Guided Reading & Centres

Guided Reading

Tuesday-Friday, 9:15-10:05am

Guided reading is a great way to support students literacy skills in a small-group format.

What is Guided Reading?

Guided reading is an instructional approach where teachers work with a small group of students to support their literacy skills. The group of students read at, or around the same level, and are capable of reading the assigned text with the teacher’s support. The text is also easy for the students to read at the beginning, before it gets more difficult. During guided reading, the teacher emphasizes the use of important literacy strategies, as well as strategies that are particularly useful for that group of students (Pinnell, 2000). The teacher models the use of the strategies, reminds students to use the strategies, and helps students understand when to use the strategies. Strategies typically include decoding and comprehension. The strategies can help students read the text, comprehend the text, and understand concepts. As a result, the students will be more likely to enjoy reading, because it will not be as much of a difficult task (Cunningham & Allington, 2011).

When selecting books for guided reading, it is important to find books that are not too easy or too hard for the group. The books should be interesting to the students (especially early on), help them take the next step in learning to read, and challenge them just enough so that they are able to use strategies to improve (Cunningham & Allington, 2011).

What Does Guided Reading Look Like?

The teacher calls a specific group of students to read together. The teacher introduces the book to students so that they are prepared for the content, and can use their knowledge about the topic to support their reading (Cunningham & Allington, 2011). The students usually read the book independently at first. Individual students can read pages aloud to the group, or the group can read the pages together. It is especially important for the teacher to remind and prompt students to use effective literacy strategies to help them read and comprehend the text (Pinnel, 2000). Praising students for using strategies can really build their confidence as well. After the students have read the entire book, or an assigned chunk, having meaningful conversations as a group about the book gives an opportunity to discuss different strategies, characters, problems, solutions, settings, questions, vocabulary, and point of views (Cunningham & Allington, 2011). This is when students build a lot of their comprehension skills. As a teacher, it is important to demonstrate your interest in the book. You can do this by researching the topic or the book, and adjusting your voice so that you are highly excited about what you are reading. The types of questions you ask students can also make a difference in whether all the students raise their hands because it is an interesting and fun question, or few students raise their hand because someone has to answer the question to move on.

Our Guided Reading Program

Our groups for guided reading are the following (the stages represent their reading stage)

High/Blue Group: Samuel (late stage 2), Jack (late stage 2), Christine (early stage 3)

Middle/Green: Emmet (early stage 2), Rainbow (early stage 2), Liang (early stage 2)

Low/Red: Supinder (late stage 1), Daniel (late stage 1)

We have guided reading 4 times a week, for 40 minutes each day. We work with 2 groups for approximately 20 minutes each, daily, while the third group works on specific activities individually or together. The activities will be explained later on in our plan. Our philosophy for guided reading is to support students through modeling, coaching, prompting and discussing their reading as a whole– and when appropriate, their writing – so that they can take the necessary steps to reach their individual and group literacy goals. At the moment, all three groups have been assigned one book they are reading. They read the assigned book until it is complete. The Red Group meets with us 4 days a week. Every day, they read with us first. This is allows us to give them the extra attention they need to become successful readers. The Red Group will also be more likely to struggle reading independently due to decoding difficulties. Bringing them together as a group with us gives them an opportunity to read in a more supportive environment where they are being coached and reminded to use strategies. The other two groups read with us 2 days a week, alternating each day. The Blue and Green groups always read second. We think it is important for these students to read independently before they read with us because they are working on fluency and/or comprehension. By reading the text in advance, they will be more prepared to read in a group, and share their thoughts on the book. The Blue and Green groups will be engaged in various activities associated with building their literacy skills on the days they are not meeting with us. Guided reading gives us a significant amount of time to work with a small group of students on literacy areas they need to improve in. Coaching, modeling and prompting these students will help build their use of strategies when they are reading so that they are more successful and interested in reading (Cunningham & Allington, 2011; Pinnell, 2000).

