Identifying
Students for Placement in your Guided Reading Groups Part II
Arlyne LeSchack
My prior article, How to Identify
Students for Placement in Your Guided Reading Groups, Part I,
describes the first three levels of reading behaviors: Preconventional,
Emergent and Developing. Those levels would be found in kindergarten
and might continue into first grade. For struggling students you
might even see some of those behaviors in second grade. This article
will describe the reading behaviors in the next three reading levels.
Together with the Developing stage, these levels might be found
in your first grade class. When you group your students according
to these behaviors, the groups should be flexible. Your assessment
of students should be ongoing; this will not only keep students
within the right group, but it will also help when the students
are not with you, as when they are working on an independent literacy
activity. Here are the next three groups and their behaviors:
Beginning
-
Relies on print more than illustrations;
-
Uses word structure cues (e.g., prefix, suffix
and base words);
-
Uses letter-sound cues and patterns (phonics);
-
Recognizes many high frequency words by sight;
-
Reads simple early-reader books;
-
Reads harder early-reader books;
-
Uses punctuation when reading orally;
-
Begins to self-correct;
-
Identifies basic genres (e.g. fiction, nonfiction,
poetry);
-
Uses meaning cues (context);
-
Uses structure cues (grammar/syntax);
-
Reads and follows simple directions with guidance;
-
Identifies with characters in stories;
-
Retells beginning, middle and end with guidance;
-
Learns information from reading and shares with
others;
-
Reads independently (10-15 minutes);
-
Explains why literature is liked or disliked;
-
Identifies own reading behaviors with guidance.
Feel free to use the behaviors listed above to give you ideas for
reading activities, especially when the students are working independently.
When you are with your guided reading group of six students, you will
want the other students to be fully engaged in an appropriate literacy
activity. Here is the next group and its associated reading behaviors:
Expanding
- Uses reading strategies appropriately depending on the text
and purpose;
-
Uses word structure cues (e.g. prefixes, contractions
and abbreviations);
-
Reads beginning chapter books;
-
Begins to read aloud fluently;
-
Uses reading strategies appropriately depending
on text and purpose;
-
Begins to use meaning cues (context) to increase
vocabulary;
-
Self-corrects for meaning;
-
Follows written directions;
-
Identifies chapter, title and table of contents
(text organizers);
-
Retells story events in sequential order;
-
Responds to and makes personal connections with
facts, characters and situations in literature;
-
Reads and finishes a variety of materials with
guidance;
-
Chooses reading materials at an appropriate level
with guidance;
-
Reads silently for short periods (15-30 minutes);
Identifies own reading strategies and sets goals
with guidance.
For students to be able to choose their own appropriate reading
material, at least part of your classroom library should be leveled.
Use the ECLAS levels to help you and develop a color-coded system.
For example, levels 1 and 2 can be easy, 3 and 4 medium and 5 and
6 harder and they can have red, green and yellow stickers. The students
should know where to go for books at their own level. There should
be chart indicating this near your classroom library.
Here's the next group. In my experience you will not see many of
these behaviors in first grade, but think of this list as where
you want your students to strive to be:
Bridging
- Uses word structure cues and letter sound cues;
-
Uses context cues, other reading strategies and
resources (e.g. dictionary, thesaurus);
-
Self-corrects for meaning;
-
Adjusts strategies for type of text;
-
Uses resources (e.g. CD-ROM and nonfiction/factual
texts) with guidance to locate and sort information;
-
Identifies glossary, captions and index (text
organizers);
-
Uses alphabetical order to locate information;
-
Reads medium level chapter books;
-
Begins to read aloud with expression;
-
Reads silently at a rate appropriate for the
complexity of the text;
-
Identifies different genres (e.g. realistic fiction,
historical fiction and fantasy);
-
Demonstrates understanding of the difference
between fact and opinion;
-
Summarizes with reference to setting, plot and
characters (literary elements);
-
Responds to issues and ideas in literature as
well as facts or story events;
-
Makes connections to other authors, books and
other perspectives;
-
Reads and understands age appropriate content
materials;
-
Chooses reading materials at an appropriate level;
-
Reads silently for extended periods (30-40 minutes);
-
Talks about own reading process and problem solving
strategies;
-
Uses reflective questions to assess own learning;
-
Identifies own reading strategies and sets goals
with guidance.
Try to take at least one guided reading group each day for 20 minutes.
Introduce the text you've selected fully. As the students read the
text independently, visit with each student individually to assess
their reading and their use of reading strategies. Please feel free
to write me at aleschack@aol.com
if you have any questions about any of this.
To
How to Place your Students in Guided Reading Groups Part III
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