-
Guided Reading
-
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!
-
Reading Simplified Trainer
Gina, thanks so much for recording your thoughts here! It’s exciting for me to see that you are open to considering these new principles in the Guided Reading unit. Yes, you’ve uncovered 2 of the biggest differences between contemporary advice and what I find that works much faster. I’m not the only one critiquing predictable texts or instructional reading rate dogma, but those of us who are critiquing these things are currently in the minority!
I am eager to see what you discover when you tweak guided reading in the New Year!
-
Reading Simplified Trainer
Gina, thanks so much for recording your thoughts here! It’s exciting for me to see that you are open to considering these new principles in the Guided Reading unit. Yes, you’ve uncovered 2 of the biggest differences between contemporary advice and what I find that works much faster. I’m not the only one critiquing predictable texts or instructional reading rate dogma, but those of us who are critiquing these things are currently in the minority!
I am eager to see what you discover when you tweak guided reading in the New Year!
-
The level of challenge for the child is way off the chart for me. I was always advised that 90-100% was independent and 75-90% was instructional. My biggest challenge has been the new mindset to not teach to mastery and now using reading materials lower than the 75% level. It feels foreign to push a child this much but I want to try this. I like the 2×2 that shows the variables for choosing materials and how a varied reading diet is important for the occasion. I love the protocol of: A. Reading with support, B. Then teacher rereading as student follows with card, C. Then student summarizing for comprehension, and D. Finally teacher reading sentences followed by the student reading the same sentences. Is this the standard format you recommend? I am looking forward to trying this Guided Reading approach with Peter. He wants to read Harry Potter and carries the book around. Maybe he can!
-
The level of challenge for the child is way off the chart for me. I was always advised that 90-100% was independent and 75-90% was instructional. My biggest challenge has been the new mindset to not teach to mastery and now using reading materials lower than the 75% level. It feels foreign to push a child this much but I want to try this. I like the 2×2 that shows the variables for choosing materials and how a varied reading diet is important for the occasion. I love the protocol of: A. Reading with support, B. Then teacher rereading as student follows with card, C. Then student summarizing for comprehension, and D. Finally teacher reading sentences followed by the student reading the same sentences. Is this the standard format you recommend? I am looking forward to trying this Guided Reading approach with Peter. He wants to read Harry Potter and carries the book around. Maybe he can!
-
Reading Simplified Trainer
Good to see you and hear your voice tonight in the monthly workshop, Arlene!
Yes, the level of challenge in the beginning reader video is definitely against the grain. :O I know! (I was closet rebel in all of my reading graduate courses.) But as long as the student is content enough (not discouraged), it’s fine. One of my girls emotionally needed about 90% or better accuracy when she was learning to read. The other one was fine missing every single word! As long as I helped her through it, she felt successful. (She may have wanted to catch up with her big sis…)
So, yes, of course still use your judgment…but also just think outside the box! Again, there’s no research to support the 90 or 95% metric and the little research that has been done suggests lower accuracy rates (with instruction) increases growth.
If I understand your question about the protocol correctly, I might have let a little Re-Reading for Fluency slip into the Guided Reading unit (based on your comments). For beginners especially, they can kinda merge together because just the act of reading 1 sentence is such an accomplishment that one may need to re-read to establish the meaning, or to rest.
Your analysis of the steps that I must have used is smart. But I wouldn’t say that series of steps would fit every circumstance. The overarching protocol is
- Guided Reading–Student reads with support
- Guided Reading–Student summarizes
- Re-Reading for Fluency–when time allows, teacher models re-reading a selection of the passage with the child following along with a card. Then, if time allows, student reads all or part of that text.
I suspect your granddaughter’s protocol may look more like what YOU wrote as she’s just beginning and probably doesn’t have a large sight word bank. If that’s the case, then you’ll probably fold in a little re-reading early on, sentence by sentence, just to give her a break and to make the sentences sound more like real reading.
For your grandson, the 3 steps above that I wrote are probably more what would fit because he is further along.
Is this making any sense!?
-
Reading Simplified Trainer
Good to see you and hear your voice tonight in the monthly workshop, Arlene!
