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About this Strategy Guide

Guided reading gives teachers the opportunity to observe students as they read from texts at their instructional reading levels. This strategy guide describes ideas that support guided reading, including practical suggestions for implementing it in the classroom; introduces guided reading; and includes a reading list for further investigation.

Research Basis

Guided reading is subject to many interpretations, but Burkins & Croft (2010) identify these common elements:

Working with small groups

Matching student reading ability to text levels

Giving everyone in the group the same text

Introducing the text

Listening to individuals read

Prompting students to integrate their reading processes

Engaging students in conversations about the text

The goal is to help students develop strategies to apply independently. Work focuses on processes integral to reading proficiently, such as cross-checking print and meaning information, rather than on learning a particular book's word meanings. (For example, a student might see an illustration and say "dog" when the text says puppy, but after noticing the beginning /p/ in puppy, correct the mistake.) During guided reading, teachers monitor student reading processes and check that texts are within students' grasps, allowing students to assemble their newly acquired skills into a smooth, integrated reading system (Clay, p.17)

Strategy in Practice

Preparation for Instruction

Here is a general task list to consider before initiating guided reading instruction.

1. Assess students to determine instructional reading levels (IRLs). At IRL, students should sound like good readers and comprehend well.

2. Look for trends across classroom data. Cluster students into groups based on their IRLs, their skills, and how they solve problems when reading. Make groups flexible, based on student growth and change over time. If you must compromise reading level to assemble a group, always put students into an easier text rather than a more difficult one.

3. Select a text that gives students the opportunity to engage in a balanced reading process. If a student looks at words but doesn't think about the meaning or consider the pictures, find an IRL where the student uses all of the information the text offers. If there are more than a few problems for students to solve during reading, the text is too difficult.

4. Plan a schedule for working with small groups, and organize materials for groups working independently. Independent work should be as closely connected to authentic reading and writing as possible; try things like rereading familiar texts or manipulating magnetic letters to explore word families.

The Guided Reading Session

Individual lessons vary based on student needs and particular texts, but try this general structure.

1. Familiar rereading-Observe and make notes while students read books from earlier guided reading lessons.

2. Introduction-Ask students to examine the book to see what they notice. Support students guiding themselves through a preview of the book and thinking about the text. Students may notice the book's format or a particular element of the print.

3. Reading practice-Rotate from student to student while they read quietly or silently. Listen closely and make anecdotal notes. Intervene and prompt rarely, with broad questions like "What will you do next?"

4. Discussion-Let students talk about what they noticed while reading. Support their efforts to think deeply and connect across the whole book. For example, a student may notice that an illustration opening the text shows ingredients in a pantry, and at the end, they are all over the kitchen.

5. Teaching point-Offer a couple of instructions based on observations made during reading. Teaching points are most valuable when pointing to new things that students are demonstrating or ask for reflection on how they solved problems.

For Further Reading

Burkins, J.M., & Croft, M.M. (2010). Preventing misguided reading: New strategies for guided reading teachers. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Ford, M.P., & Opitz, M.F. (2008). Guided reading: Then and now. In M.J. Fresch (Ed.), An essential history of current reading practices (pp. 66-81). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

McLaughlin, M., & Allen, M.B. (2009). Guided comprehension in grades 3-8
(Combined 2nd Ed.). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

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Using Guided Reading to Develop Student Reading Independence

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About this Strategy Guide Guided reading gives teachers the opportunity to observe students as they read from texts at their instructional reading levels. This strategy guide describes ideas that support guided reading, including practical suggestions for implementing it in the classroom; introduces guided reading; and includes a reading list for further investigation.

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Sebastian Wren was born in Oklahoma and moved to Texas at the age of 15. Unsatisfied with the move from one of the best magnet schools in the country (Booker T. Washington in Tulsa, OK) to a small, rural school near San Antonio, Sebastian dropped out of high school and began attending classes at the University of Texas in San Antonio at the age of 16.