When the Red Group reads with us, they will be asked to read a page or two independently while we are together. Each student will then have an opportunity to read a page aloud. Some pages will be read by all of the students and teachers together, while other pages will be read by just teacher. Throughout this time, students will be coached and prompted to use the literacy strategies that will support their reading. The Green Group will also follow this framework, however there will be more time devoted to rereading specific pages, and discussing what we have read in order to develop fluency, expression and comprehension. The Blue Group, will spend much less time reading the book when we meet, and more time discussing what they have read in order to build comprehension.

Book Selection - "Hi-lo" Books

The students in our classroom are mostly reluctant to read. They are not always successful at reading and it makes them avoid it even more. The books that are easy for most of them to read are at a low level. Reading these books does not make them feel comfortable or confident. For our current guided reading program, we have carefully selected books that we feel the students will enjoy. They have been reading them already for approximately one week. We considered students interests, the contents of the books, the relatability, the fun factor, as well as the vocabulary, sentence length, and overall reading level when we selected our books. It is difficult to find “hi-lo” (high interest, low reading level) books for students in junior grades. We used multiple resources to help us find these books. Paul Kropp specifically writes books which are at the reading level of lower students, but interesting to junior and intermediate students. His website, along with the High-Interest Publishing (HIP) website are a great place to find “hi-lo” books, such as the one we selected for our high group, I Didn’t Do It. Saddleback Publishing is another great publisher with a dedicated section for “hi-lo” books on their website. There are a number of books sorted by reading level, making it easy to find the right books for your junior, intermediate or high school students. We have selected a book by Eleanor Robins, called Don’t Blame Me. The Scholastic website is also a great place to find leveled books for students. The third book we selected is Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Television Dog by David A. Adler. It is not as interesting for junior grade students, however the mystery is detailed and requires thinking and understanding. We selected this book after working with other students in younger grades who enjoyed the story, built reading skills and fluency, and increased their comprehension through discussion. All of these books are somewhat interesting to our students, have relatable events and stories, and they are specifically written for the types of students in our classroom.

Why We Selected These Books

Blue Group – I Didn’t Do It by Paul Kropp, is a nice long chapter book about a student in junior high. The story is highly intriguing as a student is set up for things he did not do at his new school. It is a book which immediately hooks junior students. It has a relatable story (main character is a junior), and it contains relevant issues that students face such as having few friends after a move, getting in trouble for something you did not do, relying on best friends, and pranks. Overcoming these challenges is not always easy. As the students follow the journey of Tom Foster, they read short sentences with few polysyllabic words and little difficult vocabulary. The mystery behind Tom’s set up, along with the experience of tense emotions creates an engaging story and provides an excellent opportunity to build comprehension, which is the emphasis for students in our Blue Group (stage 3).

Green Group – Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Television Dog by David A. Adler is an interesting and funny mystery novel. The students love mysteries, television and many of them own dogs so this was a perfect fit. Similar to I Didn’t Do It, Cam Jansen has few polysyllabic words, short sentences, and the vocabulary is not difficult. This is a perfect book to help the students build fluency – an important aspect of stage of 2 literacy – while also building comprehension with an engaging mystery. The group of kids who are trying to uncover the mystery are a funny bunch, making a lot of jokes about each other and the suspect. The appeal of this book is not as high compared to other “hi-lo” books, however it is a great book for guided reading. As a result, we explained to our Green Group that we will become actual authors towards the end of the year, so we need to learn how David A. Adler writes.

Red Group – Don’t Blame Me by Eleanor Robins is another chapter book aimed at junior students reading at a low level. Supinder and Daniel are interested in fashion and dancing respectively. The main character of the book is a female with close friends who is on the volleyball team. She engages in typical junior aged activities, however she continues to get in trouble, sometimes because of her attitude, and other times by accident. Thus, Don’t Blame Me is relatable to both students. Supinder and Daniel are our lowest level readers. Similar to the Cam Jansen and I Didn’t Do It books, Don’t Blame Me uses extremely short sentences and chapters combined with pictures. It also has simple vocabulary which students can identify and read using word parts and phonemic skills. The font is also big so that the students can easily distinguish between different letters. In stage 1, it is important to motivate students to practice their skills, especially phonics skills. Don’t Blame Me is a relatable book which is highly likely to engage any junior grade student in reading.

