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Focus Problem Re-Worded - Thesis in Paper

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Focus Problem Re-Worded - Thesis in Paper

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Through effective grouping, a schedule, and a routine, guided reading time will be more

effective thus Aimsweb reading scores will increase.

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Health & Wellness | Douglas County School District

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The well-being of our students is central to their capacity to learn, which is why our Health and Wellness department is dedicated to supporting our students and providing for their both their physical and mental needs.

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Primary grade teachers use guided reading to teach their students to become good readers. Guided reading is a teaching technique that involves a teacher working with a group of his or her students who read at similar levels. The teacher...

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I've had many questions about guided reading! Let me start by saying, I'm NO expert. I am still working on it myself! But, I do have some things I've learned that I'd love to share with you...and I'm not taking credit for these ideas. :) I just blog about em'!

1. Levels/Planning
Once you establish the level of each of your students, you'll want to check out { this} printable. It has helped me SO much! This printable tells me what I need to work on with each level {I did not create this handout, I just re-typed it!}.

Once you know what your kiddos need, you'll put them in groups. I know you've seen this before on our blog, but this is for our new friends that need ideas. I used so that I can easily move them from level to level and so that I'd have a visual of where my students are.

Here is a guideline from my district on where your students should be throughout the year. Keep in mind that we are in a trimester schedule so it might be different for you.

2. Running Records
We are asked to do one running record in each group, each day. It's a little overwhelming and I try my best to get it done, but I'm the.worst.at.it. I know it's helpful because it let's me know when a students is ready to move a level without doing a formal assessment, but I just like listening to all of my students in the group, not just one. Uggghhh.... I'm working on it people!

I keep my running records in a guided reading records binder { check that out here}.

If you've never done a running record, it's really best to see one in action. I did find a good site for a general overview of running records { here}.

2. Anecdotal notes
Sometimes you notice things that your students are doing, but you're not doing a running record on them...but you need to remember to address it. I just keep a sheet of address labels on my desk and jot down the problem. Then, I stick it on their tab in the binder on this little printable:

In my guided reading packet on TpT , I explain the planning steps of guided reading, but here's a tip that's not in my packet. When teaching a guided reading group, I always have a word work activity planned. To organize all of my games and ideas, I've put them all in a binder. The games are all copied on cardstock and put in a page protector {then they can be stuck in the binder AND they can be used with a dry-erase marker}. Then, I separate them with tabs so I can easily access them. The tabs are comprehension, word work, vocabulary, fluency, and I think that's it.

4. Mini-lessons
I use my whiteboards or my games from my binder in my lessons just about every day. They are perfect for word work mini-lessons. I just take into account the skill my kiddos need to work and/or what I see in their book for that day. If the book is called "Star Fish", I might work on the sound of 'ar', or I might work on the digraph 'sh'. OR, I might just see what they need to work on and it might not have anything to do with the book.

Teach Kinder or 1st Grade?

5. Management
I use the Daily 5. I modify it to make it work for me and my students. It's the best system that is a balance between keeping the kiddos engaged AND having them do meaningful things while I'm working with groups. Check out their site for more info. Another bonus...after you've set up all of the expectations with your kiddos the first month or so of school...there's really nothing else you have to do with it {I do revisit the expectations every month}.

This one I can't really help you on. It's up to you to make time to do guided reading. I know that sometimes it's out of your hands, but it's VERY important you meet with your kiddos everyday {it's required in our district}. Even when it's during assessment time, I try to at least get in one group that day {my lowest group for sure}. My district is really big on the "2-a-day" plan. Basically, during assessment time, only test 2 students a day. This is in place of "test all the kids in 3 days and that's it" method I like. I'm not a fan of the "2-a-day", but some of you might be.

I use this printable to help me decide when I'm meeting with each group. If you have a lot of groups, you won't be able to meet with every group, every day. BUT, it's important that you meet with your below level kiddos EVERY day {even Friday...gaspppp....}. So, this helps me remember what day I meet with what group {here's an example of what it would look like}:

I am so fortunate that I teach in a district that is HUGE on guided reading. We have a giant room full of guided reading books for ALL the levels. It's basically a library just of guided reading books. It's heavenly. If you are short on books, there are numerous grants out there that can help! Click { here} to find out more. You can also use the books on reading A-Z.

I hope I answered all of your questions. :) For more ideas and to see our previous posts, go { here}.

Any other ideas? Tips?

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I've had many questions about guided reading! Let me start by saying, I'm NO expert. I am still working on it myself! But, I do have some things I've learned that I'd love to share with you...and I'm not taking credit for these ideas. :) I just blog about em'!

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Tasks during guided reading time for independent work

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Tasks during guided reading time for independent work

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"The remainder of the uninterrupted English period is divided into three daily 30 minute small group guided reading periods in which the three reading groups rotate through direct explicit reading instruction delivered by the classroom teacher, skill reinforcement follow-up, and a variety of independent reading assignments that include activities ranging from silent reading to online reading reinforcement programs to work stations."

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RTINetwork.org guides educators and families in the effective implementation of Response to Intervention (RTI) as a means to improve educational outcomes for all students.

