# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Guided Reading for Struggling Readers | Reading Recovery

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
“If children are apparently unable to learn, we should assume that we have as yet not found the right way to teach them.”

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Kristen is our guest blogger today, joining us from A Walk in the Chalk. She's sharing her strategies for reaching ELLs in the classroom by incorporating modified guided reading strategies.

Guided reading is an important component of a balanced literacy program. It is when individualized reading instruction is provided to a small group of students. The group size is typically between four to six students, and each lesson is approximately 20 minutes. The teacher meets with each group several times a week and provides targeted instruction on reading skills and comprehension strategies.

Aren't guided reading lessons the same for ELLs (English language learners) as with native English speakers? Yes and no. The same effective strategies used with native English speakers are used with ELLs, but additional strategies are necessary in order to help ELLs navigate through their new language. Let's face it: Our ELLs are learning content and the English language at the same time. In order for them to fully understand and interact with the text, certain instructional strategies require more attention, and scaffolds need to be added to support the language. Let's take a look at how we can modify guided reading instruction to best support our English language learners.

Choosing the Right Text

When we choose a guided reading text for our ELLs, it's important to keep some questions in mind. Does the book topic provide cultural relevance? Will students have prior knowledge of the topic? What background knowledge will you need to provide the students? Choosing texts that students can relate to will add to their level of comprehension.

Additionally, as with any guided reading group, we want to choose books, or texts, that are at the students' instructional reading levels. For ELLs we also want to choose books that don't have a heavy language load. If I find a book at my students' reading level, but the language is heavy with a lot of new vocabulary or grammatically complex sentences, I may choose to find a different book.

It's also important to choose age appropriate books for our ELLs. Avoid "baby" books, especially for the older students. Students may be reading at a primary level in English, but providing "babyish" books can have a negative impact on a student's self-esteem. It can also be a source of embarrassment for them. It may be more challenging to find emergent leveled books for older ELLs, but they are out there.

When choosing a text, also note areas that might be confusing. Some areas that can hinder comprehension are the use of figurative language, homophones, multiple meaning words, and new vocabulary, as well as grammatically complex sentences. Addressing these before reading will greatly support students' understanding.

Lastly, whenever we are able to integrate reading with other content areas, the better it is for our ELLs. This provides multiple exposures of a topic, allowing students to gain a deeper understanding of the content. I love finding books or passages that tie into the Science and Social Studies curriculum, because this additional exposure also sets them up for further success in those classes.

English Explorer Books are excellent leveled books to use for integrating content with reading

Introduce the Text

As the text is introduced, clear and concise objectives should be provided. I post both content and language objectives at the beginning of each lesson. The content objective is "what" I want them to learn, and the language objective is "how" they will show their understanding. Setting clear objectives gives students a purpose for reading, as well as a goal that is clear and attainable.

Next, and one of the most important components of modified guided reading, is activating or building background knowledge as a pre-reading activity. ELLs often lack the background knowledge needed to fully understand a text. In order to bring cultural relevance to a topic, we need to activate the knowledge they already have, or when there is none, we need to build it for them. We can build this by using real world items (realia), videos, pictures, or shared readings. This component is crucial for setting ELLs up for success. Imagine your new student is from a tropical country, and the book you are reading with him/her is about a snowy winter. The student may not have background knowledge of what snow looks like, feels like, tastes likes, sounds like, or smells like. Using pictures, video clips, and realia can provide the background knowledge the student needs to gain a deeper understanding of the text.

As the text is introduced, we also want to frontload new vocabulary before reading. This includes both academic vocabulary, as well as any tricky everyday vocabulary. I always try to look at vocabulary through the eyes of an English language learner. A word that may not seem tricky to me could be for my ELLs.

Introducing the text, building background knowledge, and frontloading new vocabulary are critical to scaffolding the guided reading text. Spending extra time on this component will be extremely beneficial.

Check for Understanding

Next, monitoring student understanding as they read is done with quick comprehension checks. I listen to each individual child read, and then I will askhim/her open-ended questions or have him/her make a connection, a prediction, or an inference. The student then "turns off their volume" and continues to read silently while I listen to the next student. This continues as I get to each student in the group. We can't assume our ELLs understand; it's necessary to provide those comprehension checks to either help them navigate the text further or confirm that they are indeed understanding.

Respond to Reading

This is the "language objective." It's the "how" they will show what they know. You may choose to incorporate a guided writing activity, fill in a graphic organizer, use drama, participate in a discussion, or answer questions about their reading. This component will help solidify understanding and afford the use of language output in a low anxiety setting.