At UTSA, Sebastian pursued diverse interests ranging from math and engineering to foreign language to philosophy to history. During his undergraduate tenure, he also served as photography editor and managing editor for an independent newspaper and was active in student politics. In 1989, Sebastian earned a B.A. in Psychology, and began working with adolescent special-education students housed in a residential psychiatric facility helping them with their educational endeavors.

In 1991, Sebastian moved to Austin to pursue a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Texas. At U.T., Sebastian again revealed a tendency to explore diverse interests, teaching statistics and research methods courses, taking qualifying examinations physiological psychology (sensation and perception), and working closely with Dr. Philip Gough conducting research to explore the cognitive foundations of reading.

In 1998, while finishing his dissertation, Sebastian began working at the Southwest Education Development Laboratory where he worked with under-served schools across the country and developed expertise in reading education, school improvement, and educational leadership. In 2002, Sebastian created BalancedReading.com, and began disseminating literacy research information and education resources to educators.

In 2006, Sebastian began working independently, and is currently in the process of creating Education Exploration a non-profit organization dedicated to education improvement (EducationExploration.org). He continues to pursue diverse interests, serving as president of his neighborhood association, president of the Capital Area Reading Council, and working closely with Austin city leaders to make his beloved (adopted) home town of Austin, Texas, the best place in the world to live.

Sebastian Andrew Wren
Curriculum Vita
(last updated 12-12-05)
Because of SPAM, we do not publish e-mail addresses on the web. To contact Dr. Wren,
send a message via the BalancedReading Feedback Page

Education
2000: Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX; Cognition and Perception (major), Neuroscience (minor).

1989: B.A., The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX; Psychology (major), Philosophy (minor).

Employment History

1998 ? Program Specialist / Associate, Southwest Educational Development Laboratory

1996 - 1997: Lecturer, Southwest Texas State University, San Marcos, TX.

1994 - 1998: Assistant Instructor, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX.

1991 - 1994: Teaching Assistant / Research Fellow, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX.

1989 - 1991: Instruction Counselor (adolescent wing), Charter Real Psychiatric Hospital, San Antonio, TX.

1988 - 1989: Specialist: Differential Abilities Scale Norming Team, Psychological Corporation (HBJ), San Antonio, TX.

Grant Support

Research Fellowship: Dallenbach Fellowship granted by the University of Texas Graduate Board.

Peer-reviewed Publications

Wren, S. (2006). The Reading Assessment Database for Grades K-2. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, Austin TX. http://www.sedl.org/reading/rad

Wren, S. (2001). The Cognitive Foundations of Learning to Read: A Framework. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, Austin TX.

Wren, S. (1999). The Reading Assessment Database for Grades K-2. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, Austin TX. http://www.sedl.org/reading/rad

Gough, P.B. & Wren, S. (1999). Constructing meaning: The role of decoding. In J. Oakhill & R. Beard (Eds.) Reading development and the teaching of reading: A psychological perspective. Malden, MA: Bllackwell.

Gough, P.B. & Wren, S. (1996). The decomposition of decoding. In C. Hulme & R. M. Joshi (Eds.) Reading and spelling: development and disorders. Hillsdale NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Other Publications

Wren, S. (2004). Developmentally Appropriate Reading Instruction. U.S. Department of Education Reading First Newsletter.

Wren, S. & Biggers, D. (2003). Literacy Coaches: Roles and Responsibilities. Instructional Leader, 16(6). (*This article was revised and re-published in the SEDL Letter, and can be downloaded from their website at http://www.sedl.org/cgi-bin/pdfexit.cgi?url=http://www.sedl.org/pubs/sedl-letter/v17n01/SEDLLetter_v17n01.pdf)

Wren, S. & Watts, J. (2002). The Abecedarian Early Reading Assessment. http://www.sebastianwren.com.

