In guided reading, the teacher or parent provides a specific context to help the child grasp more of the story and the underlying message. Guided reading is meant for small group or one-on-one work, with lots of teacher feedback. This is just a primer; specific curricula and suggestions for struggling readers can be found online.
BEFORE READING
Don’t just jump into a story. Prepare children for guided reading by providing both a good environment to read and the context needed to understand and appreciate the reading.
- Find a quiet, comfortable place to sit.
- Talk about the cover and title of the book.
- Leaf through the book, looking at the pictures.
- Give background information on the topic of the book, if needed.
- Ask the readers to make predictions based on the title and pictures.
WHILE READING
Reading without understanding is not really reading. While it is nice to let children read uninterrupted, it is also good to occasionally make them stop and think about what they are reading. With guided reading, you should encourage children to become more sophisticated readers by pointing out things like foreshadowing and asking them to relate what is going on in the text to real life (text-to-self; text-to-world; text-to-text).
Ask questions as you read.
- What would you do in this situation?
- What do you think of the characters?
- What do you think they are thinking/feeling?
- What is going on in the picture?
- Why did that just happen?
- How does that make you feel?
- What do you think will happen next?
AFTER READING
Depending on the amount of time allotted for reading, and the length of the book, you might want to some of these activities at the end of each page (for a picture book) or chapter, or wait until you finish the book.
Discuss the reading:
- Ask the reader to summarize what was just read.
- Compare any predictions made to what really happened.
- Ask the reader what s/he liked most and least, and why.
- Ask the reader who his/her favorite character was, and why.
- Talk about how the book relates to real life.
- Have the reader write their feelings/response to the book.
Have the reader do reading-related activities:
- Write a letter to one of the book’s characters.
- Rewrite the story (by changing the setting or inserting the reader into the story)
- Change the ending. Write what should have happened.
- Draw a picture inspired by the book.
- Do a word search or crossword puzzle reinforcing ideas from the book.
Use the book as a jumping-off point:
- Read or research on an aspect mentioned in the book (be it a place, a historical event, an occupation, etc.)