Students answer questions and engage in discussion with a fun Read-n-Roll activity

Word work is also an important part of reading instruction, and your guided reading lesson is a great time to incorporate it. Our ELLs need word work. Instructional time devoted to phonics, spelling patterns, and sight words will help build a foundation for learning English. I typically find areas of focus within the guided reading text. I also look for sounds in English that are different in my students' native language and focus on building awareness and pronunciation of these new sounds. Spending just a few minutes each lesson on word work will have a great impact on your ELLs' progress in both their reading and writing skills.

Integrating listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills within a guided reading lesson will provide opportunities for students to grow in all areas of literacy. The goal is to provide ELLs with the skills, strategies, and support they need to understand and interact with the content and curriculum at each grade level. By doing this, the ultimate goal of closing the achievement gap can be better realized.

Modified Guided Reading Lesson Plan Template

Modified guided reading instruction enables the reading and language skills of students to be developed. It targets the specific needs of ELLs and provides them with a deeper and broader understanding of text. Through this practice, the literacy skills, language development and self confidence of your English language learners will flourish.

I'm Kristen Vibas, an elementary ESOL teacher living in northern Virginia, teaching since 2005. I am passionate about teaching English language learners and creating fun and meaningful resources that support them in their mainstream classrooms. You can find me at my blog, "A Walk in the Chalk," or at my TPT store, "Kristen Vibas."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kristen is our guest blogger today, joining us from A Walk in the Chalk. She's sharing her strategies for reaching ELLs in the classroom by incorporating modified guided reading strategies. Guided reading is an important component of a balanced literacy program. It is when individualized reading instruction is provided to a small group of students.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Guided Reading in the Classroom: Strategies for Success

Few skills can benefit a child more throughout their life than the ability to read. It is a skill of such singular importance that it plays a role in most everyday classroom learning.

However, unfortunately for a skill of such importance, it isn't always possible to find the time for 1:1 reading with every student every day during the busy school schedule. It is this problem that guided reading is designed to address.

What is Guided Reading?

Guided reading is a group method of teaching reading skills that can be used in place of, though usually in addition to, occasional 1:1 reading and discrete phonics instruction.

Generally speaking, guided reading involves teaching groups of children according to their ability levels. The exact number in each group will depend on the number of children in the class and how well they do in a baseline reading assessment.

Usually, there are about five groups in the average class, though these groups may be uneven in size and can be updated at various intervals throughout the year according to individual rates of progress as reflected in reading assessments.

In essence, guided reading is all about teaching to the various needs of the levelled groups in the classroom. It endeavours to instruct the students in a range of reading strategies that can be applied independently to any new book they encounter.

Understanding Reading Levels

Benchmark Assessment System 1, 2nd Edition By Fountas & Pinell Buy on Amazon

This can vary slightly depending on the region in which you teach, but the most commonly used method of guided reading assessment is the alphabetical system developed by Fountas and Pinnell in the 1990s.

The levels range alphabetically from A to Z, with level A representing the lowest level and level Z the highest. This allows the teacher to work closely with each student to help them become better readers by introducing increasingly challenging books while meeting the varying instructional needs of each child in the room.

As a child progresses from kindergarten to the end of year 2, it would be expected that they would progress through all 26 levels.

Without an understanding of a students level, guided reading lacks any assessable growth.

Nearly every primary and elementary school will have a copy of a benchmark assessment system similar to what you can see here, so track it down and ensure you are familiar with it particularly if you work in the junior levels.

GUIDED READING LEVEL CHART

TEACHING ACTIVITIES FOR ANY TEXT - GREAT FOR GUIDED READING

60+ activities requiring students to WRITE in a range of genres and styles based on their text

40+ activities incorporating ARTISTIC and CREATIVE skills about their book.

30+ TECHNOLOGY-based activities, including 20 open-ended iPad and web-based tasks

25+ GROUP-based tasks

20+ tasks requiring RESEARCH, ENQUIRY and EXPLORATION of concepts within a text.

50+ tasks you can use with FILMS, GRAPHIC NOVELS and DIGITAL LITERACIES.

15+ activities involving DRAMA, MUSIC and ROLE PLAYING

15+ GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS that can be applied to any text

How is Guided Reading Organized?

Multiple copies of graded readers will be needed to implement guided reading successfully. You will also need to assess each student's reading abilities to enable you to group them according to their specific ability.

For our elementary-aged (or primary-aged) students, reading should be a daily activity. Given the size of the average class, guided reading is often the main method employed to teach reading.

If there are five guided reading ability groups in the classroom, the teacher can expect to read with each group approximately every other day, for a minimum of twice per week. This is usually done on a rota basis.

While the teacher reads with a group, the other groups can be engaged in other reading activities suitable for their level. These activities may include phonics work, sequencing activities, comprehension tasks, language games etc.

If there is a teaching assistant in the classroom, they can either support the children in completing these supplementary activities or take the lead in a guided reading session also.