Wren, S. (2002). Ten Myths of Reading Instruction. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, Austin TX. http://www.sedl.org/reading/topics/myths.html

Wren, S. (2002). Methods of Assessing Early Reading Development. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, Austin TX. http://www.sedl.org/reading/topics/assessment.html

Wren, S. (2001). How do Children Read? School Reform News, 5 (2), p. 21.

Wren, S. (2001). What does a Balanced Literacy Approach Mean? Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, Austin TX. http://www.sedl.org/reading/topics/balanced.html

Wren, S. (2001). Reading and the Three Cueing Systems. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, Austin TX. http://www.sedl.org/reading/topics/cueing.html

Wren, S. (2000). Understanding the Brain and Reading. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, Austin TX. http://www.sedl.org/reading/topics/brainreading.html

Wren, S. (2000). What is Reading? - Decoding and the Jabberwocky's Song. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, Austin TX. http://www.sedl.org/reading/topics/whatisreading.html

Wren, S. (2000). Regular and Exception Words. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, Austin TX. http://www.sedl.org/reading/topics/exception.html

Wren, S. (2000). Reading by Sight. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, Austin TX. http://www.sedl.org/reading/topics/sight.html

Wren, S. (2000). Cross-modal priming and word recency - Evidence against the implicit memory model of word recency. (Dissertation). The University of Texas at Austin.

Wren, S. (1999). Phonics Rules. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, Austin TX. http://www.sedl.org/reading/topics/phonicsrules.html

Wren, S. (1999). The Phive Phones of Reading. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, Austin TX. http://www.sedl.org/reading/topics/phon.html

Wren, S. (1999). Reading Assessment Across the Southwest Region. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, Austin TX. http://www.sedl.org/reading/rad/states.html

Wren, S. (1999). The Instructional Resources Database. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, Austin TX. http://www.sedl.org/reading/ir/

Presentations

Wren, S. (2005). Literacy coaches: Promises and problems. National Reading Conference, Miami, FL.

Wren, S. (2005). Ten myths of reading instruction. Neuhaus Education Center, Houston, TX.

Wren, S. (2005). Understanding the brain and reading. Neuhaus Education Center, Houston, TX.

Wren, S. (2002). Selected issues in early reading acquisition. Louisiana Megaconference in Reading and Language Arts, New Orleans, LA.

Wren, S. (2001). The role of administration in developing a research-based reading curriculum. Gadsden Administrators Conference, Gadsden NM.

Wren, S. (2001). Using research to Inform Systemic Interventions in Low-Performing Schools. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, Austin TX.

Wren, S. (2000). Developing a research-based state-wide reading assessment. Series of talks presented to the New Mexico Early Reading Assessment Committee (October to December).

Wren, S. (2000). What do we know about early reading acquisition? Presented to the New Mexico archdiocese council of elementary principals, October.

Wren, S. (2000). What research says about how children learn to read. Presented for a New Mexico Legislative Education Study Committee hearing, August.

Wren, S. (1998). Selecting early reading assessments. Presented at the Oklahoma Early Education Conference in Oklahoma City, OK, in October, and through the Oklahoma Videoconference Network in November.

Wren, S. (1998). Assessments and the NRC report on Preventing Early Reading Difficulties in Young Children. Presented at the Improving Americas Schools Conference in Nashville, TN in December.

Wren, S. (1996). The relative naming latencies for homophones, homographs, pseudohomophones, pseudowords, and non-pronouncable letter strings. Paper presented at the annual meeting, Southwest Psychological Association, Fort Worth, TX.

Wren, S. (1996). Recency effect across modalities. Paper presented at the annual meeting, Association for Research in Memory, Attention, Decision-making, Imagery, Language, Learning & Organizational-perception, Austin, TX.

Wren, S. & Gough, P.B. (1996). Word frequency, NOT age of acquisition accounts for naming latency variance. Talk presented at the annual meeting, Southwest Psychological Association, Houston, TX.

Wren, S. & Gough, P.B. (1996). Diminished word length effect by orthographic modification. Talk presented at the annual meeting, Southwest Psychological Association, Houston, TX.

