Get Students Motivated with Guided Reading



WHY TEACH GUIDED READING?

There are many effective ways to teach reading to your students. One effective way is guided reading. Guided reading is based on finding books at your students’ instructional levels. Through the leveled books, the teacher acts as a facilitator in small guided reading groups where students critically analyze what they read while using proven reading strategies such as summarizing, predicting, clarifying, predicting, connecting, and more. Guided reading also encourages students to make real-world connections to their lives. Below is a break down of how to successfully implement guided reading into your classroom.

DETERMINING READING LEVELS

The first step in teaching effective guided reading is to find out the reading levels of your students. There are many tools that are available for teachers to do this. Scholastic currently has a computerized program called the Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI). Through a series of multiple choice comprehension questions, the computer is able to give a lexile score to each student based on his/her performance. It is easy for an entire classroom to enter a computer lab and take the test within 20-40 minutes. Upon completion, the data is available for the teacher, students, and parents in many different formats. The data makes it easy for the teacher to group the students and pick appropriate books. There is also the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) that many school districts use. This involves a teacher directly working with individual students through various activities to determine reading levels. The Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI) is also another program that many teachers have used. It is similar to the DRA. There are many other programs out there, but these are the three that are most familiar to me. The main importance is that you know all of your students’ reading levels.

SETTING UP GUIDED READING

Once you have determined your students’ reading levels, the next step is to model the strategies and to teach them how to use the strategies in their reading. In the beginning of the year, I have my students use sticky notes to mark reading strategies in their books. They seem to enjoy doing this especially since they have been told for so long not to “damage” or write in books. This is a fun way to have them learn more about the strategies in a constructive and neat way

BEFORE READING

When we first meet as a group, it is always important to activate the students’ background knowledge on what they will be reading in groups. This can be often done through a KWL strategy or just making an idea web with your group. It is also important to discuss important vocabulary words before reading. I have the page number and chapter listed for each word to make it easier for students to find. I also try to have a teacher answer key so it is easy for me to check for understanding. Before beginning reading, it is important to make predictions as well. This sets the stage for their learning, and helps them read with a focus.

DURING READING

Students are now ready to read for a purpose. Students begin reading their daily pages and continue to use the reading strategies. In my classroom, I have developed reading comprehension guides for many of the books I use in guided reading. Here is an example: . My reading comprehension guides contain specific comprehension and other strategy questions for the students to answer. If time is an issue, I have also used reading strategy worksheets that are non-book specific: . These are very useful in working on specific strategies with your students. A final piece that I do during reading is having individual students read out loud to me away from their group members. This helps me to gauge their reading fluency and to make sure the book is appropriate for their reading level.

AFTER READING

When students are done reading, and have finished their comprehension guides or sheets, I have them do some fun activities that still relate to reading strategies. Another option is to take their understanding of the text farther by doing end of the book projects. A final choice I give my students is to have DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) time. This is important to let them self-select books of their interest too.

ASSESSING GUIDED READING

One of the most important aspects for a teacher is to be able to assess your students understanding of key reading strategies during guided reading instruction. It is often hard for a teacher to do this without some form of assessment guideline or rubric. I have created the following assessment rubric and scoring sheet that I use in my classroom: . It helps me to keep anecdotal records of each of my students and to do a comprehensive look at their abilities in guided reading groups.

MOTIVATION

If you show interest in the books your students are reading, the excitement will be contagious. It is highly encouraged that you read each book that you use in guided reading groups. I know it is a daunting task for any teacher, but it will pay dividends in your students’ achievement. With your knowledge of the books, you can make meeting with the groups enjoyable for all, and a chance for them to expand their understanding of the text. This will foster a true love for reading and should show gains in their reading scores when tested throughout the year.

Please view our extensive list of comprehension guides on the following pages and visit Wise Guys Store for more reading activities (game boards, discussion questions).

Store Link:

Name ______________________ Date ______________

As you listen to your teacher read a story, you will be asked to stop from time to time and do some activities. These activities will help you think about different reading strategies that can help you become a better reader. After completing the activity, you will discuss what you’ve written with your classmates and talk about how you use these strategies with your own reading.

Remember, good readers:

▪ Use strategies when they read.

▪ Use different strategies before, during, and after reading.

