Differentiating Your Instruction Through Guided Reading

Guided Reading What does it look like in your classroom now? (Discuss this at your tables)

Workshop Overview Engage in discussion of instructional strategies being used in our own classrooms Identify basic setup, components, and procedures for Guided Reading time in the classroom Design engaging lesson plans which can be easily adapted to different grade levels, learning abilities, and objectives Share lessons and ideas with other colleagues

Stand Up, Hand Up, Pair Up Activity: Everyone stand up! Put your hand up! Walk around until I tell you to pair up. Then, you will pair up with the person closest to you. Choose one person to be A and the other will be B. Person A will go first, followed by person B. Each person needs to answer the following question: **What are your own personal challenges in regards to Guided Reading? (After the activity, be prepared to share!)

What is Guided Reading? Guided reading is reading with students in a small group based on similar strengths, needs, and interests, and is used to teach students how to use reading strategies to improve their reading from an instructional level to an independent level. Guided reading allows the teacher to provide differentiated instruction to students based on needs and strengths. The teacher uses guided reading for continuous observation and assessment.

Guided Reading Components What do feel are the most important components of Guided Reading? (Discuss at your tables) Share out and Discuss Compile list of your most important Guided Reading components (may vary according to grade level) Compose a brief mock time schedule of how your Guided Reading block might be organized (discuss with small groups)

Check it! Using the information you just compiled in your small groups, regarding Guided Reading components and time schedule, check to see how your information matches up to how other teachers or experts have set up Guided Reading… Guided Reading lessons (in small groups) are usually about minutes in length Groups meet at least 2-3 times per week These lessons are composed of activities such as reading aloud both familiar and new texts, retell, and specific strategy focus time. Leveled Readers are a must!

Lesson Planning Think of some of the skills you might focus on during a Guided Reading lesson and discuss this in your small groups Create a top 5 Reading skills list: These are skills you feel are important, difficult, or frequently focused on Share out and discuss

Lesson Components Book(s) to be used: Include title, genre, reading level Objectives Vocabulary (when applicable) Lesson Activities: Include all read alouds, preview/prediction activities, etc. Assessment Are there any other components that you feel are necessary to include?

Practice Now it’s time to practice! 1.In your small groups, you will choose 2 of the top 5 skills that you identified earlier, and create generic lesson plans for each skill 2.It may be hard to know without researching ahead of time, which specific books you will use. That component can be left blank for now. 3.However, it may be helpful to discuss or note some ideas for specific books or genres of books that may be used with your chosen skill 4.Be sure to include all other lesson components 5.Make the lessons engaging, yet simple enough that they can be easily adjusted to fit many learning styles and levels. Adding a “modifications” or “accommodations” part to your lesson plans could help to address the many levels you may face 6.Be prepared to share these lessons with others!

Sharing time! Now it’s time to share a few of the lessons that you’ve created!! Each grade level will choose one person to briefly share one lesson plan Be sure to state the lesson’s objective when sharing

What do I do next? Take these lessons back and start using them in your classroom! Take a few minutes and type up the lessons you just created, then share them with your colleagues Report back to me in a month and let me know the effectiveness of your new lessons Continue to create new lessons and “tweak” old ones as you see fit, in order to meet the needs in your individual classrooms

Thanks! Please take the time and fill out the evaluation for this workshop. Your feedback is very helpful and is most appreciated!