Wren, S. & Gough, P.B. (1995). Separation of the frequency/recency confound. Paper presented at the annual meeting, Southwest Psychological Association, San Antonio, TX.

Gough, P.B. & Wren, S. (1994). Recency and frequency effects in word naming. Paper presented at the annual meeting, Psychonomic Society, St. Louis, MO.

Teaching Experience

Lecturer Sensation and Perception

Assistant Instructor Introduction to statistical methods and research design
Computer laboratory for statistics and research

Teaching Assistant Psychology of reading
Introduction to research methods in social sciences
Advanced statistics and research methods
Psychology of language

Field Work / Professional Development Experience

Worked on long-term school improvement effort focusing on reading achievement in Marked Tree (AR), Putnam City (OK), and Newcomb (NM) from 2000 to present.

Provided long-term professional development in reading instruction to teachers in Bernalillo (NM) Independent School District from 1998 to 2000.

Provided long-term professional development in reading instruction to teachers in Fredericksburg (TX) Independent School District during the 1998-1999 academic year.

Provided long-term professional development in reading instruction to teachers at Bruce Aiken Elementary School in Brownsville (TX) Independent School District during the 1999-2000 academic year.

Professional Affiliations

The Capital Area Reading Council (currently president of CARC) ? Since 2002
The International Reading Association ? Since 2002
The Society for the Scientific Study of Reading - Since 1999
The National Reading Conference Association - Since 1998

Other Experience

General Computation Laboratory Assistant (teaching computer skills to other graduate students and professors and assisting in the implementation of network administration)

Statistics and Computer Consultant (primary statistics and data consultant for various research projects including Project QuEST (Dr. Nancy Roser, Director))

Qualifying Examinations

Major Exam: Human Perception
Minor Exam: Sensory Psychology

World Wide Web Page

http://www.educationexploration.org
https://www.balancedreading.com
http://www.sebastianwren.com
http://www.sedl.org/reading

Professional Referencess Available Upon Request

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Sebastian Wren was born in Oklahoma and moved to Texas at the age of 15. Unsatisfied with the move from one of the best magnet schools in the country (Booker T. Washington in Tulsa, OK) to a small, rural school near San Antonio, Sebastian dropped out of high school and began attending classes at the University of Texas in San Antonio at the age of 16.

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Develop a Balanced Literacy Approach in the classroom to promote complete literacy development among students. This balanced approach will help students learn to read and become life long learners.
What is the Balanced Literacy Approach?
Balanced literacy is about balancing explicit language instruction with independent learning and language exploration. It aims to strike a balance between both whole language and phonics when learning to read. The strongest elements of each are incorporated into a literacy program that aims to guide students toward proficient and lifelong reading. A typical balanced literacy framework consists of five components including read aloud, guided reading, shared reading, independent reading, and word study.
Role of the teacher
Skillful teachers use their knowledge of literacy development and processes to decide where to go next. They understand when to intervene and when not to; when to draw children's attention to specific features of the text; and how to model and explain strategies in ways that children can make their own connections.

Thus, the teacher's role in the Balanced Literacy Approach is to scaffold literacy learning, that is, to actively enhance students' understanding while they read.
Applying the Approach:
Claire is an English teacher. She believes that a combination and balance of both, whole language and phonics, is the best way to teach reading to her students. She plans her balanced literacy framework by mapping out a whole language classroom where students are taught the meaning of words and texts. Thus, instead of spending time only focusing on sounding words out and other phonics-related lessons, children in her whole language classroom are surrounded by many different types of written language that they can explore. They are able to choose the books and texts that they want to read. For example, during a typical balanced literacy session, she reads aloud to the class. She offers an explicit phonics lesson, like different words that include the blend 'ch' in them. Then, she gives her students plenty of time to read on their own or in small groups, allowing them to discover language and reading on their own as well.

