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Need help finding students' Instructional Reading Levels for Guided Reading?

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Lovell, Baili-Dawn / Independent VS. Instructional Reading Level

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Independent VS. Instructional Reading Level

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Braggs' Geodes Ed Camp Padlet and Online Resources

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Braggs' Geodes Ed Camp Padlet and Online Resources

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This was an excellent resource from her Ed Camp session in August!

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Podcast- Maximizing Your Small Group Instructional Time

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Podcast- Maximizing Your Small Group Instructional Time

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This is a long watch, but a very interesting one. It talks about the "constrained skills theory" and the dominance these skills have in K-2, while "unconstrained skills" in the upper grades (3-5) have more of a lifelong impact without a ceiling.

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Episode 143: Maximizing Small-Group Reading Instruction

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Upper Grades- Guided Reading and Guided Writing Connection

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Upper Grades- Guided Reading and Guided Writing Connection

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The Jan Richardson structure is very user friendly- I have some of her books if you ever want to read/learn more!

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Using the Jan Richardson Framework for Guided Reading

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"How To" Starter Guide- Reading Conferences at the Elementary Level

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"How To" Starter Guide- Reading Conferences at the Elementary Level

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A GREAT book for everything conferring! This is an awesome first step for teachers who are wanting to implement this practice in their Reading Workshop.

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Another great resource for planning!

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Guided Reading Groups- Lesson Plan Templates

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Guided Reading Groups- Lesson Plan Templates

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This has plans available per Guided Reading level.

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Lower Grades- Guided Reading Group Example

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Lower Grades- Guided Reading Group Example

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Obviously, with our LETRs and Science of Reading training, there are many decoding strategies shown in this video that we know are NOT best practices. Students should not try to sound out a word based on what the picture is. This is a better guide for fluency work in the early grades. It is imperative that we incorporate and base our teaching practices on explicit phonics instruction, but this is a great example of the structure that a Guided Reading group follows- especially when on the first day of a new book.

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Guided Reading in a First Grade Classroom | Zoom Zoom Readers

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Lower Grades- Another Guided Reading Group Example

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Lower Grades- Another Guided Reading Group Example

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She does a great job highlighting a grammar/mechanics focus at the beginning of her small group. I WISH she would've more explicitly taught suffixes (or at least -er) to the students ahead of time. This lesson is entirely too long for one small group sitting, it even says that it should be broken up over two days to best impact student learning. You will also notice how she is taking notes while conferring with readers around the table.

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Upper Grades- ELA Strategy Group Example

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Upper Grades- ELA Strategy Group Example

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This is a strategy group that highlights the importance of jotting while reading independently. Not all of your strategy groups will seem this "abstract". She discusses a previously learned idea of "big ideas" vs. "small ideas" and encourages students to think deeply about their characters' interactions. I really want to encourage you to notice her "coaching" phase of the lesson.

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5th Grade Reading Strategy Group Smith EP 1

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Lower Grades- ELA Strategy Group Example

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Lower Grades- ELA Strategy Group Example

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Jennifer Serravallo is teaching this one, and it is awesome! I LOVE how readers are choosing books from their own stack to practice the strategy with.

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I really like the anchor chart that the teacher is using to give students a visual on the envisioning strategy.

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Further Clarification between Small Group Types

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Further Clarification between Small Group Types

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I don't agree with all of her teachings in this video, especially how she describes the RTI Tiers, but there are some good takeaways and a reminder of the distinction between Guided Reading and Strategy (Skill) Groupings. She talks a lot about leveling and the appropriation of reading/DRA level vs. grade level, I would skip over this part mostly.

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What is Guided Reading? These clips show some fantastic examples!

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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?

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This is a great video if you want to try conferring with your readers and writers, but are unsure of where to start! Personally, this practice helped me when my students would go to library. It would start a quality conversation about the reading material they were choosing/needing to choose.