Guided Reading

[Lisa Whitworth]

The instruction and text level on those 2 videos is the exact opposite of what we’re being told to do. We were told this year that we had to have 45 minutes of RAP time every morning and that it had to be nothing but guided reading. It sounded good until we found out we had to pick sets of books(from the library) based on their Lexile level and that reading was all we could do. There was to be no phonics or decoding. It’s kind of hard to teach children to read without teaching them to decode first. And the lower level books from the library were the predictable texts you talked about. Some of my students could read those without even looking at the words.

Those videos prove that my slower group doesn’t need to get bogged down in the easy, predictable text. They need the challenge of harder texts. My class watched the ClassDojo Growth Mindset videos and if something is hard for them, I always remind them that would help their brain grow stronger. And here I am giving them something easy. That’s about to change.

[Lisa Whitworth]

The instruction and text level on those 2 videos is the exact opposite of what we’re being told to do. We were told this year that we had to have 45 minutes of RAP time every morning and that it had to be nothing but guided reading. It sounded good until we found out we had to pick sets of books(from the library) based on their Lexile level and that reading was all we could do. There was to be no phonics or decoding. It’s kind of hard to teach children to read without teaching them to decode first. And the lower level books from the library were the predictable texts you talked about. Some of my students could read those without even looking at the words.

Those videos prove that my slower group doesn’t need to get bogged down in the easy, predictable text. They need the challenge of harder texts. My class watched the ClassDojo Growth Mindset videos and if something is hard for them, I always remind them that would help their brain grow stronger. And here I am giving them something easy. That’s about to change.

[Marnie]

Wow, Lisa! You’ve painted a stark difference on both fronts. The struggling and the advanced!!

I hope you can slip in a little decoding practice and readers for the lower levels and not be against your leaders. Tracey just wrote about (in the Switch It forum) the tough push back she is already getting from her peers who want her to do the same program as they are doing. So, I’m wondering if you need to tread lightly about the things you may be attempting?

What’s RAP stand for?

Background for our community: The Lexile level/matching book idea is fine for kids who are at the top of the Streamlined Pathway. But those who can’t decode yet, as you noticed, need materials that they can learn from, quickly. For instance, if they need to learn the short o and e and they see 2 words in their book with that pattern, will they be likely to learn it? Or, if they see and read 15 words with that spelling, will they be more likely to learn it by the end of the day?

A predictable text is kinda like asking a child to learn their 3 times tables and giving them mostly 1’s, 2’s, 8’s, and just two or three 3’s problems. Uhh…that’s not enough repetition for them to learn, is it?

We got into predictable texts because we were avoiding giving kids the decoding skills to read on their own. Without that, they needed another strategy–deduce the sentence pattern–to be able to read. Predictable texts can be useful in certain situations, but mostly they are just super inefficient.

[Marnie]

Wow, Lisa! You’ve painted a stark difference on both fronts. The struggling and the advanced!!

I hope you can slip in a little decoding practice and readers for the lower levels and not be against your leaders. Tracey just wrote about (in the Switch It forum) the tough push back she is already getting from her peers who want her to do the same program as they are doing. So, I’m wondering if you need to tread lightly about the things you may be attempting?

What’s RAP stand for?

Background for our community: The Lexile level/matching book idea is fine for kids who are at the top of the Streamlined Pathway. But those who can’t decode yet, as you noticed, need materials that they can learn from, quickly. For instance, if they need to learn the short o and e and they see 2 words in their book with that pattern, will they be likely to learn it? Or, if they see and read 15 words with that spelling, will they be more likely to learn it by the end of the day?

A predictable text is kinda like asking a child to learn their 3 times tables and giving them mostly 1’s, 2’s, 8’s, and just two or three 3’s problems. Uhh…that’s not enough repetition for them to learn, is it?

We got into predictable texts because we were avoiding giving kids the decoding skills to read on their own. Without that, they needed another strategy–deduce the sentence pattern–to be able to read. Predictable texts can be useful in certain situations, but mostly they are just super inefficient.

[Lisa Whitworth]

Actually my peers are okay with it. We all want what is best for our children as do our administrators.(except for 1 and she has never taught below 4th grade. I don’t think she truly understands what it takes to teach K and 1st graders to read.) I am being careful though.

Truthfully I don’t remember what they said RAP stood for. This is only our 2nd year doing it and they have changed the rules since last year.

[Lisa Whitworth]

Actually my peers are okay with it. We all want what is best for our children as do our administrators.(except for 1 and she has never taught below 4th grade. I don’t think she truly understands what it takes to teach K and 1st graders to read.) I am being careful though.