The Guided Reading Area

Implementing guided reading successfully in the classroom requires considerable organisation. It can be very helpful to dedicate a specific area to the practice to make the most of the allotted time in the classroom.

Some things you may wish to place in your guided reading area may include:

● Tables, chairs

● Posters/prompts of various reading strategies

● Listening area for audio versions of books

● Multiple copies of graded readers

● Book boxes

● Computers

● Mini whiteboards and markers

● Pencils, paper, Post-It notes etc

If classroom decoration interests you, be sure to check out this great article which explores great ways to enhance reading corners.

GUIDED READING ACTIVITIES & STRATEGIES

As we have stated in the introduction, the main aim of guided reading is to instruct the students in the use of reading strategies that will eventually enable them to confidently and competently read any book by themselves.

We can group our strategies into three useful categories:

1. Prediction - What do you think will happen next?

2. Clarification & Questioning - Which parts of the book did you find challenging? What questions do you have about these?

3. Summarizing - What is this book about? What happens?

1. Prediction

Prediction encourages students to draw on their own prior learning and experiences to allow them to make educated guesses on what may follow in the story.

Prediction activities are great activities to hone your students' predictive abilities and comprehension skills, and they can be repeated often. They also have the added advantage of requiring very little preparation by the teacher.

Prior to beginning to read the chosen book, some pre-reading work is necessary to focus the students' minds on the task at hand.

Typically, this work will begin with an examination of the following elements of the book:

● Title - What is the title of the book? What does the title reveal about the book?

● Blurb - What information does the blurb reveal? What expectations does it create?

● Author - Who is the author? What is the author's purpose in writing this book?

● Illustrator - Who is the illustrator? What clues do the illustrations give you about this text?

● Cover - What does the cover make you think about? What expectations are created?

● Genre - What type of text is this? Is it fiction or nonfiction? How do you know? What are our expectations of this genre in terms of subject and format?

While prediction begins with the mostly pre-reading activities outlined above, there will be ample opportunities for the student reader to make further predictions throughout the reading of the book too. For example, it is good practice to ask the students, or encourage them to ask themselves, prediction type questions at the end of a paragraph, section, or chapter.

Working on using prediction strategies in guided reading encourages the student to read closely for inferences and other clues that will indicate the journey the text may take. It also encourages the student to pay close attention to the content of the text as they read. This kind of holistic approach to reading improves overall comprehension of a text.

Prediction Graphic Organizer Activity

Provide the students with a T-Chart worksheet entitled 'My Predictions'. The chart should consist of two columns; one headed My Prediction and the other Why I Think This. Provide a space to record the student's name and the title of the text at the top of the sheet.

At any point during the reading of the text, you can instruct the students to stop and think about where this story is going. Students can record their predictions on their sheet and the reasons for thinking this.

This activity can serve well as a supplementary reading activity on days when the group is not scheduled to read with the class teacher.

2. Clarification and Questioning

In terms of guided reading, clarification refers to first identifying the difficult parts of the text before making sense of them through a variety of clarification techniques.

These techniques can be as simple as looking up a word in a dictionary. There are other tools available to students, however. Often, when students look up the meaning of a word in a dictionary it helps clarify the meaning of that part of the text in the short term, but sometimes the word's definition is not retained for the next time the student comes across it.

Sometimes it is better for the student to use other techniques to work out the meaning, such as employing contextual clues.

A COMPLETE DIGITAL READING UNIT FOR STUDENTS

Clarification and Question Prompts

Drills employing sentence starters are a great way to effectively train our students to clarify and question and to help internalise these strategies. Begin with the clarification prompts to help students identify the areas of the text they are unsure of, before moving to the question prompts to help them begin to work out the meaning and significance within the text.

Clarification Prompts:

● This part is difficult because...

● I didn't understand when...

● I found it difficult to work out the part where...

● I don't know what this means where it says...

When the students have identified the vocabulary, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, and sections that are giving them trouble, they can then move on to forming questions using the following question prompts:

Question Prompts:

● Who...

● What...

● Where...

● When...

● Why...

● How...

These prompts help students identify the source of their confusion when reading a text more closely and learn to ask for assistance. In the process of receiving an answer to their questions, they begin to broaden their understanding of a range of techniques they can later employ in independent reading to clarify the meaning of a text for themselves.

In the context of guided reading, it can be helpful for students to work together to form the questions to ask their teacher.

Rather than directly answering the questions for the group, however, teachers would do well to encourage the students to work towards finding the answers for themselves, as this not only helps knowledge retention but improves their reading independence.

3. Summarizing READING

Summarizing is an essential skill for students to develop. It helps students to identify the most important parts of a text or story and to learn to ignore irrelevant details and information too. Students who practice summarizing learn to integrate the details and main ideas of a text meaningfully. Summarization is useful for fiction and nonfiction genres alike.