Creating reading lessons that help students to not only learn to read but learn to explore reading on their own will help students become life long learners.
Like this article for teachers?
Browse the Professional Learning Board COURSE CATALOG to find related online courses for teachers in your state. Professional Learning Board is a leading provider of online professional development classes that teachers use to renew a teaching license or renew a teaching certificate.

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The teacher's role in the Balanced Literacy Approach is to scaffold literacy learning, that is, to actively enhance students' understanding while they read. Creating reading lessons that help students to not only learn to read but learn to explore reading on their own will help students become life long learners.

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The Importance of Finding a Place for Guided Reading in a Balanced Literacy Classroom Guided Reading and balanced literacy are big ideas in literacy instruction today. The function of different approaches in a balanced curriculum offers teachers opportunities to illustrate literacy for learners along a continuum of a gradual release of responsibility. Reading to, with, and by children and teachers gives comparative amounts of support and responsibility throughout the instructional day, and over time, as students grow as readers and writers (Margaret Mooney, 1990).

What Is Guided Reading?

Guided Reading is a crucial component of this balanced literacy approach, yet, is often dismissed as different types of small groupings come into vogue or are crowded out as an instructional day becomes filled with other activities. The role of guided reading in balanced literacy is to provide teachers with opportunities to coach students using a teacher-selected text, chosen because it offers opportunities for learning exactly what these students need to learn at this time in order to read increasingly complex texts with confidence and understanding.

Some instructional models abandon small group practices entirely and have students work independently without a supported small group practice; others call their small groups "guided reading groups" yet have teachers doing the bulk of the work. The inclusion of Guided Reading in balanced literacy is quite clearly needed as teachers support children by forming flexible groups and select appropriate texts so children can apply what has been taught and demonstrated during reading aloud and shared reading time. However, the students read and process the text under the watchful eye of the teacher; the teacher provides support as needed by helping students understand how they used strategies to make meaning.

Through Guided Reading, a student works in a group setting, listening to other students as they problem-solve and discuss how they applied strategies, under the observant eye of a more-expert reader/teacher. All readers are given encouragement and feedback in the moments of processing, thereby ensuring they understand the text as well as understand how they got to that understanding. This focus on applying strategies means the learner grows in the decision-making involved in using strategies.

The role of Guided Reading in balanced literacy cannot be overstated in its importance in a learner's reading life.

What is the role of Guided Reading in a balanced literacy curriculum, and why might it be such an important player?

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Guided Reading and Balanced Literacy-Recognizing the Need for Guided Instruction

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What is the role of Guided Reading instruction in a balanced literacy curriculum, and why might it be such an important player?

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Because the term "balanced literacy" can mean different practices, in different combinations, it has been difficult to evaluate it as an approach to teaching reading. However, there are several common Balanced Literacy practices that have not been supported in numerous studies: three-cueing, leveled texts, and separating reading from writing. In depending primarily on three-cueing to teach reading, a balanced literacy approach relies on a reader's experiences and context to understand the text. Students are taught to look for: (1) meaning cues, i.e., "does it make sense?," (2) sentence structure cues, "does it sound right?," and (3) graphic/visual cues or "does it look right?." In contrast, instruction in the EL Education curriculum emphasizes graphic/visual cueing to teach students how to read. Students are encouraged to solve an unknown word by noticing the letters or word parts in the word and reading it based on their knowledge of the sounds that match each letter. A large volume of research now supports the phonics approach used in the EL Education curriculum.

In the balanced literacy classroom, students often participate in teacher guided reading of leveled texts that are not controlled for spelling patterns. Instead they are leveled according to background knowledge, sentence length, font size, repetition, etc. These texts are often on a variety of topics rather than supporting students in building knowledge in a specific topic area. In the EL Education curriculum, teachers use texts controlled for the spelling patterns and words that are explicitly taught during instruction because when learning a spelling pattern, students need opportunities to read text that lets them apply that pattern. Students also independently read texts at their level on the specific topic, in order to build background knowledge about the topic.

