Guided Reading Essay

Abstract This paper will describe the leveling process and how leveled books fit into the reading classroom. It will also describe how to use tools yourself, to locate lists of leveled books, how the listed levels of a title compare between one you leveled, what the publisher class the level and the guided is reading classroom as a function. The last part of this paper will describe the instructional level of a student previously interview in Module 1. Guided Reading How to use leveling tools yourself Guided reading is an instructional approach that teacher uses when students are reading at the same level of instruction. The teacher selects books from certain reading levels to guide students to make connections from print to the text. The books are easily read with the support of the teacher. Challenges and opportunities for problem solving are offered in the text. Choice selection of the books from the teacher will expand their strategies. The purpose of guided reading is for the teacher to select books that students can read with 90% accuracy. When the story is introduced to the student by the teacher, the students, through their own strategies understand and enjoy the story because it is available to them. Pinnell, (2007) states that guided reading gives students the chance to apply the strategies they already know to new text. The teacher supplies support, but the ultimate goal is independent reading. Readers that have developed some since of print have already gained important understanding of it. If they have encountered a problem in reading they will monitor their own reading and check on themselves while searching for possibilities or alternatives How to locate list of leveled books. In order for the teacher to locate leveled books for their students, the teacher should select the students with similar reading habits and behaviors. These students should experience reading habits and behaviors in the same time frame. The guide lines of the choice of books should be not too easy, yet not too hard, and offers a variety of challenges to help readers become flexible problem solvers (Pinnell, 2007). When choosing a guided reading program or leveled books, the teacher should look for books that are similar to their knowledge, are interesting to them, support them to move to the next step in reading, and give just the right amount of challenge to ensure that problem solving is taking place while supporting fluency and understanding. Leveled book collection is a large set of books organized in levels of difficulty from easy books that an emergent reader might read, to the longer, complex books that advanced readers will select. The leveled books collections may be housed in an area where it is easily accessible. A key component in a guided reading program is the leveled books. The scholastic Guided Reading Program is a varied collection of books that are categorized by the kind and level of challenge they offer children as they are learning to read. The Guided Reading Program consists of 260 books organized into 26 levels of difficulty –Levels A-Z. Many different characteristics of the texts are considered in determining the level of challenge and support a particular book or short story presents (Pinnell, 2007) Some leveled books may consist of the teachers’ working collaborately together to construct leveled books from large collections of books. When teachers have been teaching a long time, they began to acquire the knowledge necessary to know what is easy and what is difficult for their students. When using the books frequently, the teachers will notice that categories of their collections will become more established (Scholastic. com) How the listed levels of a title compare between one you leveled. There are factors and criteria’s for leveling books. There is no distinct characteristic that can be used to evaluate text or reading materials. Some of the factors that are considered when evaluating text are length, layout, structure and organization, illustrations, words, phrases and sentences, literacy features, and content and theme (Scholastics. com). When compared the book that was leveled with the books in Scholastics, it was very close. The formation was based on the factors and criteria’s’ for leveling books. Guided reading classroom, how it functions, its advantages, and its disadvantages. The guided reading classrooms should have an independent reading practice location. This independent practice space should welcome students to a rich environment for reading. Teachers with a good sense of what a rich reading environment consist of will include in the reading practice location pillows or a couch for a feeling of an invitation to read. Students need to feel very comfortable when reading. The library in a guided classroom needs to be complete with rich and exciting literature. Some of the literature that should be included in the library is fiction, nonfiction, fantasy, magazines, current events, and sports and whatever you feel as a teacher that the students will be interested in. Technology is a major component of a guided reading classroom. It services as an independent and small group practice while the teacher is working with students in a small guided reading group. The guided reading groups should consist of four to six students at a time. The sessions for guided reading groups vary depending upon what level of readers you are dealing with. It is often 10-15 minutes for emergent readers, and 15-30 minutes for more advanced readers. Also in a guided reading classroom there should be cross curriculum centers for writing, art, and science which can be done at their desk with very little instruction. This would take very explicit planning on the teacher part. This will allow for the teacher to continue guided reading groups. A teacher-led small-group assessment area should be located in a place where the teacher has total vision of her classroom, but yet in an area where the students that are in the guided reading area can be together so that the skill can be implemented as one. Finally, there should be a designated area where the teacher can teach in a whole group setting. The advantages of a guided reading classroom when the teachers are working with a particular group, is that they can control what is going on in the classroom and ensure that the students are actively engaged at all times. By setting guided reading classrooms up this way, the teacher can take an informal assessment of behaviors whether or not the students are working in centers, at their desk or with the teacher in a guided reading group. The teacher should be taking running records, jotting anecdotal notes, or even conducting oral interviews if time permits. The disadvantages of this guided reading classroom is that it will take a lot of planning time to ensure that the centers all have meaningful activities that will help them read or increase their ability to interact with each other. Most of the time teachers do not have centers that are effective because of the necessary time needed for preparation to ensure an effective guided reading classroom. These guided reading groups should constantly change from week to week to ensure that all students are actively engaged in a differentiated atmosphere. Student from Module 1 This student could fall between emergent literacy and beginning reader because in module 1 the student started finger pointing and looking at the picture to determine the words. Also the student had trouble with the recognition of sight words. The student experienced difficulty with decoding unfamiliar words. This was a 3rd grade student that seemed very happy at home. The student does understand the concepts of print and words. Even thought she had trouble with decoding unfamiliar words, she seems to have phonological awareness. Knowledge of alphabets was noted. Her Independent level was grade 1, Instructional grade 1-2, and Frustration Level is Grade 3. Can this student benefit from a pull-out intervention program that focus on sight words and decoding? Conclusion This paper described the leveling process and how leveled books fit into the reading classroom. It will also described how to use tools yourself, to locate lists of leveled books, how the listed levels of a title compare between one you leveled, what the publisher class the level and the guided is reading classroom as a function. The last part of this paper described the instructional level of a student previously interview in Module 1. References Pinnell, G. S. (2007, Guided Reading Program, Scholastic, Scholastic, Red, New York, NY Scholastic. Com Retrieved September 14, 2009 from http://www2. scholastic. com/browse/article. jsp? id+4177.