Guiding Reader's Ch. 2 - Guided Reading Lesson Sequence

Stacy from Leading and Reading and Tori from Tori's Teacher Tips are both hosting Chapter 2 of Guiding Readers and it is all about the lesson sequence.  Be sure to check them out and give them some love (they also have wonderful freebies).  I am loving this book and the thought of guided reading!  Because let's be honest... I was not OVERLY thrilled with the idea of having to do Focus Groups and Guided Reading Groups next year in my reading block.  I was worried that it would be a little redundant but in actuality the two are very different and I am way more excited about the guided reading and letting the students take over!  Here is a break down of the sequence:

Day 1: text introduction and first reading - focus on basic accuracy and understanding
Day 2: rereading of text - focus on comprehension and word study
Day 3 (and sometimes more): rereading of text - extension of thinking, focus on text structures or writer's craft, often includes a writing experience

I know it seems obvious but sometimes we get caught up in everything else we have to do and planning for more groups just falls by the wayside but for this to be effective your lessons will need to vary according to the needs of the learners, the goals of the lesson, and the nature of the text.  And be flexible to spontaneous teachable moments!

I really liked the Three P's to Book Introduction!

1. Preview - It can be a one sentence summary or page by page picture walk (discuss what you see and introduce key vocab ONLY if the text does not offer enough context clues for them to figure it out).
2. Purpose - be upfront as to why we're reading that text.  You want students to set their own goals and be able to adjust their reading rate & style to the purpose of reading.
3. Prior Knowledge - what we already know about this topic, drawing analogies to another book, invite students to make a connection to a personal experience.  If they don't have the background info or don't know how to access it - Preteaching!

The "Light bulb" Moments for me:

• Text level and word level comprehension goals (I seem to mostly focus on text strategies as opposed to word, now I will def be adding those goals in!)
• "Being able to read a level 9 texts tells us some information about the reader but not what they need to get to level 10."
• Need easy-peasy texts, just like the shallow end when you are learning how to swim (She has THE BEST analogies, lol, very relatable).  Tough texts are for read-aloud and shared reading.
• "Must do" - practice what was learned in GRG before moving on to other independent learning routines
• Teachers are prompting, questioning, and explaining while students are reading!
• Tips, Tools, and Techniques: establish routines, minimize transition, eliminate interruptions (would LOVE this!), build in assessment (need to let go and realize that it is okay for us to devote instructional time to this), and manage materials.

Lori talks about some of her materials she manages and one of them is the Reader's Toolkit.  I loved the idea of this and will be creating my own!  Check them out tomorrow!

Sabra