Guided Reading Summer 2015

Welcome and Introduction From this session we hope that you will have an understanding of what happens during a Guided reading session.

What is Guided Reading? A way of helping children become independent readers. Children read in small groups. Children learn to use various reading strategies with teacher support and encouragement. Guided reading is used across the school from Reception to Year 2.

Why Guided Reading? Children work with their peers on the same colour band books during these sessions. Children are introduced and reminded to use a variety of strategies to help them read the words. As the children become more confident the focus of reading changes from decoding (being able to read the word) to understanding the text (comprehension) and inference (e.g. why do you think?) During Guided Reading sessions children will read a variety of texts including fiction, non-fiction

Guided reading session – how does it start? Children work in small groups (no more than 6 per group) on the same colour book level Sessions are approximately minutes in Reception but will be slightly longer in Key Stage 1. All children are given the same text but they will have their own book. The children will be encouraged to look at the front cover and title and discuss what they think the book will be about. When discussing the front cover the children will hear the terms author, illustrator and blurb (on the back).

What does the middle part of the session look like? The teacher will remind the children of the strategies that they need to use e.g. - blending the words using the phonemes - blending the words using the phonemes -using picture cues -Children are encouraged to read to the end of the sentence and then, from the context, work out what the word might be. Each child will read the text at their own pace and as they do this the teacher will work their way round to each child and hear them read a section of the book. The teacher may stop at a particular point e.g. if there is a common word that the children are struggling with and discuss as a group.

What does the end part of the session look like? The teacher will ask the children questions about the book to check for understanding. Listed below are a few examples: Who was the main character in the story? What happened in the story today? Where did the story take place? Where did the story take place? What was your favourite part of the story and why? What was your favourite part of the story and why? What did the story make you think about? What did the story make you think about?

Follow up from a Guided Reading session If the teacher feels that a child is consistently reading the text confidently in a group session, then they will be heard individually to see if they are ready for the next colour book band. The children will either receive a stamp on their hand or in their Reading Record book to say that they have read in a group that day.