Truthfully I don’t remember what they said RAP stood for. This is only our 2nd year doing it and they have changed the rules since last year.

[Marnie]

Oh, good, Lisa. Thanks for letting me know.

Yes, it’s funny how many adults don’t realize how much work goes into learning how to read. Even a quick study still takes years to become as fluent as an adult. But so glad you have peers with the right goal in mind!

[Marnie]

Oh, good, Lisa. Thanks for letting me know.

Yes, it’s funny how many adults don’t realize how much work goes into learning how to read. Even a quick study still takes years to become as fluent as an adult. But so glad you have peers with the right goal in mind!

[Michelle Peterson]

Wpw watching these videos was very different from the way I have been instructed to teach. I am open to it as we have a teacher this year whom is Orson Gillingham trained. I have done some sessions with her prior to taking this course and the things she is doing really aligns with what you are teaching us with Reading Simplified. Her students are outperforming the rest of our first graders on all measurement tools we are using: running records,star 360 plus aims web fluency check. I am willing to change and am open to using this approach with my sudents as in previous years my students have been very week phonemically and phonetically. It will be interesting to see how they do. One of the things we are really working on is teaching students to integrate their three cueing systems: M, S, and V. I am wondering, how can I still teach for this but yet do your approach?

[Michelle Peterson]

Whoops sorry typo on first post. The first word should be wow!

[Michelle Peterson]

Whoops sorry typo on first post. The first word should be wow!

[Michelle Peterson]

Wpw watching these videos was very different from the way I have been instructed to teach. I am open to it as we have a teacher this year whom is Orson Gillingham trained. I have done some sessions with her prior to taking this course and the things she is doing really aligns with what you are teaching us with Reading Simplified. Her students are outperforming the rest of our first graders on all measurement tools we are using: running records,star 360 plus aims web fluency check. I am willing to change and am open to using this approach with my sudents as in previous years my students have been very week phonemically and phonetically. It will be interesting to see how they do. One of the things we are really working on is teaching students to integrate their three cueing systems: M, S, and V. I am wondering, how can I still teach for this but yet do your approach?

[Marnie]

Good for you, Michelle, to keep an open mind. Yes, Reading Simplified, and systematic phonics approaches in general are very counter-cultural to many systems that are popular right now. But, yes, please do continue to support children to make meaning in their reading. I just ask, “Does that make sense?” Or, “What else could that be?” and they usually self-correct.

I find that almost all children are already skilled at using Meaning and Syntactic cues in their reading….they want their reading to make sense. However, if they lack the decoding skills and/or they rarely get feedback for their errors, then they do develop some quirky coping mechanisms. Sometimes that means they stop checking to see if the text makes sense. But it’s very rare for a child who is just starting to learn to read to do that.

So, if we give students the necessary phonemic skills, phonics knowledge, and decoding strategies to attack an unfamiliar word, they will be much more likely to continue to search for meaning. (And we also have to support their reading errors and have them in appropriate text for their current level).

In addition to teaching the main decoding strategy of Blend As You Read, the other main decoding strategy we will encounter later is Flex It. When a student gets to the Advanced Phonics level, she encounters a lot more variations in vowel sounds. The letter-sound, “ow,” for instance, can be /ow/ as in “cow” or the /oa/ as in “slow.” So we guide them to “Flex It”–try one sound, and if it doesn’t make sense, try another. If they read, “The car drove across ‘tone,'” we would just ask, “Does that make sense? What else could this be? (tapping at the “ow” in “town).”

Between those 2 decoding strategies, and lots of guided reading error feedback and re-reading practice, children continue to develop a quickening ability to make meaning. I look forward to you trying something so different and seeing how it meshes with your goals of ensuring that kids are making sense of their reading!

[Marnie]

Good for you, Michelle, to keep an open mind. Yes, Reading Simplified, and systematic phonics approaches in general are very counter-cultural to many systems that are popular right now. But, yes, please do continue to support children to make meaning in their reading. I just ask, “Does that make sense?” Or, “What else could that be?” and they usually self-correct.

I find that almost all children are already skilled at using Meaning and Syntactic cues in their reading….they want their reading to make sense. However, if they lack the decoding skills and/or they rarely get feedback for their errors, then they do develop some quirky coping mechanisms. Sometimes that means they stop checking to see if the text makes sense. But it’s very rare for a child who is just starting to learn to read to do that.