Vocabulary

Whenever students are reading their guided reading books individually, they are encouraged to write words they do not know the meaning of, words they cannot figure out, or any words that seem confusing to them on sticky notes. They place the sticky notes on the pages where they found the words. Our students like writing on the sticky notes, and are always prepared to discuss the words they have written when we meet as a group. When asked, or when they have a question about a word, they can use the sticky to quickly flip to the page of word, providing themselves and their peers a reference for the word. It is important for students to learn words indirectly on their own, and through direct instruction (National Institute for Literacy, 2001).

The Weekly Plan

Tuesday

1st Session: 9:15-9:40am
- Red Group: Reading with teachers (reading strategies focus)
  - We will be continuing our reading of Don’t Blame Me. Students are reminded immediately to sound out words (decoding), use the pictures to help them read, stretching out words, use the words around a difficult word to help them read, self-correct, and use word parts. These strategies are reminded often, however only the important ones are constantly repeated (decoding and stretching).
  - After students have read the assigned chunk independently, we will work on comprehension by asking interesting questions to engage students. An example of an interesting question would be, “I am sure all of you have experienced a time when you got in trouble for something you did not do. Does anyone want to share their experience? How do you think that made June feel, when she got in trouble for talking in class, when she was not actually talking?” Introducing students to personal connections they might have is a great way to get them excited about the contents of a book, which helps build comprehension. As teachers, we will be showing our enthusiasm and curiosity when asking these questions in order to build students interest.
  - *The Red Group will focus on these reading strategies and comprehension discussions throughout the week.*
- Green Group: Independently reading the assigned pages
- Blue Group: Writing about what they read last week after a refresher (comprehension)
  - The blue group will use the four-square method to write about what they read last week. They will select 3 or 4 instances from the chunk they read of I Didn’t Do It. They can write about their favourite parts of the chunk, write about any specific questions they had, they can do a retelling of what happened, they can write from a different character’s point of view, or they can answer interesting questions about what they have read. The students are familiar with this process as we have worked on writing in role and retelling. The graphic organizer helps them keep their thoughts controlled before they write. An example of an interesting question students will write about is, “Do you think the way Mr. Loney (the school principal) was speaking with Tom was appropriate? Why do you think that?” In the book, Tom is questioned by his principal about vandalism in the boys’ washroom using spray paint. He begins speaking nicely with Tom, and then asks him to admit his mistake, when Tom did not vandalize anything. He begins to reach a shouting tone and warns Tom that if he does not take responsibility, things will be worse for him in the future. This is an excellent question to discuss with students as it as an important part of the story, they can relate it to a personal situation when they got in trouble, and junior students would love to explain why they think teachers are wrong.
2nd Session: 9:40-10:05am
- Red Group: Working on individual comic strips to explain what happened in their story (comprehension)
  - Our students are familiar with Bit Strips, an electronic tool used to create funny and interesting comics. Our students are sometimes reluctant to write, however they love technology and use it efficiently. Instead of writing, the students will have an opportunity to recreate an important scene that happened in their book. This will reinforce the main ideas about what they read, which builds comprehension. Students are free to change some parts of a story in their comic, in order to make it more funny, serious, or scary. Many of our students like sports, but they may not be interested in volleyball. The group can ask to recreate an important part of the book using soccer, instead of volleyball. This will engage the students to create a comic strip, think about what they read, discuss the important parts of the book, and complete a retelling with fun modifications – all effective ways to build comprehension.
- Green Group: Reading with teachers (fluency and comprehension focus)
  - We will be continuing our reading of Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Television Dog. The Green Group has developed their reading skills quite a bit. They do not require as many reminders for decoding. They are however, working on their fluency and comprehension. We will be building our fluency by rereading interesting pages in the assigned chunk. We will model fluent reading for students by reading aloud (including a few mistakes followed by corrections). Each student will have an opportunity to read the same sentences again. By rereading, the students will be prepared because they are exposed to what they have to read in advance. We will also remind students important strategies such as slowing down, sounding out, using pictures, self-correction, and using grammar and vocabulary to assist with expression. After we work on fluency, we will have time devoted to building comprehension. We will build comprehension by discussing what we read. To make it more interesting, we will relate scenarios in the book to students personal experiences and/or ask interesting and thought-provoking questions. An example of an interesting question students can discuss is, “Why do you think the man who has Poochie was writing a letter using cut outs from magazines?” This is a question that students might not be familiar with, because it was a method used by criminals in the past to hide their writing. The students can generate many ideas about why the person who took Poochie is writing a letter using cut outs from a magazine. As adults, we personally find it interesting discussing ideas and similar questions with students and each other.
- Blue Group: Continue with the writing activity and move into silent reading when finished