Yes, the level of challenge in the beginning reader video is definitely against the grain. :O I know! (I was closet rebel in all of my reading graduate courses.) But as long as the student is content enough (not discouraged), it’s fine. One of my girls emotionally needed about 90% or better accuracy when she was learning to read. The other one was fine missing every single word! As long as I helped her through it, she felt successful. (She may have wanted to catch up with her big sis…)
So, yes, of course still use your judgment…but also just think outside the box! Again, there’s no research to support the 90 or 95% metric and the little research that has been done suggests lower accuracy rates (with instruction) increases growth.
If I understand your question about the protocol correctly, I might have let a little Re-Reading for Fluency slip into the Guided Reading unit (based on your comments). For beginners especially, they can kinda merge together because just the act of reading 1 sentence is such an accomplishment that one may need to re-read to establish the meaning, or to rest.
Your analysis of the steps that I must have used is smart. But I wouldn’t say that series of steps would fit every circumstance. The overarching protocol is
- Guided Reading–Student reads with support
- Guided Reading–Student summarizes
- Re-Reading for Fluency–when time allows, teacher models re-reading a selection of the passage with the child following along with a card. Then, if time allows, student reads all or part of that text.
I suspect your granddaughter’s protocol may look more like what YOU wrote as she’s just beginning and probably doesn’t have a large sight word bank. If that’s the case, then you’ll probably fold in a little re-reading early on, sentence by sentence, just to give her a break and to make the sentences sound more like real reading.
For your grandson, the 3 steps above that I wrote are probably more what would fit because he is further along.
Is this making any sense!?
-
Wow! This just makes so much sense. After completing a reading therapy course here in South Africa, I was challenged to think about how one teaches children to read, and which texts to select. It makes sense to give them decodable texts where they can practice Blend as You Read, and reinforce their letter-sound knowledge. I think people seriously underestimate what children are capable of when the ‘correct’ teaching environment, as demonstrated in Reading Simplified, is part of the learning process. I know that this would certainly challenge many of the teachers in my country, as it is a very different way to how they approach teaching children to read!
-
Wow! This just makes so much sense. After completing a reading therapy course here in South Africa, I was challenged to think about how one teaches children to read, and which texts to select. It makes sense to give them decodable texts where they can practice Blend as You Read, and reinforce their letter-sound knowledge. I think people seriously underestimate what children are capable of when the ‘correct’ teaching environment, as demonstrated in Reading Simplified, is part of the learning process. I know that this would certainly challenge many of the teachers in my country, as it is a very different way to how they approach teaching children to read!
-
Reading Simplified Trainer
Jo, this is so beautiful. 🙂 Thank you for sharing your encouragement and the perspective of someone who’s learned similar approach. Yes, this is pretty radical, isn’t it?
But it may all be worth it if the results are radical. 😉
-
Reading Simplified Trainer
Jo, this is so beautiful. 🙂 Thank you for sharing your encouragement and the perspective of someone who’s learned similar approach. Yes, this is pretty radical, isn’t it?
But it may all be worth it if the results are radical. 😉
-
Wow! That is so different than what I have encountered before for the instructional level text. I am willing to try it. I totally agree with using decodable text at the beginning. My struggles in the past have been finding text that requires students to apply the phonics skills and sight words they have learned. I can certainly see how your scaffolding keeps the reader from becoming overwhelmed and keeps them motivated. Thanks!
-
Wow! That is so different than what I have encountered before for the instructional level text. I am willing to try it. I totally agree with using decodable text at the beginning. My struggles in the past have been finding text that requires students to apply the phonics skills and sight words they have learned. I can certainly see how your scaffolding keeps the reader from becoming overwhelmed and keeps them motivated. Thanks!
-
Reading Simplified Trainer
I like how you are willing to try something new and you recognize the distinctions instead of throwing the baby out with the bath water. Can’t recall if it’s in this unit, but definitely Buddy Reading is my fall-back if I can’t find the “perfect” text.
We’ve had a lot of teachers say the same thing as you…so it’ll be interesting to find out what your Reading Simplified cohort thinks about this unit by the end of the year….
-
Reading Simplified Trainer
I like how you are willing to try something new and you recognize the distinctions instead of throwing the baby out with the bath water. Can’t recall if it’s in this unit, but definitely Buddy Reading is my fall-back if I can’t find the “perfect” text.
