Guided Reading

Lewisham Primary Team 2006

Things to do before you begin

  • Grouppupils according to assessment records and social dynamics. With KS2 pupils some same gender groups can work well.
  • Decide on group names. Author names are good as this helps pupils to become familiar with different authors throughout the year.
  • Make a class timetable for the wall display to show when each group will have guided reading and other reading activities during the week.
  • Select high quality texts for each group to read matching text to children. Take account of children’s interests, e.g. books for boys and the genre focus for each half term, as well as the level of difficulty of the text. (Approximately 90-94% of the text should be accurately read)
  • Prepare the reading records to be completed at each Guide Reading session. Write on any information that will remain the same for a number of sessions e.g. group name, title of book, group targetsbeforephotocopying one for each week. This will save time.
  • Prepare any resources required for the other reading activities – e.g. ensure listening post and headphones are working, get post box ready for letters.
  • If using reading journals, prepare them in advance – stick the activity sheets at the front of each child’s journal.

In the first few sessions

  • Establish class ground rules for expectations of work and behaviour during Guided Reading sessions.
  • Decide how to introduce the reading activities on the wheel e.g. one group at a time with the rest of the class all reading their own book quietly.
  • Model the reading activities and set high expectations for independent work.
  • As the sessions begin, review practice and routines and regroup any pupils who aren’t working well together.

At the end of each session

  • Hold a mini-plenary for one or two groups to feedback to the whole class on their work. E.g. a poetry recital.
  • Praise the groups where every pupil was on task.

At the end of each half term

  • Review children’s progress towards their targets and consider any children who may need to move groups.
  • Change the activities on the reading wheel to maintain pupils’ enthusiasm.

GUIDED READING – WHAT IS MY ROLE?

The role of the practitioner will obviously vary according to the experience and independence of the group as readers. The teaching sequence for Guided Reading:

Book Introduction

Strategy Check

Independent Reading

Return and response to text

Next steps

is a good framework for planning for each group. However each part of the sequence will have a different weighting according to the needs of the group. For example, with beginning readers the balance of the teaching sequence will obviously be weighted towards the strategy check and independent reading whereas with very experienced and fluent readers more time would be spent on discussing children’s responses to the text.

The following guidance is intended to support practitioners in planning and may also serve as a useful checklist for training Teaching Assistants.

THE ROLE OF THE PRACTITIONER

(IN THE EARLY STAGES)

  • Support and prompts pupils to decode words; applying their phonic knowledge and skills
  • Teaches pupils whole range of reading strategies
  • Draws pupils’ attention to key/new vocabulary
  • Encourages pupils to make links with own experience
  • Explains unfamiliar ideas/events/happenings
  • Probes understanding and emphasises reading for meaning
  • Plans opportunities for personal response through discussion or follow-up activities
  • Promotes enjoyment and appreciation of texts
  • Monitors and assesses individuals
  • Observes, prompts and praises the use of reading strategies
  • Praises attempts to read independently and self-correct

THE ROLE OF THE PRACTITIONER

(IN THE LATER STAGES)

  • Plans for discussion and reflection on texts to develop critical readers
  • Probes pupils’ understanding and interpretation of texts by promoting the deduction, inference and interpretation of ideas and events
  • Enables pupils to explain, comment on and respond to a writer’s use of language
  • Encourages and models exploratory talk
  • Models and teaches the use of meta-language
  • Teaches strategies to further develop comprehension
  • Teaches strategies to summarise, generalise and develop an overview of the text

Activities You Can do in Your Reading Journal

  1. Tell me which part of the story you liked best. Draw the scene.
  2. Draw a picture of your favourite character and write 3 good words or phrases to describe the character.
  3. How does the character feel? The character feels……………………….because…………………………………
  4. Design a new front cover for the book you are reading.
  5. Draw a picture about what happened at the end of the story.
  6. Make a story map to show what happens in the story.
  7. Write a blurb for the story you are reading.
  8. How did the story make you feel? The story made me feel…
  9. Write a story or poem like the one you have read.
  10. Write a letter to a friend about the book you are reading.
10.Write a letter to your favourite character.
11.Collect some interesting words to describe the characters orsettings in your book.
12.Draw something from a non-fiction book you have read.
Label your drawing and tell me about it.
13. List 3 facts or pieces of information you have learned
from a non-fiction book you have read.
.
Activities You Can do in Your Reading Journal
1.Draw a picture of one of the scenes in your story and write about it.
2.Think about how the book makes you feel and record you thoughts.
3.Tell me about you favourite character; what do you like about them?
4.Imagine you are that character; write a diary of recent events in role as the character.
5.Draw one of the characters; fill in details about their personality, appearance, family, friends.
6.Draw a story board to sequence the events in part of your story.
7.Predict what will happen next in the story.
8.Think about who is narrating the story/poem. Choose another character and retell the events from that character’s point of view.
9.Make a collection of good beginnings/endings to stories.
10.Collect interesting words that you would like to use in your writing.
11.List any unfamiliar words you find as you are reading; try to find their meanings. Explain why you think the writer chose these words for their text – to create a setting, an atmosphere or mood.
12.Make notes from your non-fiction text; note down any interesting facts you have found. Summarise the key points.
13.Devise a quiz for a friend about an interesting topic from a non-fiction text.
14.Make a collection of favourite poems read
15.Write a poem in the style of a favourite poet.
16.Make a collection of authors and poets you have read in the back of your journal.