Chapter+13-14,+Barbara

Barb Wiggins

Chapter 13 - Dynamic Grouping for Effective Teaching in Guided Reading The goal in guided reading is to teach students at their instructional level. Why is this important? It is because if the written text is too difficult, the child may become frustrated and give up on their ability to read. Struggling readers build confidence by working within small groups where they can work together at discovering reading strategies which will help them learn to read independently. Guided reading allows teachers to observe how their students are connecting personally with reading because they are directly involved in a series of concrete tasts. For example, in a small guided reading group, mini lessons are given by the teacher that illustrate how a character is introduced in a novel, determine the value of a setting, and discuss why is there conflict within a story. As the students look at each element in turn, they can see how they all unite to form a finished piece of literature. The student needs to be able to identify the point of view and voice of the story. They have to learn how to visualize the novel in order to comprehend what they are reading. The students working within a small group may decide to act out the story or discuss how it as developed, one step at a time. As Jeanne Olsheske explains, "A teacher cannot establish her reading groups at the beginning of the year and keep them intact through the year " (216). As the students grow in their reading ability, the groups need to be redefined. In essence, the dynamic grouping of your students allows them to read in different kinds of groups - based on instructional need and interest. It allows the students who need to build confidence in reading an opportunity to ask questions more freely. How you choose and create your dynamic groups will to a large extent determine the success of your reading students.

Chapter 14 - Selecting, Introducting, and Using Leveled Texts

This chapter addresses the issue of whether a leveled book room would be useful to the teachers at TCMS. Should we start a leveled book room? Havelock Middle and West Craven Middle have started their leveled book rooms. Let's think about it as we review this chapter.

Why should should a teacher have easy access to leveled texts within their classroom?

For guided reading, the process of matching books with the readers is vital to reading comprehension. A collection of books can be arranged by category and level of difficulty. For example, if a teacher had a group of fivef 8th students that were were reading at approximately the 6th grade level and who were interested in World War II, the teacher would easily be able to select five books on the topic of interest and at the level of difficulty. Matching the readers with the correct reading material is time consuming for most teachers who assist students in guided reading. The leveled book room would make that task easier.

The factors related to text difficulty are book and print features, vocabulary, sentence complexity, content, text structure, language and literary features, and themes and ideas (Fountas and Pinnell 227).. The GMRT reading assessment given is one way of determining what text a student is capable of comprehending. The AR test and EOG Reading tests are other assessments. Teacher observation during guided reading groups is an excellent assessment tool and can uncover reading problems such as dyslexia.

When students are in a group and about to begin a book that they are going to read together, the teacher needs to introduce the book to the students. The introduction depends on the needs of the students that are within that group. For example, if you had a small group of four six graders who were reading on the 2nd grade level, then the best approach may be to review the book as a whole, determine whether the book is fiction or non-fiction, analyze the tile, look at the illustrations, define the challenging vocabulary words, and discuss the topic. If the story is about a dog, each child could discuss their prior knowledge about dogs. It would be up to the teacher to define the characters and the plot initially but gradually let the students expand as they grasp each concept. One method of comprehension would be to rotate a student daily with being the task of a notetaker in the group and letting the students each chapter that they read together.

Every introduction will be as different as every group of students in guided reading. A group that is reading //The Outsiders// may want to explore music in the 60's, discuss gangs, and focus on comprehending the thesis of the novel. The introduction should lead into the group reading and open up discussion. The teacher needs to be rotating among the different groups in order to make certain that the students are making progress.

What if all of my students don't need to be in a guided reading group?

Students that are independent readers may sit together and can discuss their mutual books as a team. Even though this group may not need much direction, the teacher would still want to sit with this group and make certain that each student is reading and comprehending their book. The teacher needs to be ready to intervene and make certain that each student is reading literature that will increase their reading ability and assisting them on an individual basis.

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