We’ve had a lot of teachers say the same thing as you…so it’ll be interesting to find out what your Reading Simplified cohort thinks about this unit by the end of the year….
-
Using decodable texts rather than patterned texts is going back to what worked years ago. I find that the kids use the pictures and their memory of the pattern exclusively to read. I do have a group of kids who also check the first letter to confirm their word guess but from what you’re saying they could be reading much more interesting and challenging texts. I’m going to try some harder texts with this group after our break. I think they’ll love the challenge.
-
Using decodable texts rather than patterned texts is going back to what worked years ago. I find that the kids use the pictures and their memory of the pattern exclusively to read. I do have a group of kids who also check the first letter to confirm their word guess but from what you’re saying they could be reading much more interesting and challenging texts. I’m going to try some harder texts with this group after our break. I think they’ll love the challenge.
-
Reading Simplified Trainer
Yes, it’s really interesting how children’s beginning to read texts have changed so much over the last 50 years, swinging from various extremes to another. But recently, the texts do not set up most students to succeed because there is so little repetition of the high-frequency spellings and high-frequency words.
I’m glad you’re willing to give the other types of texts a chance. And it must be easier for you since you’ve seen such texts work before!
-
Reading Simplified Trainer
Yes, it’s really interesting how children’s beginning to read texts have changed so much over the last 50 years, swinging from various extremes to another. But recently, the texts do not set up most students to succeed because there is so little repetition of the high-frequency spellings and high-frequency words.
I’m glad you’re willing to give the other types of texts a chance. And it must be easier for you since you’ve seen such texts work before!
-
Reading Simplified Trainer
Arlene and I were emailing back and forth and I answered one of her questions there that I think many of us could benefit from….
Here’s her Q:
Peter and I have finished /oa/ and /ee/. How is my pace? I meet with him twice a week.
As I probably reported, Peter got a great report from a standard reading test at school. He has since had another standardized test in which he did very poorly. Upon analysis, it looks like he didn’t really read the passages and took his best guesses on the questions. I am stymied about the best kind of passages to read with him to increase reading stamina. Do I go easy or hard?
Perhaps I need to do more with the Guided Reading time. I tend to forget to have him summarize which I need to shore up. Modeling and rereading seems so time consuming when Peter just wants to get the chapter finished. (Reading a chapter outloud together has been our goal each session.) Do I need to follow up with questions and a passage read silently?
Here’s my answer:
Your pace sounds fine—especially if he’s not practicing these activities at home. When I tutor once a week, I ask the parents to sit in on the session so they learn the right feedback supports, especially Blend As You Read and only pointing out the 1 sound that the child has read inaccurately. Thus, I send home about 30-45 min. of worksheets and ask for at least 20 minutes of nightly oral reading (with parental support). If that’s not possible for you, then a twice-a-week model is a great adaptation.
But, he still needs to read aloud nightly at least and get good feedback. Sounds as if in addition to the word-level feedback, having the parent ask a simple, “What was this about?” afterwards would be a good routine, too.
Variance among the test scores is to be expected with someone who has struggled. He’s relied on unreliable strategies in the past so he has to over-learn new, successful strategies.
And, as you point out, he probably needs a little more training on comprehension strategies. Or, at least, taking the time to ensure that he’s comprehending as he goes! This metacognition is what 90% of comprehension problems stem from (when kids can read the words).
I would talk with him about what’s going on in his mind. Does he catch himself when he’s not really paying attention? What can he do to fix that? If needed, you could do a think aloud where you stop after every paragraph you read and say, “So, right now I’m thinking…..”
You could guide him from listening to you do this to having him do it. Sometimes, I ask kids to put post it note summaries after each paragraph for a page or two of reading. Just for a few days or weeks. Longer than that and it’s a real drag.