A simple way to encourage your students to summarize a story is to ask them to paraphrase it in their own words. As it will be highly unlikely they will have memorized the entire story word for word, paraphrasing it will allow you to assess their overall understanding of what they have read.
Annotate and Summarize
To encourage your students to summarize a text, ask them to answer the following four things:

● What are the main ideas in the piece?

● What are the most important details or points made?

● What details or information is irrelevant or unnecessary?

● What are the keywords and phrases in the text?

If they have photocopies of the story, you may wish to have them underline or highlight the information related to the above questions in different colors and then ask them to retell the story in their own words after they have done this. Encourage them to use the keywords and phrases used in the text in their retelling too.
Get Guiding
Getting guided reading started in the classroom requires lots of planning and organisation at the beginning of the year, but this initial investment of time and effort reaps rich rewards for students that is reflected in their rapid progress.

Once clear procedures and routines are established, your students will become more adept at applying the broad range of strategies to a wide range of text types. This will go a long way to producing the confident and capable readers any teacher would be proud of. Now, get guiding!

VIDEO TUTORIALS on teaching guided reading

OTHER GREAT GUIDED READING ACTIVITIES

The content for this page has been written by Shane Mac Donnchaidh. A former principal of an international school and English university lecturer with 15 years of teaching and administration experience. Shane's latest Book, The Complete Guide to Nonfiction Writing, can be found here. Editing and support for this article have been provided by the literacyideas team.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to teach Guided Reading: Strategies and Activities

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Teach guided reading comprehension and phonics strategies. Guided reading levels explained. guided reading activities, reading level charts for group reading in the classroom and virtual guided reading.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Guided Reading is a research-based instructional method in which a teacher works with a small group of students who are reading at similar levels at a particular point in time. The teacher supports each reader's development of effective reading competencies. However, unlike the reading groups of the past, the small, temporary groups are flexible and dynamic. Teachers regularly observe and assess their students, then group and regroup them based on the students' strengths and changing needs over the course of their development.

Guided Reading was developed in New Zealand in the 1960s. Later, when it came the United States, educators including Gay Su Pinnell and Lesley's own Irene Fountas enhanced it over time. In 1996, Fountas & Pinnell published their highly influential text, Guided Reading: Good First Teaching for All Children (Heinemann). This text revolutionized the teaching of reading, and is still used by over a million teachers worldwide.

The goal of Guided Reading lessons is to help students become more proficient readers. Teachers help their students read increasingly challenging texts over time, in a variety of genres and across a text level gradient (PDF). Texts on the gradient range from A to Z+, or, easiest to hardest. For example, a Level A book is suitable for the earliest readers, while a Level Z or Z+ is for highly proficient students.

Books for Guided Reading lessons are leveled from A to Z+ (easiest to hardest). Level B (as shown) is appropriate for kindergarten students.

What are the components of a Guided Reading lesson?

Guided Reading varies slightly depending on the grade and the reading level of each group. However, there are essential components that support effective Guided Reading lessons.

1. The teacher assesses the students and forms a small, flexible group. The students in the group are able to read about the same level of text.

2. The teacher chooses a text at the students' instructional level. The text provides opportunities for learning while not being too challenging. Each student gets their own copy of the book to read.

3. The teacher introduces the text, calling attention to meaning, language structure, and print information. The teacher discusses text structure, themes, literary devices, and elements within the text that may be challenging or new to the students.

4. The teacher interacts with the students as they read out loud. The teacher helps them develop a successful processing system.

5. The students read the whole text (or assigned portion) independently and silently, then talk about the meaning.

6. After reading the text, the students discuss themes, ideas, and what they noticed about how the text was written. For example, the characteristics of genre, structure, features, and author's craft.

7. After the discussion, students focus on word work for a few minutes (e.g. high-frequency words or taking words apart), which helps them solve words as they read.

In small Guided Reading groups, students read and discuss the same leveled text.

While the teacher works with the small group of readers, the other students engage in independent literacy activities that don't need direct teacher support. This block of time is referred to as "Readers' Workshop." They learn how to work independently so as not to interrupt the Guided Reading group. Teachers need to establish these routines and have them running smoothly before beginning Guided Reading lessons.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Our faculty answer your questions about Guided Reading, a teaching method used in classrooms worldwide. In Guided Reading lessons, a teacher works with a small group of students who are reading at similar levels at a particular point in time.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Flearningattheprimarypond.com%2Fblog%2Fwhat-are-the-components-of-a-guided-reading-lesson-in-a-kindergarten-first-or-second-grade-classroom%2F&psig=AOvVaw1xhzyaZs1vGaMRyHCjfE8d&ust=1644523266383000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAsQjRxqFwoTCNiTj-K08_UCFQAAAAAdAAAAABA0