I have been working with schools lately regarding Guided Reading, and one principal asked me to put together a list of tips (basically reminders) for teachers who are implementing Guided Reading. Teachers were so grateful; I thought I might share it with others. Below is my list!
- Guided Reading is the heart of Reading Instruction. It is the time where students apply all the reading strategies taught throughout the literacy block.
- Students should be reading independently most of the time during Guided Reading, while teachers monitor and make notations of reading behaviors.
- An instructional leveled text is a text that students can read with 90% to 94% accuracy. Any percentage below that is frustrational level. Students reading 95% accuracy or higher are reading on an independent level.
- Running Records and observations of reading behaviors help teachers determine when students are ready to move to the next level.
- Running Records should be taken on leveled texts recently read in Guided Reading. Conducting Running Records on each student weekly allows the teacher to make necessary instructional decisions regularly.
- Students access fiction and nonfiction texts differently. Nonfiction is more difficult due to the text features such as captions, tables, graphs, maps, etc. Students need many opportunities for application of strategies with nonfiction.
- Selecting an appropriate leveled text plays a vital role in reading instruction. Teachers must determine the purpose or focus of the lesson based on the needs of students. Students’ needs are always first priority.
- For longer texts, teachers should give an introduction to the section of text being read that day. A discussion should always follow the reading in order to assess comprehension.
- Meeting with all reading groups daily is definitely ideal. However, that may not be possible. Schedule your groups throughout the week, making sure that struggling readers meet daily. Students on grade level could meet three times a week, while students above grade level could meet twice a week.
More on Guided Reading:
The other day, my son asked me why I like to read and his dad doesn’t. Good question! I really didn’t have an answer, other than thinking about the way I grew up. In my childhood, household reading was what we did. Every night before bed, my parents read to me. As I grew older, I was allowed to stay up thirty minutes past my bedtime to read on my own (motivating me even more—who doesn’t want to stay up late?). Reading was simply a habit I developed early on and luckily still enjoy doing today.
Now, as my own household winds down (kids in bed), I find myself heading upstairs to read as my husband heads downstairs to watch TV. What motivates me to want to read? The answer is that I enjoy it.
A few years ago, I read a great article when trying to find strategies to motivate students in classrooms. The article was called Motivating Children Who Don’t Like to Read* by Alan Haskvitz. He comments that, “Motivating a young person to read starts with a good example. And that is the parent. Research has clearly shown that the most important base for a successful student is a mother who conveys a positive attitude about school to her child. Without this role model the chances of a child becoming an avid reader diminish.”
It seems pretty simple, right? But as children get older, it gets harder to compete with sports, after school activities, and friends. So how can books compete? Haskvitz provides some really great ideas in his article, and I think the key idea that he states is to focus on the type of child you are dealing with. There seems to be two types of readers who may choose not to read. My husband is a perfect example of a reluctant reader. He can read just fine, but he chooses not to! He is a reluctant reader in the sense that he is “reluctant” to pursue reading as an enjoyable activity. The second type of reader is one who struggles with reading. We may call this reader a “struggling” reader because he or she finds reading frustrating (which obviously makes the task unenjoyable).
I think technology may be the key for both readers. We are learning quickly that technology is an important part of children growing up in this day and age. I noticed at my children’s school they have been encouraging students to read e-books. The newer e-books now even allow children to interact with the books. Books are not simply a passive event. Students can place sticky notes with comments, circle words they don’t understand, and highlight areas where they have a question. Any of this interactivity could motivate a reluctant or a struggling reader! As much as I love a traditional book in my hands, I really see the motivation technology can provide students, whether they are struggling or simply reluctant to read.
Below are some websites that may provide further support:
Response to Intervention—identifying students who may be at risk of falling through the cracks either in reading or in math—is redefining education. However, the challenges that exist in implementing RTI for math can be significantly different than those for reading.
In this video, Lynn Fuchs, a senior advisor from the National Center on Response to Intervention, talks about these differences. She reflects that reading intervention is, in some ways, more straightforward because learning in the early years provides the building blocks for later comprehension and fluency, whereas math knowledge can follow a more indirect path including fractions, geometry, calculus, and measurement that don’t all naturally emanate from one another.