He may be at a pace now where fluency isn’t as much of a goal? For 3rd grade a good words per minute on a cold read is about 92 for this time of year. Below is a link to a chart with fluency norms for all ages:
https://www.readnaturally.com/knowledgebase/documents-and-resources/26/386 Aim for the 50th percentile.If he’s above 90ish wpm, and doesn’t like re-reading, I would drop it for now. If he’s not quite to 90, I would still incorporate it. Are you just have hime re-read a short selection? Could a chart help so he could see how he’s improving? (There’s a short one in the attached file.) Or, would a game element of some type help? For instance, how many practice times will it take until you can read these words (about 92 of them) in 1 minute? 1 re-read? 2? 3?
The QuickReads texts could be very helpful for him if fluency is still a goal. I usually can get 1 used from amazon for less than $15. Here’s a chart that aligns grade level with QuickReads’ levels:
http://textproject.org/classroom-materials/students/commercially-available-products-powered-by-text/quickreads-family-of-products/Yes, Guided Reading is the most important activity for him at this stage (based on what I know from other things you’ve said), so put the majority of your lesson time in that bucket. For reading with you, harder texts are the ones that will grow his word ID and comprehension the fastest. For reading on his own, books that he enjoys and will read—a lot—are the ones that will also build these things.
For your Guided Reading time, I think you should do the things I mention above about 1) talking to him about how to monitor his comprehension, 2) model a brief think-aloud, 3) have him do a brief think-aloud on 2-3 paragraphs, 4) then transition to “Ok, now let’s put this into action in our book.” Guide him through a reading by checking in as much as you think necessary without becoming a nag. Tough line… 5) Consider for HW reading of his easy, independent read, that he write 1-sentence summaries for 3-5 paragraphs at the beginning of his book. Sometimes the pretty pack of Post-Its will help with the dread of writing. 😉
Finally, I made a comprehension bookmark for teachers to help them recall which main questions to ask during Guided Reading. You can download it here:
http://readingsimplified.com/most-important-question-comprehension-101/ -
Reading Simplified Trainer
Arlene and I were emailing back and forth and I answered one of her questions there that I think many of us could benefit from….
Here’s her Q:
Peter and I have finished /oa/ and /ee/. How is my pace? I meet with him twice a week.
As I probably reported, Peter got a great report from a standard reading test at school. He has since had another standardized test in which he did very poorly. Upon analysis, it looks like he didn’t really read the passages and took his best guesses on the questions. I am stymied about the best kind of passages to read with him to increase reading stamina. Do I go easy or hard?
Perhaps I need to do more with the Guided Reading time. I tend to forget to have him summarize which I need to shore up. Modeling and rereading seems so time consuming when Peter just wants to get the chapter finished. (Reading a chapter outloud together has been our goal each session.) Do I need to follow up with questions and a passage read silently?
Here’s my answer:
Your pace sounds fine—especially if he’s not practicing these activities at home. When I tutor once a week, I ask the parents to sit in on the session so they learn the right feedback supports, especially Blend As You Read and only pointing out the 1 sound that the child has read inaccurately. Thus, I send home about 30-45 min. of worksheets and ask for at least 20 minutes of nightly oral reading (with parental support). If that’s not possible for you, then a twice-a-week model is a great adaptation.
But, he still needs to read aloud nightly at least and get good feedback. Sounds as if in addition to the word-level feedback, having the parent ask a simple, “What was this about?” afterwards would be a good routine, too.
Variance among the test scores is to be expected with someone who has struggled. He’s relied on unreliable strategies in the past so he has to over-learn new, successful strategies.
And, as you point out, he probably needs a little more training on comprehension strategies. Or, at least, taking the time to ensure that he’s comprehending as he goes! This metacognition is what 90% of comprehension problems stem from (when kids can read the words).
I would talk with him about what’s going on in his mind. Does he catch himself when he’s not really paying attention? What can he do to fix that? If needed, you could do a think aloud where you stop after every paragraph you read and say, “So, right now I’m thinking…..”
You could guide him from listening to you do this to having him do it. Sometimes, I ask kids to put post it note summaries after each paragraph for a page or two of reading. Just for a few days or weeks. Longer than that and it’s a real drag.
