By: E. Francine Guastello and Claire Lenz.
This is a wonderful article not only about what guided reading is, but also how to go about implementing a successful guided reading program. Guastello and Lenz assert that guided reading is "one major component of a balanced literacy program". They propose incorporating "Kidstation Model" of guided reading in which small groups of similar readers rotate through stations in between their group's guided reading lesson. This allows the teacher to spend more time with each group while the other groups are engaging in independent group activities that reinforce their group's guided reading lesson. In my opinion, this is a great way to enhance the efficiency and efficacy of guided reading in general. This allows more time for the teacher to work with the individual smaller groups, allows the students to strengthen the skills learned in guided reading in their Kidstation groups, and also teaches them to be accountable for the work that must be completed within these Kidstations.
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First off, I really enjoyed learning about your article on Monday. You did a great job with the blog as well. I love the idea of centers for guided reading. It allows the kids to go through more than one thing in the day - it adds that fun factor to something that some kids find boring.
ReplyDeleteWhen I conducted my real life observation the kindergarten classroom I visited did activities similar to this. They called the centers their literacy buckets. The teacher had pre-made buckets full of literacy activities for the children to complete then rotate to the next bucket. I was very impressed with the accountability the students had for their own work and rotations. Even though the teacher was fully engaged with a small group, the rest of the class continued to work in their own individual groups. This is a great method for incorporating group reading.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the Kidstations sound like a great addition to guided reading. I've seen children use centers while the teacher is working with a guided reading group. However, they were missing the key component you mentioned...the centers need to reinforce the children's guided reading lessons! Using cut-and-paste activities or worksheets does not reinforce for the children, so that component of your article is huge!
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