Wednesday

1st Session: 9:15-9:40am
- Red Group: Reading with teachers (reading strategies focus)
  - The Red Group will continue with individual and group reading. We will model, coach and prompt students to use the effective reading strategies we discussed on Tuesday and throughout the year, such as decoding, using pictures to help us read, and relying on word parts when we can.
  - Today’s discussion will focus on vocabulary. Students will mention any words (from their sticky notes) they do not understand, cannot figure out, or look different. This will allow us to work on building vocabulary and decoding skills. We will try to use mnemonics and make explicit and personal connections to vocabulary so that students are more likely to remember what the word says and what it means. We will be reading the novels for an extended period of time. Therefore it is important that students can read and understand the words which repeat throughout the novel.
- Green Group: Writing/Comprehension activity using Bit Strips comics
  - The Green Group will work on the laptops to create comic strips. Yesterday they discussed why the man who has Poochie was writing a letter using magazine cut outs. They will explain their thoughts by recreating a scene between Cam and her friends witnessing the letter writing scene. Their comic will depict the scene and include their personal reasons for why the man is writing his letter in this way. This activity encourages the students to think deeply about one aspect of the mystery in the story. It also allows them to alter the story, by adding their own thoughts, which helps build comprehension. The similarity between yesterday and today’s tasks allows the students to review their initial thoughts, and improve and summarize them for their comic – another way to build comprehension (Cunningham & Allington, 2011).
- Blue Group: Independently reading the assigned pages
2nd Session: 9:40-10:05am
- Red Group: Comprehension activity through writing in role
  - The Red Group will now focus on writing in role. This is something we have worked on throughout the year. Based on the assigned chunk we have read together, the students will tell the story from a different character’s point of view. In Don’t Blame Me, the story is told from the main character’s perspective, June. The students will select one of June’s close friends and write from his or her perspective. Students are reminded to think about the important parts of the story, such as June getting in trouble during her volleyball game for stepping on the line when she believes she did not do it. They are also reminded what writing in role looks like. We remind them to use first person writing, including the word I, and when we retell the story, it will not be exactly the same as when we read it. Students will use the four-square writing method and select 3 or 4 moments from their assigned chunk that they want to write in role. The graphic organizer helps them organize their thoughts, making it easier for them to write.
- Green Group: Continue with the comprehension activity and move into silent reading when finished
- Blue Group: Reading with teachers (comprehension focus)
  - The Blue Group will speak with us about the chunk they have just read. We will be focusing on comprehension again. The assigned chunk continues from where Tom has a chat with the school principal about spray painting the girls washroom. Tom is on his way home with his mom who also believes that Tom was responsible, because they moved away from all of his friends and he is now attending a new school. She feels that he is acting out. We will discuss the emotions that Tom is feeling. This will give students a better understanding of how the main character – who is telling the story in first person – feels. If students are able to relate with Tom, and understand why he feels a certain way, they are more likely to comprehend what they are reading. We will ask students the following question, “how do you think Tom is feeling after his school, the principal, and his own mom do not believe him? Have you ever experienced a similar situation?” We will use our tone and personal experiences once again to get the students excited about the question. Furthermore, the question is relatable for junior students. They will likely have many ideas and thoughts about why Tom is feeling upset and confused.