So, if we give students the necessary phonemic skills, phonics knowledge, and decoding strategies to attack an unfamiliar word, they will be much more likely to continue to search for meaning. (And we also have to support their reading errors and have them in appropriate text for their current level).

In addition to teaching the main decoding strategy of Blend As You Read, the other main decoding strategy we will encounter later is Flex It. When a student gets to the Advanced Phonics level, she encounters a lot more variations in vowel sounds. The letter-sound, “ow,” for instance, can be /ow/ as in “cow” or the /oa/ as in “slow.” So we guide them to “Flex It”–try one sound, and if it doesn’t make sense, try another. If they read, “The car drove across ‘tone,'” we would just ask, “Does that make sense? What else could this be? (tapping at the “ow” in “town).”

Between those 2 decoding strategies, and lots of guided reading error feedback and re-reading practice, children continue to develop a quickening ability to make meaning. I look forward to you trying something so different and seeing how it meshes with your goals of ensuring that kids are making sense of their reading!

[Tracey Kirch]

I just finished the Guided Reading Myths. VERY Informative…. Where do we get reading texts for simple blend ( three letter) words? I feel like this is something I know .. but as everything is so data driven it is all about how things look , not necessarily the child. I have been told NOT to give them more challenging texts if it is not going to show immediate growth. SO far I have stuck to my guns without being insubordinate. Thankful for this information as it cements my thoughts.. Thanks!! I have 2 days off from school ( grandbaby is soon to be born and I am watching my other sweet grand) I am taking this time to spend here…. I am feeling refreshed already…

[Tracey Kirch]

I just finished the Guided Reading Myths. VERY Informative…. Where do we get reading texts for simple blend ( three letter) words? I feel like this is something I know .. but as everything is so data driven it is all about how things look , not necessarily the child. I have been told NOT to give them more challenging texts if it is not going to show immediate growth. SO far I have stuck to my guns without being insubordinate. Thankful for this information as it cements my thoughts.. Thanks!! I have 2 days off from school ( grandbaby is soon to be born and I am watching my other sweet grand) I am taking this time to spend here…. I am feeling refreshed already…

[Marnie]

Tracey, glad to here that you are feeling refreshed. So important for teachers especially!!

There are some texts for 3-sound words in the Guided Reading Materials lesson. Look for the first few PDFs at the PreK-K level.

I’m also going to be adding a book list of resources you can find elsewhere. Here are some good options:
> starfall.com
> progressivephonics.com
> Nora Gaydos text sets (any level 1 set)
> http://missrhondasreaders.com/ (set 1)
> Bob Books #1
> any decodable books from a reading series

Also, remember you can Buddy Read as well. The teacher just reads any word that is too hard for the child’s current developmental level.

As for showing immediate growth, please consider the Streamlined Pathway and how each student is moving up the Pathway. Are your students now able to blend 3-sound words and they weren’t before? Are they more able to segment or manipulate 3-sound words? Have they learned more letter-sounds, especially short vowels? These are to be expected for most kids in just a matter of days with Reading Simplified. Many will have expanded their automatic recognition of high frequency words, so you can test their sight words with the Fry top 25 or top 50, etc., whatever is relevant. Or, getsights.com is a fun and easy way to track sight words.

[Marnie]

Tracey, glad to here that you are feeling refreshed. So important for teachers especially!!

There are some texts for 3-sound words in the Guided Reading Materials lesson. Look for the first few PDFs at the PreK-K level.

I’m also going to be adding a book list of resources you can find elsewhere. Here are some good options:
> starfall.com
> progressivephonics.com
> Nora Gaydos text sets (any level 1 set)
> http://missrhondasreaders.com/ (set 1)
> Bob Books #1
> any decodable books from a reading series

Also, remember you can Buddy Read as well. The teacher just reads any word that is too hard for the child’s current developmental level.

As for showing immediate growth, please consider the Streamlined Pathway and how each student is moving up the Pathway. Are your students now able to blend 3-sound words and they weren’t before? Are they more able to segment or manipulate 3-sound words? Have they learned more letter-sounds, especially short vowels? These are to be expected for most kids in just a matter of days with Reading Simplified. Many will have expanded their automatic recognition of high frequency words, so you can test their sight words with the Fry top 25 or top 50, etc., whatever is relevant. Or, getsights.com is a fun and easy way to track sight words.

[Marnie]

An important question from Tracey:

A couple of questions… Why do you do the tracking instead of the child? Fountas and Pinnell have them tracking with their finger. Just wondering at the rational ( I am sure I have it all confused) LOL Also, any suggestions for if you have more than one in a class and cannot always do it as individual students? Thanks so much.. very enlightening!!!!

