FAQ About Guided Reading

November 29, 2008

Filed under Small Group Resources
Tags: Add new tag, Guided Reading, high interest texts for struggling readers, vimeo, www.readinga-z.com

one response

How many kids are too many?

Frankly, this is largely due to the comfort of the teacher.  Personally, when there are more than 6 kids, I don’t have enough time to check in with each student more than once. 

What if all the students aren’t on the same grade level?

If you watch Annica’s video, posted on the previous page, her students are all reading different texts.  Since the lessons teach the reader rather than the reading itself, the strategy is pertinent to any text.  The only thing that would have to be modified is the Building Prior Knowledge part of the lesson since not all the students are reading the same text.  Annica reviews sight words instead. 

How loud should the kids be reading?

Personally, I like it when there is a tone to their voice and they are not whisper reading.  Some teachers don’t like the noise level, so they split up the kids into different corners of the room.  One teacher in Connecticut recommended to buy pool tubing.  If you cut it up in foot long pieces, the kids can attach it from their ear to their mouth and hear themselves really well even if they are whispering.  Great idea! J  Whatever volume it is, the key is that they are reading out loud on their own pace.

What about choral reading or popcorn reading?

Choral reading (where all kids read at the same time) and popcorn reading (where one kid reads to the group at a time) are controversial in the reading world! J  Frankly, I see the pros and cons to choral and popcorn reading; however, during guided reading we do not do choral or popcorn reading because we want to maximize the amount of time students are independently working on their fluency, decoding and comprehension.  Individually reading out loud at their own pace is what maximizes the amount of practice time.

What about students who are older?  Is their high interest reading out there?  www.readinga-z.com seems juvenile.

I get this question a lot.  While there is a lot of high interest reading out there for struggling readers, and a lot of it is great, I like to predominantly use the reading a-z booklets.  I work with many older students, some as old as 15 in the fifth grade.  In my experience, which is individual to the students and school environment, the students appreciate realism.  During guided reading, if I’m working with a particularly older student in a lower  reading level I say, “In my experience, the way you will move up the fastest is if you are reading books where you are 97% fluent for at least 30 minutes every day, if you are reading out loud books which are a little bit harder a couple times a week, and if you are identifying when you don’t understand.  This may mean that some of the books are a little bit childish.  I will do whatever I can do to help find the best books during guided reading, but it’s less about the story and more about how you are sounding out words.  Do you care?  What do you think?”  So far, students have said: let’s do it.  They want to become better readers and they trust our judgment.  At the same time there are many awesome publishing companies out there which are publishing high interest material for struggling readers which aren’t to be missed.  Look for some examples soon!

The Students are Choral Reading and I Don’t Want them To

Teach them that when they hear their neighbors reading along at the same pace, to take a long breath. 

What if the Students Finish the Book?

For students reading below L, in my experience, they finish the books very quickly (not just the short a-z books but also the chapter books as well).  First of all, that’s pretty cool, huh?  Your student who is reading far below grade level is finishing books really quickly.  Let them know!  But, practically, what do you do when they finish the book?  During guided reading, I tell the kids that the purpose is for me to help them on their fluency, decoding and comprehension.  If they are digging the book, what an excellent bonus.  So, they have two choices if they finish the book.  Start over or grab another one.   I like seeing them personally re-read because it builds that skill.  Often struggling readers don’t like to re-read and it’s so essential.  I also sometimes don’t finish the guided reading books.  If we only make it half way through a text, and the aim wasn’t about plot, or character development but rather fluency or decoding, we might grab another book later. 

www.readinga-z.com is mainly nonfiction and folktales.  What about poetry?

In the earlier grades, it’s essential to build a word repetoire through rhyming patterns and poetry and songs are a wonderful, wonderful way to do this.  As mentioned earlier, guided reading is only one of our blocks of remediation.  We also do a phonics block for the students who need help with phonics, and audiblox for students who struggle with recall. 

The videos you published are all decoding.  Is guided reading only for decoding?

Guided reading builds fluency and comprehension as well. For students who are struggling the most, in the earliest stage, the lessons primarily have them focus on retelling for comprehension and recognizing when they make a mistake for fluency.  Students who struggle have managed to slip by many great radars over the years by the time they get to middle school, and a safety mechanism can be “faking it”.  Therefore, teaching recognizing when they make a mistake is huge.  I also think teaching retelling for struggling readers is one of the hardest and most important things to teach and I would highly recommend re-teaching it as much as possible.  For the higher stages of development, most of the lessons are geared toward fluency and comprehension.  In the published document, most of the conference questions are for comprehension.  The only caveat is, I would encourage the kids to orally respond to comprehension questions during guided reading.

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