Thursday

Sample Page of Cam Jansen

1st Session: 9:15-10:05am
- Red Group: Reading with teachers (strategies)
  - The Red Group will continue working on reading strategies with our support. We will begin putting a greater influence on fluency. The students will have extra time today to select their favourite part of Don’t Blame Me. They will read it silently and then read aloud to their group. The students will also have us modeling reading their favourite chunks. Rereading interesting and easy chunks is a great way to begin building fluency (Cunningham & Allington, 2011). Combining the reading strategies students have learned with easy reading, gives them an excellent opportunity to feel successful at reading. This activity will also build their confidence in reading as they are reading mature books successfully and aloud to their peers. When one student reads, the other two are encouraged to think of 2 stars and 1 wish. The students will select 2 things they feel the reader did really well, and 1 thing they feel the reader can work on. Students will be asked to focus on expression as that is an easy way to give positive feedback. Our classroom has a strong sense of community. Therefore, it is likely that students will respond well to reading aloud and well to feedback.
- Green Group: Independently reading the assigned pages
- Blue Group: Comprehension activity through letter writing
  - In yesterday’s reading, Tom was upset because his principal and his own mom did not believe him. He was feeling upset and angry and thought he would write an email to one of his best friend’s at his old school. The novel has Tom’s email written out, followed by a reply by his friend. Yesterday, we also focused on the email Tom wrote to his friend, where he explains the situation to his friend, explains how he misses his old friends, and hopes he can move back. Today, students will predict what Tom’s friend’s response will be. They will use the four-square framework to think of 3 or 4 main ideas Tom’s friend will respond with. They will then proceed to write a short email back to Tom as if they were his friend. This is a great opportunity for the students to practice their letter writing skills, writing skills in general, and most importantly, predict what will happen next in the story. Tom’s situation is highly relatable or interesting enough for students to want to help him. By realistically predicting what will happen, students are working on their comprehension, as they collect and reflect on all of the main points of the story as well as their personal thoughts. This activity encourages them to think about what they have read
2nd Session: 9:40-10:05am
- Red Group: Free time for a comprehension activity
  - The Red Group reads the most with the teachers throughout the week and have the least amount of time doing independent work. As a result, they will have this 20 minute session to demonstrate their comprehension, fluency or the reading strategies they have learned or used in any way they like. Don’t Blame Me is highly relatable and straight forward, making it easy to understand. The Red Group can work together or individually to create any type of game, art, music, written, oral or dramatic piece. They can work on an existing project from the previous weeks as 20 minutes is not always enough to demonstrate their learning. An example of some ideas include: writing or presenting a funny review of what they have read so far, creating a board or oral game for the class based on a particular strategy, developing a dramatic skit to demonstrate their understanding, producing an art piece which captures the mood or feeling of a particular moment in the book. The purpose here is for students to demonstrate their learning and understanding in a way which they will enjoy. The students can also suggest other ideas they would like to share. As long as students are demonstrating their learning, there will be few restrictions on their presentation
- Green Group: Reading with teachers (fluency and comprehension)
  - During this session, the Green Group will reread the same chunk they read two days ago. The purpose of the rereading is to help students build comprehension, fluency, and expression through practice. Before the students come to this session, they will have read the chunk where the man who has Poochie is writing a message using cutouts from a magazine. Cam and her 3 friends are hiding right outside of the window, trying to discover what the man is up to. This is a tense, yet funny part chunk which captures the magic of the book. Students will read this chunk aloud to the group with appropriate fluency and expression. As teachers, we will be there to model for students before they read, and coach students after they are done reading. In order to continue working on our fluency, students will play the role of one of the characters during this scene. We will perform a mini choral reading of the scene together. Choral reading is an excellent opportunity for students to practice reading in order to build fluency and expression (Cunningham & Allington, 2011). Students will be assigned to a character in the chunk, allowing them to focus on fewer lines. They will practice the lines by rereading and by having us model fluent and expressive reading for them. Each student will have his or her lines highlighted, making it easy to recognize when it is time to read. The appeal of this scene will engage students to act in role, which will help with expression. There are a quite a few dynamics in this scene. The man who took Poochie is speaking to Poochie in the house while writing his message. Cam’s friends are outside of the window, being silly and trying to stay hidden at the same time. Cam is sneaking into the house through the window, trying not to get caught. Students will be highly engaged and confident throughout this activity due to significant practice of the text.
  - Refer to http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/balancedliteracydiet/Recipe/00157/ for more detail on a similar activity.
- Blue Group: Continue with the letter-writing activity and move into silent reading when finished