My answer:

Great question, Tracey! I need to add more examples of Guided Reading–examples of older children. But the example of the beginner is probably what you are referencing. That student was an absolute beginner, who couldn’t blend 3 sounds and didn’t know all letter-sounds. Thus, I felt I needed to cover all extraneous text to get the child to focus on just the 1 word at a time.

As this student would progress over a week or 2, I would withdraw my support and gradually have the student reading independently–perhaps pointing with a finger or perhaps holding a bookmark.

A lot of other programs would have not even given a real book to a student at that level. Others might have just given the student a book that had text like, “A tiger”
“A bear.” “A gorilla.” etc. Thus, at best, the student would have learned the word, “a” and perhaps left-to-right tracking.

But with Reading Simplified, we can get beginning students to accomplish a lot more, and earlier on.

In sum, the Reading Simplified approach is to meet the student’s needs and gradually release responsibility, as soon as possible. Thus, guided reading–and all the activities–may look a little different depending on the student’s level. Hope this helps!

[Marnie]

An important question from Tracey:

A couple of questions… Why do you do the tracking instead of the child? Fountas and Pinnell have them tracking with their finger. Just wondering at the rational ( I am sure I have it all confused) LOL Also, any suggestions for if you have more than one in a class and cannot always do it as individual students? Thanks so much.. very enlightening!!!!

My answer:

Great question, Tracey! I need to add more examples of Guided Reading–examples of older children. But the example of the beginner is probably what you are referencing. That student was an absolute beginner, who couldn’t blend 3 sounds and didn’t know all letter-sounds. Thus, I felt I needed to cover all extraneous text to get the child to focus on just the 1 word at a time.

As this student would progress over a week or 2, I would withdraw my support and gradually have the student reading independently–perhaps pointing with a finger or perhaps holding a bookmark.

A lot of other programs would have not even given a real book to a student at that level. Others might have just given the student a book that had text like, “A tiger”
“A bear.” “A gorilla.” etc. Thus, at best, the student would have learned the word, “a” and perhaps left-to-right tracking.

But with Reading Simplified, we can get beginning students to accomplish a lot more, and earlier on.

In sum, the Reading Simplified approach is to meet the student’s needs and gradually release responsibility, as soon as possible. Thus, guided reading–and all the activities–may look a little different depending on the student’s level. Hope this helps!

[Tracey Kirch]

Thanks Marnie!! Very helpful suggestions and advice!
Would you mind giving me the link again for the Streamlined Pathway? I think I can utilze it to help with the Data recording … I will check out all the sites you offered… Thanks again!!! Your tracking answer makes complete sense. I have found myself doing that just because it seemed reasonable and helpful to the students. As for the older children I think I am going to encourage them to stop using it so much.. I am thinking it will increase their fluency. I am wondering if it has become a crutch for a few.
Thanks I will keep you posted… LOLOL Good news is.. My dil is having a baby today soooooo I took a couple of days off to watch my other grand and help. My observation was postponed and I am glad because I feel it will give me bit more time to get my data keeping ( I wish I did not feel that is what the admins wanted more than anything) LOL looking a bit better… LOLO

[Tracey Kirch]

Thanks Marnie!! Very helpful suggestions and advice!
Would you mind giving me the link again for the Streamlined Pathway? I think I can utilze it to help with the Data recording … I will check out all the sites you offered… Thanks again!!! Your tracking answer makes complete sense. I have found myself doing that just because it seemed reasonable and helpful to the students. As for the older children I think I am going to encourage them to stop using it so much.. I am thinking it will increase their fluency. I am wondering if it has become a crutch for a few.
Thanks I will keep you posted… LOLOL Good news is.. My dil is having a baby today soooooo I took a couple of days off to watch my other grand and help. My observation was postponed and I am glad because I feel it will give me bit more time to get my data keeping ( I wish I did not feel that is what the admins wanted more than anything) LOL looking a bit better… LOLO

[Marnie]

How exciting to hear about the birth of a new baby!! Wow! What anticipation for you. Please keep us posted….

Here’s a link for the Streamlined Pathways–download the 1 packet at the bottom of this lesson:
Link to Streamlined Pathways download
These are in the Intro unit.

Also, I forgot to answer your guided reading Q about how to juggle multiple students simultaneously. That is a challenge! I try primarily to get as many students past the 3-sound blending hurdle as fast as possible so the back-and-forth support with me isn’t so great. That means I often work 1-on-1 with anyone who can’t do that until they can. Not that bad because it only takes days or weeks.