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"Timers are a must! I use these timers for a variety of things during guided reading. I use the red digital timer to keep me on track during my small guided reading groups."

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There are certain materials that you will definitely want to invest in to help make your job as a guided reading teacher much easier. Here are just a few of the things that I use on a daily basis...

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What is Aimsweb? How does Aimsweb measure student success?

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What is Aimsweb? How does Aimsweb measure student success?

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That is good to note and easy to change.

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The ideas you show that you might implement are great. The timer has been a good part of a successful schedule

in other research.

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Shows lots of ways to schedule

and also ways to set up centers.

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Schedule (Resource to back up: Scheduling Guided Reading Example) Quote "Determine student reading levels and then schedule your groups."

Inform students of schedule ( Resource to back up: )

Meeting with some groups daily, others not (Resource to back up: An example from a teachers blog which states she meets with some groups daily and others not) Quote "You will notice that I meet with the Red group everyday.  They are my kids who need extra practice and support with their reading skills."

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Classroom Management to Increase Groups Met With

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Classroom Management to Increase Groups Met With

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What I currently do: wear my flower lei so that students know that they may not ask me questions or interrupt.

Ideas to implement:

Timer for each group to signal end of one group and the beginning of next.

Tell students schedule - this way they are prepared and ready when the timer goes off to transition. This keeps them honest and you honest about setting up a "meeting."

Introduce the new schedule to students as a "meeting." Professionals keep meetings and that is an important life skill to teach students.

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An example from a teachers blog which states she meets with some groups daily, and others not

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An example from a teachers blog which states she meets with some groups daily, and others not

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You will notice that I meet with the Red group everyday.  They are my kids who need extra practice and support with their reading skills.

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The blog that used to be here is now at http://www.deannajump.com/2013/09/guided-reading-101-part-1.html.

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In my focus problem, I used the word "daily." I am finding through reading literature that it may not be necessary to meet with every group, every day. Your students who are proficient may only need 3 days a week, while your lower students need daily time.

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Another way to measure success could be through a checklist I keep (See example: "Scheduling Guided Reading Example" on padlet) that shows I met with each group every day.

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I am thinking I will measure student success weekly by progress monitoring my students through Aimsweb RCBM probes. This will allow me to see if my students are progressing weekly.

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RTINetwork.org guides educators and families in the effective implementation of Response to Intervention (RTI) as a means to improve educational outcomes for all students.

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Planning for Guided Reading can be a particularly daunting task. Especially if you want to meet with your lowest groups every day, and every single group at least once a week. Throw in a few assemblies, library time, and any other number of interruptions and it's a hair pulling experience! I'd like to share my solution for planning all this out.

Determine Student Reading Levels
At the beginning of the year, I look at the data from the end of the previous year to temporarily group the kids. I know some teachers wait for students to take a computerized assessment ( iStation) to begin grouping, however if you simply look at data (DRA and guided reading levels) from last year you'll have your groups the first week of school when teaching procedures. Waiting for classes to get set up in the computer and getting your class scheduled for testing takes weeks.

Once you know your levels, you can group the kids by reading level. I have no more than four to a group, and my number of groups can range anywhere from 6 to 9 depending on my range of readers. Then I arrange my groups beginning with the lowest group (figure 1).

Scheduling Your Groups
The next step is to plan out your groups on a calendar. Since you have your groups numbered lowest to highest, this becomes quite easy. The trick is to look ahead for any assemblies, library time, holidays, etc. that will interfere with your lowest groups and make adjustments as necessary (figure 2).

Once you have the rotations on your calendar, it is easy to transfer the teacher table schedule over to your planning sheets. Below is the first page of my weekly station rotation sheet with my teacher table rotations filled in (figure 3).

Working Stations around Teacher Table

Now I can fill in my other station rotations without interfering with my teacher table plans (figure 4). My students know what stations to go to by looking at my handy dandy Debbie Diller Work Station Pocket Chart.

However, we need to get back to the teacher table! Now that I know my schedule, I can plan my specific lessons. Below is my daily guided reading lesson planner (figure 5).

That is how I plan and schedule my guided reading groups. I know I'm meeting with all my groups, and that my lowest groups are getting necessary interventions. Plus, I have the documentation needed to prove it!

You can download blank copies of my forms here:

I just use a random school calendar.

I will create another post to show how I decide what to teach each child/group once they are at the teacher table.

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How to Plan and Schedule Guided Reading Groups

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Planning for Guided Reading can be a particularly daunting task. Especially if you want to meet with your lowest groups every day, and every single group at least once a week. Throw in a few assemblies, library time, and any other number of interruptions and it's a hair pulling experience!

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Guided reading is wonderful in theory, but how do you manage it? In this practical resource, two veteran teachers provide a step-by-step guide to guided reading, sharing their lesson plans, management strategies, and assessment tools. They show you how to manage flexible groups, match books to student needs, incorporate phonics, and use assessment to inform instruction.

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Classroom Instruction - How do I organize guided reading?

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Teachers can use the DRA to group students with similar reading levels together. Keep in mind: *Students reading below grade level will need to be in smaller groups, probably no more than 4 students. * The groups must be flexible. You will need to reassess on a regular basis and adjust the groups.