Guided reading is a teaching approach designed to help students learn how to process a variety of increasingly difficult texts with understanding and fluency. During Guided Reading, the teacher selects an appropriately leveled book, introduces it to a small group of students, and provides supportive teaching to help the students understand what reading is and how it works.

How are Guided Reading groups determined?

The focus of the Guided Reading group is determined by the teacher’s assessment of individual student needs. To determine groups for Guided Reading, the teacher must be aware of each reader’s progress as determined by individual running record analysis. Marlington Local elementary teachers use the Dominie Reading Assessment Portfolio to take running records,code reading behaviors, and assign reading levels.

How is the Dominie Reading Assessment used?

The Dominie Assessment is used to determine the reader's oral and comprehension reading levels. An oral reading level should be a minimum of 90% accuracy. Student comprehension level must be at a minimum 75% level.

What is a Running Record?

As the individual student reads a given text, the teacher records reading behaviors. A check mark is used for accurate reading, and a series of codes for different reading behaviors. Below is a sample of how different reading errors are coded.

What kind of comprehension activity is involved?

Comprehension / Story RetellingSample

1.  Did you like that story?
2.  Retell the story in your own words.
3.  Who was in the story? (Circle those mentioned)  
            Characters:         Mary        John      Jim        Miss Smith
4.  What was Mary’s surprise?
5.  Why did Mary make such a secret of her surprise?
6.  Why did Miss Smith ask Mary to take her box home?
7.  What did the other children guess was Mary’s surprise? 
      (Must include at least one of:    blocks, map, empty box)
8.  What does the word distraction mean?
9.  What does the word miniature mean?
10. What did Mary use to make her miniature city?
      (At least one of the following)  paper     glue     boxes
11. What was the best part of the story? (Tell me what you liked)
 
STUDENT MUST RECEIVE AT LEAST 75% (six out of eight, excluding first, second, and last question to meet the criterion).

What are the benefits of Guided Reading?

There are many benefits for both student and teacher in conducting Guided Reading
 
Students:
– develop as individual readers
– are given the opportunity to develop and use reading strategies   
– experience success in reading for meaning
– learn how to problem solve with the new text independently
 
Teachers:
– observe individual students as they problem solve new texts
– assess individual students using running records
 

What are the principles of Guided Reading?

The teacher supports children in reading materials they cannot read totally independently.  The principle behind Guided Reading is to help students learn strategies to apply to other reading situations:
– Individual or small group
– Teacher makes decisions based on observations of students’ work
– Usually done with an unfamiliar text
– Others in group need work on same problem
– Children learn from and support one another

What materials are used to conduct Guided Reading groups?

Guided Reading is based on the premise that students work in a text that is on their reading level. A balance of independent reading level combined with what the student can do with the suppport of a teacher maximizes learning for the reader. Therefore, students should be able to read a text at between 90 and 95% accuracy during a guided reading session. Books are leveled from A - Z, with A being picture books with simple labels or captions up to five or six words. Book levels increase with difficulty, complexity of information, and crititcal reading components.

Where do the books come from?

Each of the Marlington elementary schools has a bookroom which houses an A - Z collection in each of the genres: Fiction, Nonfiction, and Content Areas. Books have been purchased by the district and/or donated from previous classroom collections.

How do these levels compare to traditional grade leveling?

At the END of Kindergarten students should read at.…LEVEL C

At the END of First Grade students should read at.…...LEVEL I

At the END of Second Grade students should read at....LEVEL M

At the END of Third Grade students should read at.…..LEVEL P

At the END of Fourth Grade students should read at….LEVEL S

At the END of Fifth Grade students should read at........LEVEL V