What is Guided Reading?Guided Reading is a research-based instructional approach in which a teacher works with a small group of students who are reading at similar levels at a particular point in time. The teacher supports each reader's development of effective reading competencies. However, unlike the reading groups of the past, the small, temporary groups are flexible and dynamic. Teachers regularly observe and assess their students, then group and regroup them based on the students' strengths and changing needs over the course of their reading development. Show
Guided Reading was developed in New Zealand in the 1960s. Later, when it came the United States, educators including Gay Su Pinnell and Lesley's own Irene Fountas enhanced it over time. In 1996, Fountas & Pinnell published their highly influential text, Guided Reading: Good First Teaching for All Children (Heinemann). This text revolutionized the teaching of reading, and is still used by over a million teachers worldwide. The goal of Guided Reading lessons is to help students become more proficient readers. Teachers help their students learn how to read increasingly challenging texts over time, in a variety of genres and across a text level gradient (PDF). Texts on the gradient range from A to Z+, or, easiest to hardest. For example, a Level A book is suitable for the earliest readers, while a Level Z or Z+ is for highly proficient students. Books for Guided Reading lessons are leveled from A to Z+ (easiest to hardest). Level B (as shown) is appropriate for kindergarten students. What are the components of a Guided Reading lesson?Guided Reading varies slightly depending on the grade and the reading level of each group. However, there are essential components that support teachers in effective Guided Reading lessons.
In small Guided Reading groups, students read and discuss the same leveled text.
How do I find leveled texts for Guided Reading lessons?Fountas and Pinnell keep a list of their 80,000+ leveled books on their subscription-based website. To use Guided Reading as an effective instructional approach, it's helpful to create a book room filled with multiple copies of the same leveled texts, for all teachers in the school to access. That way, each student has their own copy of the book to read during the Guided Reading lesson. The leveled texts in your book room should be of different genres, structures, forms, and reading levels. To create a book room, collect books in a common area. Arrange the texts by level so teachers have assess to them. Include mostly short texts, both fiction and nonfiction, that students can read in one sitting. You may also include some longer texts. Finally, create a system for checking books in and out. Alternatively, teachers may have a leveled book collection in their classrooms and share them across a grade level. What does Guided Reading for grades K–2 look like?Guided Reading lessons for kindergarten, first-grade, and second-grade students generally focus on early literacy concepts, as well as word and language patterns. We recommend that teachers use The Fountas & Pinnell Literacy Continuum, Second Edition: A Tool for Assessment, Planning, and Teaching, PreK–8(Heinemann, 2022) to assess students' understanding, guide teaching, and support students' reading progress.
What does Guided Reading look like in an intermediate or middle school classroom?Guided Reading lessons in grades 3–8 include texts with increasingly complex structures and meaning, as well as challenging vocabulary. Students pick up where they left off in the previous grade. Students in third grade are expected to move from levels M/N on the Fountas & Pinnell Text Level Gradient (PDF) to Level Z by the end of grade 8. Readers' Workshop is the block of time each day–ideally 60 minutes at these grade levels–when students are reading independently, writing about reading, participating in small-group work, or participating in a Guided Reading lesson. Once the teacher establishes classroom routines and assesses their students using a system like the Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System, 3rd Edition, they can form tentative Guided Reading groups based on the data.
Related Articles & NewsGuided Reading's 20th AnniversaryWith publication of a second edition of the seminal Fountas and Pinnell text come new insights into Guided Reading. Teach Students to Recognize Good WritingTips for teachers to help students learn what good writing is and develop their own writing. SourcesFountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G. (2000). Guiding readers and writers: Teaching comprehension, genre, and content literacy. Portsmouth, N.H.: Heinemann. Fountas, I. & Pinnell, G. (2006). Teaching for comprehending and fluency: Thinking, talking, and writing about reading. Portsmouth, N.H.: Heinemann. Fountas, I. & Pinnell, G. (2013). Guided reading: The romance and the reality. Reading Teacher, 66 (4), p. 268–284. Fountas, I. & Pinnell, G. (2016). Guided reading, second edition: Responsive teaching across the grades. Portsmouth, N.H.: Heinemann. Fountas, I. & Pinnell, G. (2022). The Fountas & Pinnell literacy continuum, second edition: A tool for assessment, planning, and teaching, preK–8. Portsmouth, N.H.: Heinemann. Fountas, I. & Pinnell, G. (2018). The literacy quick guide: A reference tool for responsive literacy teaching. Portsmouth, N.H.: Heinemann. Did Fountas and Pinnell create guided reading?These guided reading books were created by a team of talented authors and illustrators under the direction of Fountas and Pinnell. Each book is carefully calibrated to match the 10 text characteristics underlying the F&P Text Level Gradient™.
How do you plan a guided reading lesson?How Can I Plan a Guided Reading Session? Teachers will designate half an hour in their timetable a day to a reading sessionfor their class. They will work with a small number of children to analyse a text in detail, making sure each child can read each word and discussing meaning of the text with them.
What are the four components of a guided reading lesson?A Typical Guided Reading Lesson
Book introduction. Reading of a new text. Post-reading discussion. Follow-up activities.
How do I create a guided reading schedule?How to Make a Guided Reading Schedule. Step 1: Form your guided reading groups. ... . Step 2: Set your daily and weekly schedules. ... . Step 3: Determine how often you want to see your lowest 1-2 groups. ... . Step 4: Count the number of slots remaining in your schedule. ... . Step 5: Try it out!. |