In a balanced literacy classroom, literacy skills are often taught in silos with separate times allocated in the school schedule for reading and writing. The two are often not connected in content. In the EL Education curriculum reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language are integrated. Students read to build knowledge about a compelling topic, they think and talk about it to further develop their understanding of the topic, and finally when they have gathered sufficient evidence and have ideas worth writing about, they write about it. Everything students do has a purpose in a longer term goal, rather than learning isolated skills seemingly for the sake of doing so.

It should be noted that recently some of the most prominent advocates of balanced literacy are beginning to rethink the balance in balanced literacy, and therefore shifts might be seen in this approach in the future.

Resources for further reading:

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What is Balanced Literacy and How is it Different From the Approach to Teaching Reading in EL Education's Curriculum?

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Because the term "balanced literacy" can mean different practices, in different combinations, it has been difficult to evaluate it as an approach to teaching reading. However, there are several common Balanced Literacy practices that have not been supported in numerous studies: three-cueing, leveled texts, and separating reading from writing.

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Why Choose Balanced Literacy 1. It follows a gradual release of responsibility model
When it comes to teaching reading and writing, there are different approaches on the spectrum. On one end, there is a whole language approach and on the other, there is a phonics approach. Teaching reading with a balanced literacy approach is the perfect combination between whole language and phonics. In a balanced literacy program, students see reading and writing modeled, share in the reading and writing with the teacher, are coached, practice independently, and are actively engaged in word study. Here are four reasons to select the balanced literacy approach:

As teachers who desire to see our students succeed, we find ourselves not providing enough scaffolding or providing too much scaffolding for their learning. When we follow a gradual release model as shown below, we are able to model what good readers and writers do, share in authentic experiences with the students as they practice the skills, and then release them to implement the skills independently so that they may become successful. The gradual release model "emphasizes instruction that mentors students into becoming capable thinkers and learners when handling the tasks with which they have not yet developed expertise" (Buehl, 2005).

2. It's the best of both worlds

Balanced Literacy sits right in the middle of both the whole language approach and the phonics approach. With whole language, the belief is that we learn to read and write best by engaging in the language undivided. Language is taught through a system that encompasses word recognition and their relation to one another in context. This approach works for many students, specifically those that are hands-on, visual, and learn best through interaction. But not all students learn this way. With the phonics approach, the belief is that students learn to read best by teaching letter and sound relationships. This is great for the auditory learner. They also love the phonological system of the language. In balanced literacy, you have the best of both worlds. The teacher is able to provide whole language learning opportunities through interactive read-alouds, shared reading, interactive writing, and shared writing, while also providing explicit phonics instruction during both word study and guided reading time. Students can be exposed to both approaches within a balanced literacy classroom.

3. It doesn't force the teacher to "fit it all in"

Often teachers hear guided reading and think that is their approach to teaching reading, but it is not. It is one piece of the puzzle. Within balanced literacy there are many components that help teach reading and writing. Never do you have to fit everything in one lesson. The day is structured so that there are many opportunities to teach and practice reading and writing.

4. It allows the teacher to differentiate learning

As educators, we are learning more and more each year about how to better meet our students' needs. We know for sure that in order for our students to be successful, they must be taught in a way that is mindful of their readiness, their interests, and their learning style. We do this by differentiating our teaching. This can seem like an overwhelming task, but it truly isn't within a balanced literacy model. The teacher is able to easily differentiate learning during guided reading, literacy stations, word study, independent reading and writing. It allows the teacher to meet students where they are.

Using the balanced literacy approach to teaching reading has made an immense difference in learning for my students. They are more engaged, excited about all of the reading and writing happening in our classroom, and they are successful in displaying growth!

Source: Buehl, D, "Scaffolding," Reading Room, 2005, <www.weac.org/News/2005-06/sept05/ readingroomoct05.htm> (November 11, 2006).

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4 Reasons to Use the Balanced Literacy Approach

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Guest blogger and balanced literacy expert Amanda Richardson explains why you should used balanced literacy in the classroom, and outlines the key benefits of balanced literacy for young readers.