He may be at a pace now where fluency isn’t as much of a goal? For 3rd grade a good words per minute on a cold read is about 92 for this time of year. Below is a link to a chart with fluency norms for all ages:
https://www.readnaturally.com/knowledgebase/documents-and-resources/26/386 Aim for the 50th percentile.If he’s above 90ish wpm, and doesn’t like re-reading, I would drop it for now. If he’s not quite to 90, I would still incorporate it. Are you just have hime re-read a short selection? Could a chart help so he could see how he’s improving? (There’s a short one in the attached file.) Or, would a game element of some type help? For instance, how many practice times will it take until you can read these words (about 92 of them) in 1 minute? 1 re-read? 2? 3?
The QuickReads texts could be very helpful for him if fluency is still a goal. I usually can get 1 used from amazon for less than $15. Here’s a chart that aligns grade level with QuickReads’ levels:
http://textproject.org/classroom-materials/students/commercially-available-products-powered-by-text/quickreads-family-of-products/Yes, Guided Reading is the most important activity for him at this stage (based on what I know from other things you’ve said), so put the majority of your lesson time in that bucket. For reading with you, harder texts are the ones that will grow his word ID and comprehension the fastest. For reading on his own, books that he enjoys and will read—a lot—are the ones that will also build these things.
For your Guided Reading time, I think you should do the things I mention above about 1) talking to him about how to monitor his comprehension, 2) model a brief think-aloud, 3) have him do a brief think-aloud on 2-3 paragraphs, 4) then transition to “Ok, now let’s put this into action in our book.” Guide him through a reading by checking in as much as you think necessary without becoming a nag. Tough line… 5) Consider for HW reading of his easy, independent read, that he write 1-sentence summaries for 3-5 paragraphs at the beginning of his book. Sometimes the pretty pack of Post-Its will help with the dread of writing. 😉
Finally, I made a comprehension bookmark for teachers to help them recall which main questions to ask during Guided Reading. You can download it here:
http://readingsimplified.com/most-important-question-comprehension-101/ -
I have started Guided Reading with my 5 students. I think they are all very proud of themselves for the reading they are doing – most of them are at the beginning level /a/ sound. It will be interesting to see how they progress, we have only done it a couple of times. I am working one-on-one with all of them because they are very competitive with each other and have a tendency to copy one another. I think as their skills increase I may consider working with them in groups of two. They are doing great with the switch it- although I notice that the vowel sound is the most challenging for them, which is to be expected. I love that it is visual for them – saying the sounds as I move my pencil across the word. I notice that most of my students can identify the sound they need to change after 3 or 4 times. Thanks for the great work you do. I am really enjoying it!
-
I have started Guided Reading with my 5 students. I think they are all very proud of themselves for the reading they are doing – most of them are at the beginning level /a/ sound. It will be interesting to see how they progress, we have only done it a couple of times. I am working one-on-one with all of them because they are very competitive with each other and have a tendency to copy one another. I think as their skills increase I may consider working with them in groups of two. They are doing great with the switch it- although I notice that the vowel sound is the most challenging for them, which is to be expected. I love that it is visual for them – saying the sounds as I move my pencil across the word. I notice that most of my students can identify the sound they need to change after 3 or 4 times. Thanks for the great work you do. I am really enjoying it!
-
Reading Simplified Trainer
Tricia, that’s great news that your kids feel proud! Woohoo! And thanks for the encouragement, too. 🙂
And I love that you are able to work with each one individually for a time. Great idea. Once they can Blend As You Read CVC words with more regularity, it’ll be easier to work with them in groups of 2, 3, or more.
That’s a neat data point about how fast your kids are learning the letter-sounds. Wow! Not what you’d expect from a typical K/1 basal scope and sequence, right?
I can’t recall…have you added in Read It, too? That also helps get those short vowel sounds nailed down in memory.
Can’t wait to hear your next report…
-
Reading Simplified Trainer
Tricia, that’s great news that your kids feel proud! Woohoo! And thanks for the encouragement, too. 🙂
And I love that you are able to work with each one individually for a time. Great idea. Once they can Blend As You Read CVC words with more regularity, it’ll be easier to work with them in groups of 2, 3, or more.
That’s a neat data point about how fast your kids are learning the letter-sounds. Wow! Not what you’d expect from a typical K/1 basal scope and sequence, right?
I can’t recall…have you added in Read It, too? That also helps get those short vowel sounds nailed down in memory.
Can’t wait to hear your next report…
Log in to reply.