▪ Actually think about how each strategy will help them.

These Reading Strategies focus on:

▪ Summarizing what you have read.

▪ Predicting what will happen in the story.

▪ Clarifying and monitoring what you are reading.

▪ Asking questions while reading.

▪ Visualizing what you have read in your mind.

▪ Making connections with your reading.

▪ Decoding and trying to figure out difficult words.

Strategy Focus: Summarize

Use this strategy during and after reading to help you summarize what you read. Think about the following topics as you listen to the story. On another sheet of paper complete the activity to show that you understand how to identify important story elements that will help you comprehend the story.

1. Setting: Where does the story take place? Note: There can be more than one setting.

2. Characters: As you read, write down the main characters of the story and any important characteristics/details about that character.

3. Problem: What is the problem of the story?

4. Plot: What are some main events of the story?

5. Solution: How was the problem in this story solved?

Reading Strategy: Predict/Infer

Use this strategy before and during your reading to help make predictions about what happens next or what you’re going to learn.

Here’s how to use the Predict/Infer strategy:

1. Think about the title, the illustrations, and what you have read so far.

2. Tell what you think will happen next- or what you will learn. Thinking about what you already know about the topic may help.

3. Try to figure out things the author does not say directly (Infer).

Complete the activity to show that you understand how to use the Predict/Infer strategy. Think about the story and respond to the questions below. If you feel that you need to write your answers on another sheet of paper, please do so.

Predict: What do you think will happen next in this story and explain why you think so?

Infer: What kind of person is the main character? Would you want to be a friend with the main character? Why or why not?

Reading Strategy: Monitor/Clarify

Use this strategy during reading whenever you’re confused about what you are reading.

Here’s how to use the Monitor/Clarify strategy:

1. Ask yourself if what you’re reading makes sense.

2. If you don’t understand something, reread, use the illustrations, or read ahead to see if that helps.

Listen as your teacher reads more. While he/she is reading, complete the following to help you figure out a confusing part in the story. If you feel that you need to write your answers on another sheet of paper, please do so.

Clarify: Describe one part of the story that was a bit confusing to you. The confusing part may relate to a character’s actions, the setting, the plot, etc.

Monitor: What could you do to help understand this part of the story a little better? (Hint: Reread, ask a question, continue reading, etc.)

Reading Strategy: Question

Use this strategy during and after reading to ask questions about important ideas of the story.

Here’s how to use the Question strategy:

1. Ask yourself questions about important ideas in the story.

2. Ask yourself if you can answer your questions.

3. If you can’t answer the questions, reread and look for answers in the text. Thinking about what you already know and what you’ve read in the story may help you.

Questions: Listen as your teacher continues reading from the book, and then complete the activity to show that you understand how to ask yourself questions about important ideas in the story. Think about the story and respond below. If you feel that you need to write your answers on another sheet of paper, please do so.

Write three questions that you might have about the story so far. An example question might sound like this: “Why did Juan go in the dark forest when he knew that Miranda wasn’t really there?”

1.

2.

3.

Reading Strategy: Visualizing

Use this strategy during your reading to help you create pictures in your head about what is happening in the story.

Here’s how to use the visualizing strategy:

1. As you read, think try to draw pictures in your head about what is happening in the story.

2. It may even help you sometimes to draw a picture on paper.

Visualizing: As your teacher is reading, on another piece of paper, draw a picture about what is happening in the story.

Reading Strategy: Making Connections

Use this strategy during your reading to help connect this story to another book, an event in your life, or an event in the world.

Here’s a description of the three types of connections:

1. Text-to-Text Connections: Sometimes a story will make a reader think of another book that he/she has read or heard about.

2. Text-to-Self Connections: Sometimes a story will remind a reader about something that happened in his/her own life such as a birthday party, a vacation, a pet, etc. Sometimes, the text-to-self connection is about an event that happened in someone else’s life such as an aunt, a friend, your pet, etc.

3. Text-to-World Connections: Sometimes a story will make a reader think about something that is happening in the world. Maybe the book that you are reading is taking about a class election. That may remind you that your parents have talked about the upcoming Presidential election.

