A Guide for Guided Reading- Part 4

 In this post about guided reading, my goal is to focus in on the cloud of comprehension. This can be a scary place because comprehension encompasses so much that it seems either impossible to get started, or you can get so lost in the discussions that you seem to loose your place and purpose of the reading. Never fear, this happens to all of us and that's ok! Sometimes it's best to just let the conversation flow when a student starts talking about his/her understanding of a story. During guided reading however, it's best to remain on the path of what the group goals are for the day and use time strategically to review the strategy or skill intended.

My suggestion is to focus on one or two skills for each session and discuss the various strategies students are using to practice the skill. I also do a lot of modeling in the beginning of the year as students talk about the story. I take my turn (just like them!) with a  think-out-loud to ask questions and model my thinking for how to determine my answers. I also model how to find clues in the story that show me details that help form my answer. I always model all three W.A.B questions (see my part 3 post for more details and a description of W.A.B questions) as I go through the book so I differentiate. Most students in my guided reading will be at about the same place and have similar reading needs. It's important to keep scaffolding so they are challenged, and students who are ready can fully participate in answering the higher order thinking questions. 

As I shared before, there are many layers to comprehension I could write about forever on this topic! I also love talking about teaching our readers to understand what they are reading so that's another reason why I could keep typing. The purpose here is to not stir confusion, but to offer a starting point and clarify a few aspects of comprehension that we often take for granted and perform naturally. We want our students to notice their thinking and understanding so they can continue to deepen and expand it. 

Here are some final thoughts for comprehension: Keep it simple! It doesn't have to be (nor should it be) complex. Keep the students in the driver seat during the session. See where their questions lead and how they guide the discussion. Keep practicing and planning. Taking notes and writing down ideas will help with where to start the next session, what book to read (or to review the same one if needed,) and what skills to focus on. Lastly, keep being a reader with your students! The more we expose ourselves to their literature, the better we can guide our students during guided reading.