Wow, this chapter turned out to be a gold mine as far as I'm concerned! I have read several articles and things about guided reading so I knew what it was. I've tried to use it in my classroom this year but tended to use it as a total class kind of teaching instead of teaching what skills needed to be taught separately to a specific group of children. I was just teaching what I thought to be the "standard" skills everyone needed. After finding out about Routman's informal reading guideline from chapter 7, I've learned that can become a guided reading lesson in itself. I can use it to teach the child what he/she most needs to know, set goals with the child, and move him/her forward in the reading process. I could very well have read something like that before but, right now it just clicks. Another big take-away from this chapter is that guided reading can be used in ANY learning context in which the teacher guides one or more students through some aspect of the reading process, even in science and social studies. Our team is really working through better integration of all subjects right now and it's exciting to realize that teaching reading isn't just about teaching "reading." That sounds so simple and I'm embarrased to act like it just occurred to me but there was just something about this chapter and chapter 7 that "woke me up."
I also realized from this chapter that you can't just use any leveled text for guided reading. The author states that these texts should be manageable but high-interest and lists several suggestions for the intermediate classroom, one of which I've recently finished reading aloud - Bud, Not Buddy. I need to examine my book collection for quality. Sounds like a great idea for an upcoming grant!
The workable schedule section was GREAT and will be so helpful as I try to establish this more specific layout of my reading block. Again, this sounds crazy I suppose, but I just have my reading block labeled as "reading" and I've just been winging it every day as to what I do when. I really like the 5th grade schedule on p. 215 and the purposes for guided reading discussed on p. 168. I have re-typed this page as another guideline for me to use next year as I meet with groups. I'm really excited to try these new things in my reading class. I really don't know why I waited so late in the year to finish my last two blogs. The chapters I've read have been so informative.
I'm so glad that you found this chapter so useful. Effective guided reading has stumped a lot of people but now you have a clearer sense about how to organize and apply it for the benefit of your students. Let me know if you want anything further especially as you implement guided groups in your classroom.
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