It’s no surprise that teachers are leading the charge on innovative interventions for struggling students. For example, to support the RTI framework in math specifically, Gabrielle Smith from Etna Elementary School brought an iPad into her classroom and used an application to test math facts among her students, making it fun to practice facts over and over again while storing children’s scores and progress.
Have you used RTI for math or solely for reading? What’s been your take on the similarities and the differences?
In 2009, Kelly Gallagher (a veteran teacher from Anaheim, CA) wrote a book called Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It.
Mr. Gallagher asserts that students today grow up in print-poor environments, surrounded by electronic gadgets and overwhelmed with extracurricular (nonreading) activities. There are a huge number of pressures that divert our children from reading today, including (very acceptable) ones like having to hold a job, struggling with English as a second language, or caring for siblings after school.
And then there are the TESTS that teach kids to read quickly and hunt for certain details, but suck all the joy out of reading.
His recommendations for today’s classroom include but are not limited to:
- Interspersing books kids love with the classics
- Encouraging kids to read work that is relevant and has context in their lives
- Providing books that kids can handle (based on their aptitude, not their grade level)
- Challenging kids to read more critically
- Inviting teachers to “do less and do it better” and provide “richer, deeper instruction”
- Asking teachers to consciously put aside district standards for the best interest of the kids
It seems two years later, not much has changed. Both the problem and the proposed solutions still hold. If anything, Mr. Gallagher’s premise in 2009 appears even stronger today. It’s hard to walk down any Main Street without seeing teenagers hooked up to iPods, cell phones, or portable game consoles. And any Main Street intersection surely includes at least one car driven by a parent rushing to the next soccer game or karate class or music lesson. We mean no disrespect to any of these activities, which all have profound value in our children’s lives, but we propose everything in moderation and surely not at the expense of reading.
How can we find the balance and go back to a culture that promotes and sustains life-long readers? Any ideas?
For a recent interview with Kelly Gallagher in Education Week, click here.
Today at Benchmark Education we were reminiscing about the days when we used a typewriter to complete all of our school assignments and went to the library to do all of our research. Now a typewriter is as arcane as an abacus, and students look at me quizzically when I mention Wite-Out® (a staple in my high school English classroom).
New technologies have transformed every aspect of our lives. We now balance our checkbooks online; we buy our groceries online; and we chat with our friends online. No part of our lives remains untouched . . . certainly not our children’s education.
Students now use computers to complete their assignments and the Internet to do their background research. But computers and the Internet have done more than give students a one-stop shop for gathering and synthesizing information. The 21st-century classroom uses technology to become:
- More efficient: Through portals like Google Sites, Weebly, Edmodo, and Wiki Spaces, teachers can create engaging classroom websites to keep parents and kids up-to-date on the latest assignments, school announcements, and relevant news articles or videos.
- More connected: Through videoconferencing, chat rooms, and e-mail, classrooms all around the country can connect as virtual pen pals of information and support.
- More responsive: Through chat rooms like TodaysMeet or Chatzy, teachers can create forums in the classroom so students can work together on group assignments or offer real-time critique and/or questions when listening to a lecture or a movie.
Teachers are beginning (purposeful emphasis on beginning) to become more sophisticated in using the technologies that are part of the fabric of their students’ lives. Technologies like Twitter, avatars, and blogs, which have become newly embedded in the teenage lexicon and reality, can enhance the classroom experience if used thoughtfully and creatively.
Twitter has even gotten actively involved through a partnership with TechNet, an advocate for technological innovation. Together they have launched a new nonprofit called ConvergeUS, which will (among other things) explore the use of cutting-edge technologies to support and improve reading, science, and math.
At Benchmark Education, we offer innovative educational technologies as part of Benchmark Universe. Our Talking E-Books provide the same excellence, leveled content, and differentiated instruction as our printed products, AND they are available online 24/7 for teachers and students. Click here to view the Benchmark Universe demo.
