflections.

To build expertise in teaching strategic thinking to beginning readers, we need to notice and appreciate the small shifts in children's behaviors that signal growth in becoming thinkers. We also need to learn to respond with teaching moves and language that encourage their development. The questions posed before each video clip are constructed to support this reflective teaching, as are the Facilitator Notes for leading Professional Learning Community discussions. A segment in each sample lesson also includes examples of the students' work, and ideas for analyzing them. (See the Assessment Section for more background on how to support students in their comprehension journey.)

The sample lessons are based, some more directly than others, on lessons described in The Primary Comprehension Toolkit by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis, or Reading with Meaning by Debbie Miller. We highly recommend using the works of these educators as guides to comprehension instruction.

We are greatly indebted to Irby DuBose, Melody Blackwell, and Apryl Whitman for opening their classrooms to this project. They represent the tremendous opportunity, despite all the hurdles to teaching in our time, for teachers to fully engage young children in becoming literate.

To learn more about the research, history, and context of teaching strategic thinking, see overall Suggested Readings.

References:

Harvey, S. and Goudvis, A. (2008). The Primary Comprehension Toolkit, Heinemann First Hand.
Miller, D. (2012). Reading with Meaning: Teaching Comprehension in the Primary Grades, 2nd ed., Stenhouse.
Pearson, P.D., & Gallagher, M.C. (1983). The Instruction of Reading Comprehension. Contemporary Educational Psychology 8.
Pearson, P.D., Roehler, L.R., Dole, J.A., Duffy, G.G. (1992). Developing Expertise in Reading Comprehension. In Samuels, S.J. and Farstrup, A.E. (Eds.), What Research Has to Say About Reading Instruction, 2nd Ed., International Reading Association.

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"As an adult reader, I think all the time while I read. And I have found, even with kindergarten children, if I'm very explicit in explaining to them the types of thinking I do as an adult reader, and that that's the same type of thinking they should do as a little reader - I've found that when you expose them to that kind of terminology, that kind of thinking, then they get it.

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Writing Support from the Reading Recovery Training Center at Clemson University 

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Writing Support from the Reading Recovery Training Center at Clemson University 

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"Many of the great innovations in teaching writing came from bold young teachers ... who tested out a startling proposition - what happens if we treat even our youngest children as authors." -Thomas Newkirk, Children Want to Write

How to Use This Module

This module explores a writing workshop approach to writing instruction in the primary grades. The initial sections ( Writing Workshop, Architecture, Assessment, Mentor Texts, and Charts) provide information about the basic aspects of leading a successful workshop. The video clips in the two sets of sample lessons bring this information alive as it is practiced in kindergarten, first, and second-grade classrooms at Springfield Elementary School in Greenwood, South Carolina.

The Sample Lessons by Component section provides video clips that break down each component of a writing workshop (mini-lesson, workshop, share) into its own distinct parts. Links are given back to the Architecture section as you view these clips, as well as to possible questions for discussion. The Sample Lessons by Genre present mini-lessons in their entirety to support students in creating their own informative, narrative, and opinion pieces.

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"Many of the great innovations in teaching writing came from bold young teachers ... who tested out a startling proposition - what happens if we treat even our youngest children as authors." -Thomas Newkirk, Children Want to Write This module explores a writing workshop approach to writing instruction in the primary grades.

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Nonfiction Inquiry Support from the Reading Recovery Training Center at Clemson University 

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Nonfiction Inquiry Support from the Reading Recovery Training Center at Clemson University 

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"Inquiry is not a method of teaching or set of procedures to follow, but 'rather, it indicates a stance toward experiences and ideas - a willingness to wonder, to ask questions, and to seek to understand by collaborating with others in the attempt to make answers to them'". - Maloch & Horsey 2013, quoting Wells 1999

HOW TO USE THE NONFICTION INQUIRY MODULE

Nonfiction Inquiry explores kindergarten, first, and second grade classrooms where inquiry units allow children the opportunity to build and apply their literacy strategies to informational text in meaningful and engaging ways. Over a two-four week unit, Kindergarteners study animals of their choice, first graders discover and promote ways to prevent water pollution, and second graders become experts on how to stay safe in different kinds of severe weather. We recommend beginning the module with Section 1, Introduction to Inquiry, which provides background information on the characteristics, benefits, and structure of inquiry units, as well as student preparation before initiating them. Facilitator Notes for the Introduction to Inquiry are provided.

Each subsequent section features specific lessons within one of the three inquiry units. Through video clips and commentary, three Kindergarten, two first grade, and five second grade lessons are examined. Each featured lesson also includes information about the lessons that occurred within the unit that were not videotaped, through teacher interviews, sample student work, anchor charts, photographs, lesson plans, and/or written explanations. These are usually found in the Prior to the Lesson or Reflections and Next Steps segments of the lesson. Facilitator Notes for leading a PLC session are also provided for each lesson.

Each unit is roughly divided into four stages: Immerse, Investigate, Coalesce, and Go Public (Harvey and Daniels, 2009). To best understand the development of an inquiry unit and the effects of the process, we recommend viewing the lessons within a unit in the sequence in which they were taught. Additionally, teachers already familiar with inquiry may want to view individual lessons for ideas about incorporating the techniques used into any research unit.

We recommend that all primary teachers view clips from all three of the grades. Doing so will help elucidate the process of inquiry from beginning to end. The phase of inquiry illustrated by each lesson is shown in the table below.

There are also unique contributions to building an inquiry unit displayed at each grade that are applicable across grades. For example, teachers at all grades can learn from the approach to stations and the use of the Reading and Analyzing Nonfiction (RAN) chart shown in Kindergarten, the implementation of inquiry from authentic experiences in first grade, and the development of a culminating project and how it was self, peer, and teacher assessed in second grade.

It is helpful before initiating inquiry for both teacher and students to have a general understanding of how to comprehend informational texts. Therefore we recommend that teachers utilize the Reading Comprehension module on this website before studying Nonfiction Inquiry. This module lays out the fundamentals of the strategies used for good comprehension across genres, lesson structure using gradual release of responsibility, and assessment opportunities. Through videotapes of primary classrooms, sample lessons in the Reading Comprehension module ( Activate Schema, Ask Questions, and Determine Importance) show how these fundamentals are practiced using informational text.

References:

Harvey, S. & Daniels, H. (2009). Comprehension and Collaboration: Inquiry circles in action. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann
Maloch, B. & Horsey, M. (2013). Living inquiry: Learning from and about informational texts in a second-grade classroom. The Reading Teacher, 66(6), 475-485.
Wells, G. (1999) Dialogic inquiry: Toward a sociocultural practice and theory of education. New York: Cambridge University Press.

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"Inquiry is not a method of teaching or set of procedures to follow, but 'rather, it indicates a stance toward experiences and ideas - a willingness to wonder, to ask questions, and to seek to understand by collaborating with others in the attempt to make answers to them'" .

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A Network of Processing Systems for Reading 

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A Network of Processing Systems for Reading 

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High Progress Literacy Classroom Rubric 

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High Progress Literacy Classroom Rubric 

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Developmentally Appropriate Practices in Early Childhood

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Developmentally Appropriate Practices in Early Childhood