- Align the focus of your guided reading lesson to the skill/strategy from focus lesson. (i.e. visualizing) A guided reading lesson should have ONE focus only.
- Review the focus lessons so the strategies you use in guided reading lesson match what you have been teaching during whole group.
- It is very important for the teacher to read the guided reading text before using it in the lesson for two reasons: 1.) To determine if text is appropriate to use for selected students 2.) To know the content of the text to help students during guided reading group with appropriate feedback and questions.
- Each time you meet with students in a guided reading group, students should engage in a before, during, and after reading strategy.
- Each reading lesson should have a “before reading”activity in which students activate their prior knowledge and teacher sets the purpose for reading. Depending on the text, you may or may not have support for instructional challenges. This “before reading” activity would only take 3-5 minutes.
- Each reading lesson should have a “during reading” strategy practice in which students read a section of text silently and practice the focus of the lesson. This practice would remain the same from lesson to lesson as you work on that skill. (i.e. If working on visualizing, at each guided reading lesson students would continue to use the sample graphic organizer to find info from text, incorporate background knowledge, and describe what they picture. What would change is the part of the text you would have them visualize. If writing is a challenge, have students use post its to “flag” the part of the text that helped them visualize and tell you orally what they are picturing. However, remember that for the 3-5 assessment, students will be asked to write their visualizations.) This “during reading” would take 10-15 minutes.
- Each reading lesson should have an “after reading” activity. This would be the part when students could share what they worked on. For example, students could describe how they pictured a specific scene if working on visualizing. The teacher would wrap up the lesson by reviewing the focus of the lesson. This “after reading” would take 3-5 minutes.
- You can provide an extension activity for students to work on at their seats when they leave your group. This is different than the “during reading” strategy practice. Refer to sample lesson plan from training for example.
Guided Reading Planning Sheet
Students:
Date:
Instructional Focus:
Text Title: Pages:
Before
Activate Prior Knowledge
Support for challenges (vocabulary, text features, concepts)
Set Purpose for reading
During
Students will practice strategy by
After
Discuss strategy practice.
Assignments or extensions:
Closure
Review focus of lesson.
Guided Reading Planning Sheet
Students: Group D above grade level
Date: ______
Instructional Focus: Making Inferences (Visualizing)
Text Title: Because of Winn DixiePages: 7-12 (Chapter 1)
Before
Activate Prior Knowledge
What do you know about how dogs act? Do they always act the same or do their actions depend on specific situations? Give examples.
Support for challenges (vocabulary, text features, concepts)
Vocabulary:
Produce – fruits/vegetables as opposed to the meaning where you make something
Army – used to show that there were a lot of people
Set Purpose for reading
Today you’re going to read the first chapter in Because of Winn Dixie. In this chapter the main character, India, meets a dog at a grocery store. The dog is causing trouble in the store. As you read, try to make a “movie” in your mind to help you picture the characters and events.
During
Students will practice strategy by visualizing, or picturing, the scene on page 9 when the dog runs over to the manager. Students will use information from the text and their own experiences to create a “movie” of this scene in their minds. Students will record this information on a graphic organizer.
After
Discuss strategy practice.
Assignments or extensions: What words do you think best describe Winn Dixie? Create a list of words. For each word, record support from the text or your own background information to support why each word is appropriate to use when describing Winn Dixie.
Closure Review focus of lesson – visualizing.
Break up your lesson plan into 3 sections (a before, during, and after reading activity) as each lesson should include each of these parts.
When working on one specific focus, the “during reading” activity remains the same as does the “after reading” activity as you always discuss strategy practice and review lesson focus at the end. So you would essentially just plan for this once as it would remain the same throughout your teaching of that skill. You differentiate for your groups with the different leveled text and extensions.
The changes you would need to make from lesson to lesson occur in the “before reading” section (determining the pages for students to read, the instructional challenges that may be present in each section, and what you will do to have students activate prior knowledge) and any extensions or assignments you will provide for students after they leave the group.
As you read the text you select for guided reading lesson, keep some post it notes nearby so you can jot down the following:
-The title of the text and which group will be reading it
-Pages students will read at each lesson (Think about how many times you will meet with that group and divide the reading material into sections accordingly. Remember it should be a short enough section that students can read quietly and practice the strategy focus during a 10-15 minute time period.)
-Support for any instructional challenge students may encounter within those pages
-How you will get students to activate prior knowledge before reading those pages
Keep that post it with a teacher copy of guided reading text (if available), in your lesson plan book, or on your guided reading planning sheet for that week. That way, you’ll have easy access to it and will remember to include those parts in your lesson!
Katie Barnes, Reading Consultant 2008