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These tips and strategies will help you streamline your guided reading lessons and maximize the time you spend with your students.
Plus, check out our nonfiction guided reading book lists for every level.
Set achievable goals and don't overcommit
Quality is much more important than quantity when it comes to meeting with groups. It's more productive to meet with a group twice a week with your full attention than four times a week when your mind's distracted by your growing to-do list. You can also meet with your lowest group a third time if you feel it's necessary. Finding time for conferencing with individual students is important too, so be sure to allot time for that when possible.

Focus on only 1-2 teaching points per lesson
Identify your teaching points ahead of time and stick to them. By staying focused on one or two key points, your students will leave the table with a much better idea of what they should be focusing on while they read and will help them become better independent readers.

Keep running records
Keeping track of your students' progress is essential to their future growth. By documenting every child's development and progress, you can create a big picture for every child's reading level, which in turn will enable you to uniquely tailor your lessons to their individual needs.

Use graphic organizers
Graphic organizers are a fun and interactive way for your class to evaluate their thoughts and take stock of what they've learned-and Scholastic has a lot to choose from:

Remember that the most important thing about managing guided reading is finding a system and strategy that works best for you.

To enhance your classroom library, shop our STEM/STEAM guided reading book lists for every level.

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Scholastic shares tips on how to make guided reading manageable with achievable goals, 1-2 teaching points per lesson, tracking, and graphic organizers.

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*Effective reading instruction involves a combination of powerful instructional settings. This post is the first in our "What is...?" series, where we define each instructional context that makes up a coherent literacy system.

What is guided reading?

Guided reading is a small-group instructional context in which a teacher supports each reader's development of systems of strategic actions for processing new texts at increasingly challenging levels of difficulty. During guided reading, students in a small-group setting individually read a text that you have selected at their instructional reading level. You provide teaching across the lesson to support students in building the in-the-head networks of strategic actions for processing increasingly challenging texts. Through guided reading, students learn how to engage in every facet of the reading process and apply that literacy power to all instructional contexts.

Why is guided reading important?

As an instructional context, guided reading:

Supports readers in expanding their processing competencies (in-the-head systems of strategic actions)

Provides a context for responsive teaching - teaching that is grounded in the teacher's detailed knowledge of and respect for each student, supporting the readers' active construction of a processing system

Allows students to engage with a rich variety of texts

Helps students learn to think like proficient readers

Enables students to read more challenging texts with support.

"In guided reading, you meet students where they are and lead them forward with intention and precision." -Irene C. Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell

What does guided reading look like?

A small group of students who are at a similar point in their reading development are seated across from you at a small kidney-shaped table. Each student reads, softly or silently, the same text individually. You guide a discussion of the text meaning and make teaching points based on your observations of the students' reading strengths and needs.
Steps in the guided reading process:

1. Gather information about the readers to identify emphases.

2. Select and analyze texts to use.

3. Introduce the text.

4. Observe children as they read the text individually (support if needed).

5. Invite children to discuss the meaning of the text.

6. Make one or two teaching points.

7. Engage children in letter/word work activity.

8. Extend understanding through writing about reading (optional).

9. Reflect on the lesson and plan the following lesson.

Becoming an effective teacher of guided reading takes time and effort; but the benefits are worth it. As you teach students, you will have the satisfaction of seeing them apply today what you taught yesterday; you will notice behavioral evidence that they are taking on new understandings; and you will see them expand their competencies and move to higher levels of texts.

To learn more about the Fountas & Pinnell Classroom™ Guided Reading Collection, click the link below.
~The Fountas & Pinnell Literacy™ Team
Check out the entire "What is?" blog series:

1. What is Guided Reading?

2. What is Interactive Read-Aloud?

3. What is Shared Reading?

4. What are Reading Minilessons?

5. What is Independent Reading?

6. What are Book Clubs?

7. What is Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study?

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What is guided reading? Why is guided reading important? And what does guided reading look like in the classroom?