Then I create small groups based on specific reading need (again, going from the Streamlined Pathway). (This is discussed in more depth in the Differentiation unit.) This way, I’m focusing primarily on a consistent instructional focus so I’m not scattered.

Once groups are established, each group’s guided reading time is different because of the group’s interpersonal dynamics and the level of text. Here are some basic structures to try with each group:

1) The whole group follows along together simultaneously. Each student takes turns reading aloud one phrase, sentence, or page at a time.
2) The whole group reads one their own. They whisper read and the teacher sits closest to the ones who need the most support. The teacher can ask the students to stop reading after 3 pages, say, and then ask a summarizing question along with “Did you have any trouble with any of the words?”
3) A variation on above: the teachers listens to each child read 2-3 sentences or pages, one after the other, and hears everyone in the group. The rest of the students are reading in whisper voices if it’s not their turn to read with students.

It’s important to remember that the GUIDED concept in this component of guided reading is essential. You are giving students hard texts and they need to get feedback from you on any missed word. The main strategy for correction is the teacher’s coaching. I know there is only 1 of you! (most likely) So, yes, it’s a challenging task for the teacher.

The silver lining is that this effort and the efficient Reading Simplified activities will get most of your students reading independently so rapidly that they will require less and less constant feedback. Then you can make smaller and smaller groups with those who are still struggling.

Another thing to consider: invest in coaching any other adult you can in how to give feedback during guided reading…a Teaching Assistant, a volunteer, etc. Listening to children read texts that target their current decoding need and giving them feedback is a High Leverage activity….In other words, you get more out of it than you put in, so it’s worthwhile to finagle your schedule around optimizing the time that adults (including you) can listen to and coach readers.

[Marnie]

How exciting to hear about the birth of a new baby!! Wow! What anticipation for you. Please keep us posted….

Here’s a link for the Streamlined Pathways–download the 1 packet at the bottom of this lesson:
Link to Streamlined Pathways download
These are in the Intro unit.

Also, I forgot to answer your guided reading Q about how to juggle multiple students simultaneously. That is a challenge! I try primarily to get as many students past the 3-sound blending hurdle as fast as possible so the back-and-forth support with me isn’t so great. That means I often work 1-on-1 with anyone who can’t do that until they can. Not that bad because it only takes days or weeks.

Then I create small groups based on specific reading need (again, going from the Streamlined Pathway). (This is discussed in more depth in the Differentiation unit.) This way, I’m focusing primarily on a consistent instructional focus so I’m not scattered.

Once groups are established, each group’s guided reading time is different because of the group’s interpersonal dynamics and the level of text. Here are some basic structures to try with each group:

1) The whole group follows along together simultaneously. Each student takes turns reading aloud one phrase, sentence, or page at a time.
2) The whole group reads one their own. They whisper read and the teacher sits closest to the ones who need the most support. The teacher can ask the students to stop reading after 3 pages, say, and then ask a summarizing question along with “Did you have any trouble with any of the words?”
3) A variation on above: the teachers listens to each child read 2-3 sentences or pages, one after the other, and hears everyone in the group. The rest of the students are reading in whisper voices if it’s not their turn to read with students.

It’s important to remember that the GUIDED concept in this component of guided reading is essential. You are giving students hard texts and they need to get feedback from you on any missed word. The main strategy for correction is the teacher’s coaching. I know there is only 1 of you! (most likely) So, yes, it’s a challenging task for the teacher.

The silver lining is that this effort and the efficient Reading Simplified activities will get most of your students reading independently so rapidly that they will require less and less constant feedback. Then you can make smaller and smaller groups with those who are still struggling.

Another thing to consider: invest in coaching any other adult you can in how to give feedback during guided reading…a Teaching Assistant, a volunteer, etc. Listening to children read texts that target their current decoding need and giving them feedback is a High Leverage activity….In other words, you get more out of it than you put in, so it’s worthwhile to finagle your schedule around optimizing the time that adults (including you) can listen to and coach readers.

[Regina Henson]

The level of challenge surprised me because we are encouraged to have students read at levels that they have a 90-95% proficiency rate. It was interesting how you supported the student with blending as she read and also sensed when she “needed a break” and you took over the reading for a line. It was also eye opening to think about how predictable text can actually hinder some students from decoding because they start to only look at the pictures to figure out unknown words rather than blending the sounds. I’m looking forward to working on guided reading with my students after the holidays with these new insights in mind!