Friday

1st Session: No specific time
- On Friday, our students engage in guided reading in a different way. Rather than meeting with us or completing individual/group work, they spend their time preparing a beach ball activity or another activity of their choice to present to the class. The students in the Red Group have the option to share what they have been working on during their free comprehension period on Thursdays, or they can work on the beach ball activity. The Blue and Green Groups are both sharing the beach ball activity with the class this week. This period is an opportunity to reflect, practice and collaborate in order to share with the class what you have been reading for the past week. It is a great way for students to revisit what they read and reflect on the strategies they have been using to help them become their own literacy experts. More importantly, the beach ball activity helps students build a clear sense of story structure and their overall comprehension and memory for important story elements will increase (Cunningham & Allington, 2011).
- For the first 10 to 20 minutes, students will work with their group to decide if there are any specific questions one of them wants to answer. This allows the students to build a sense of comfort before they present in front of the class. The students are also encouraged to support one another in answering the beach ball questions, in case one of them forgot a particular part of the book, or a useful strategy that helps them read. When all of the students are ready to present, they will share their beach ball activity in front of the class.
- All 3 books the groups are reading are relatable. They have mystery in them, curious junior and high school students, as well difficult situations involving steep circumstances. As a result, the students who watch the beach ball activity for another group will also be able to relate what they are reading to another book. This can encourage them to read different books and find connections in the form of similarities and differences between their book and another book.
2nd Session: No specific time
The Beach Ball Activity begins. The presenting group will stand in a circle. We will throw the ball to one of the grouop members. The student can answer any question before passing the ball along. This can also be a cooperative activity where group members and teachers help each other other out or provide prompts in order to answer the question. The audience can also raise their hands to ask questions, make comments, or explain connections they found between the presenters' guided reading book and the guided reading book they are reading, or connections to personal experiences they have had.
The beach ball will have the following questions:
- Who are the main characters?
- What is the setting?
- What happened in the beginning?
- What happened in the middle?
- How did it end?
- What was your favourite part?
- Are there any connections you have to the story?
- Do you have any questions about the story?
If the students are not done reading the book by the time it is Friday, the beach ball activity needs to be modified slightly. One modification we can make involves focusing on the chapters or chunks that the students have read. As a result, the questions which ask what happened in the middle or the end, will actually ask students to discuss what happened in the middle or ending of a particular chapter, chunk or series of readings. Another modification we can make involves making predictions. If the students have not read the middle or the ending of their book, we can replace those questions with other questions which ask the students to predict what will happen in the middle (the problem), and what will happen at the end. These modifications still help our students work on their comprehension as they are reviewing what they have read in order to make informed guesses about what may happen in the next few chapters.