Making Connections: As your teacher is reading try to make a text-to-text, text-to-self, and a text-to-world connection. Write your connections below:

My Text-to-Text Connection:

Text-to-Self Connection:

Text-to-World Connection:

Strategy: Decoding

Use this reading strategy when you come across a word you don’t know.

Here’s how to use the Decoding strategy:

1. Look carefully at the word.

2. Look for word parts you know and think about the sounds for the letters.

3. Blend the sounds to read the words.

4. Ask yourself: Is this a word I recognize? Does it make sense in what I am reading? Do I understand what it means?

5. If you don’t know the word, look it up in the dictionary or use the words around it to help you.

Decoding: There may be some words from the story that you don’t understand. Can you share any words with the class?

Now, we will take a look at some words out of a dictionary to see if you can pronounce them. Write down the words that your teacher writes on the board from the dictionary. See if you can pronounce (decode) them. Do you know what they mean?

1. _________________

2. _________________

The above worksheets are from a sample of 38 guided reading pages taken from:

Wise Guys Reading Comprehension Guides

Below is a listing of reading comprehension guides that can be used in your classrooms.

Each comprehension guide includes:

• Comprehension questions broken down by chapters and page numbers

• Reading strategy questions such as: predicting, visualizing, and summarizing

• Vocabulary word study

• End of novel projects

|Titles of Stories |Direct Web Link to Guides |

|The 39 Clues: The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan (with| |

|Answer Key) |

|31 pages |pages |

|Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko | |

|16 pages |

| |ges |

|And Then What Happened Paul Revere by Jean Fritz | |

|(with Answer Key) |

|11 pages |Y-11-pages |

|Black Cowboy, Wild Horses by Julius Lester | |

|6 pages |

| |es |

|Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson | |

|21 pages |

|The Devil’sArithmetic (with answer key) |

| |30-pages/Description |

|Elena by Diane Stanley | |

|7 pages |

|Gentle Ben by Walt Morey (with Answer Key) | |

|30 pages | |

|Hatching Magic by Ann Downer | |

|14 pages |

| |14-Pages |

|James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl (with Answer | |

|Key) |

|33 pages |33-pgs |

|James Forten by Walter Dean Myers (with Answer Key) | |

|11 pages |

| |y-11-pp |

|Katie’s Trunk by Ann Turner (with Answer Key) | |

|9 pages |

| |-9-pp |

|The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (with Answer Key)| |

|39 pages |

| |-39-pgs |

| | |

|Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder|

|(with Answer Key) |KEY-27-pgs |

|27 pages | |

| | |

|Loser by Jerry Spinelli |

|16 pages |pages |

|Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli (with Answer Key) 37 |

|pages |-pages |

|A Million Shades of Gray by Cynthia Kadohata (with |

|Answer Key) 50 pages |y |

|The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate | |

|DiCamillo (with Answer Key) |

|40 pages |de-KEY |

|Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (with Answer Key) 28 |

|pages |ges |

|On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer (with Answer Key) | |

|31 pages |

| |ages |

|The Pinballs by Betsy Byars | |

|16 pages |

| |es |

|Pioneer Girl: Growing Up on the Prairie by Andrea | |

|Warren |

|7 pages |-7-pages |

|Running Out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix | |

|15 pages |

| |-15-pages |

|Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan | |

|18 pages |

| |s-18-pages |

|The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan (with Answer Key) |

|68 pages |ts |

|The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs by Betty G. | |

|Birney (with Answer Key) |

|27 pages |uide-KEY |

| | |

|The Sisters Grimm: Fairytale Detectives by Michael |

|Buckley |uide-18-pp |

|18 pages | |

|Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio by Peg Kehret (with| |

|Answer Key) |

|31 pages |de-KEY |

| | |

| | |

|Swindle by Gordon Korman (with Answer Key) |

|36 pages |pages |

|Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume (with | |

|Answer Key) |

|24 pages |Y-24-pp |

|The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne (with |

|Answer Key) 29 pages |pages |

|The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo (with Answer Key) | |

|31 pages |

| |31-pages |

|Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit (with Answer Key) |

|23 pages |Y-23-pages |

|Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech (with Answer Key) | |

|24 pages |

|* |24-pages |

|When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (with Answer Key) |

|30 pages NEWBERY AWARD |nd-Key |

Store Link:

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Get Students Motivated with Guided Reading

Guided Reading Strategies

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