Of course, these new learning strategies beg the question: Will (and has) all this technology made the classroom experience more effective at reaching and teaching students? What do you think?
Check out these articles in Harvard Education Letter and Education Week for more information.
Metacognition literally means “thinking about thinking.” It has been linked to intelligence and correlated with success in school. Therefore, it’s impossible to discount, both for students and teachers.
There is a knowledge component, i.e., assessing how a task should be done, monitoring your understanding of the task, and evaluating your progress on how well it’s going. And there is a strategic component, i.e., deciding how to allocate resources and time and determining how deeply to commit to the project as a whole and to each step along the way.
All of the following are metacognitive moments that may occur for our children:
- What should my notes look like for this class?
- Should I write a plan before I tackle the project, and if so, how detailed should it be?
- Am I on track on this assignment?
- Does my essay answer the questions?
- Should I work in the library or in my own bedroom?
- Should I listen to music while I work?
- Should I answer the multiple-choice questions first on this test or the essay?
All of these questions show some degree of critical thinking about one’s thinking.
And unfortunately, no standardized test can accurately reflect the critical thinking that goes on behind the scenes. It’s a particularly vexing dilemma because though multiple choice cannot capture the complexity of someone’s thoughts or strategy, there’s no doubt that being equipped with well developed and effective metacognitive strategies is paramount to academic success.
Here at Benchmark Education, we have dedicated our resources to helping students become “big thinkers” and active, strategic readers. Our Anchor Comprehension Workshop units provide the resources to teach comprehension and metacognitive strategies effectively in Grades K–8+. The curriculum guides help not only with thinking about reading, but also in training kids with the skills—like critically viewing text and making inferences—that are required to master multiple-choice questions on the high-stakes tests. For more information, or to order a sample, click here.
It used to be enough just to think . . . now we literally have to think about what we (and our children) are thinking. Do you believe the classroom should spend time focusing on this “big thinking” or do the ends (i.e., getting the right answer on a test) justify the means? If the former, what have you found to be successful? How can we evaluate someone’s metacognitive abilities? Should we?
Today, the debate at Benchmark centers around an Educational Leadership article about “worthy reading.” How are the books that our children read in school chosen, and what is desirable?
It turns out, according to the author Barry Gilmore, that there has been an accepted canon for nearly 100 years that has rarely deviated from the norm. The books we read as kids our grandparents read as kids, and now our kids are reading. This list has few surprises . . . Hawthorne, Shakespeare, Twain, and Lee. I have them dog-eared in my bookcase, and it sounds like I should be dusting them off for my elementary-school-age children.
But before I do, consider these startling statistics, which the author cites from a 2007 National Endowment for the Arts study:
- Nearly half of all 18- to 24-year-olds read no books for pleasure.
- Less than one-third of 13-year-olds read daily.
- Teens and young adults spend 60 percent less time on voluntary reading than the average adult does.
So therein lies the debate, which begs us to consider why and what our children are reading.
At Benchmark, we believe in a need for thoughtful balance. We believe that children should read to facilitate future academic and professional achievement but also for pure pleasure. Children should read to become better critical thinkers but also to just plain enrich their lives.
So, according to the author, here are some suggestions (along with some of our own) on how to incorporate some nontraditional books into your classroom, without any detriment to the classics.
- Give students a short list of popular reading to choose from and create reading discussion groups.
- Link books with other parts of the curriculum
- (e.g., history or math).
- Invite specials teachers to form book clubs around their discipline (e.g., science, sports, chess, or Spanish).
- Ask children to create and post lists of what they want to read and what they would recommend to their peers.
- Start reading logs that reward scholars with the most books read in a certain period.
- Pair contemporary texts with traditional ones and compare.
- Introduce book vs. movie comparisons.
- Encourage family book clubs.
- Develop book clubs across grades or across schools (like a pen pal but with books).
Where do you come down? If it was good enough in the 1920s, should it be good enough today? Should we choose books in school based on literary merit—or those that inspire? When time in the classroom is at a premium and budgets are tight, is it really realistic for children to read different books? Does it matter which method works better for the high-stakes tests?
For the exact text from Barry Gilmore, click here
