Guided Reading
Guided Reading is an instructional program that contains a teacher cooperating with a small group of students who read at similar levels. It's tailored to support pupils in developing their reading skills through targeted strategies, fostering comprehension, and encouraging independent reading habits.
A guided reading session usually has some necessary parts such as first choosing texts that are in line with students' reading levels, later introducing the text with a short discussion, then allowing students to read independently while the teacher watches over and provides help, and finally, talking together at the end to help reinforce their comprehension. As an illustration, the teacher can select a leveled book with animals about a group of first graders, guiding them through the reading process and asking questions about the story later on.
Contrary to the methods used in traditional reading instruction, guided reading exhibits an approach that prioritizes the small group interaction over the general classroom instruction. During guided reading, teachers adapt their teaching based on the specific needs of every student and create opportunities for them to receive ongoing feedback as well as strategies for improvement. This is in stark contrast to the traditional method in which the same material is presented to all students regardless of their different reading levels or needs.
Evaluation takes a major part in guided reading as it facilitates teachers in identifying the students' reading levels, tracking their progress, and shaping their instruction accordingly. The tools that teachers frequently apply are running records, comprehension checks, and the assessment of students’ fluency and understanding through their observations. For example, if a teacher administers a regular assessment to check if the student can summarize a story, then based on this result they can choose a different method of teaching to support the students' improvement.
Among the best methods to do guided reading are beside grouping students with the same reading skills, choosing interesting but challenging not so difficult texts and incorporating multidimensional instructional strategies such as prompting, questioning, and modeling. Apart from those, creating goals that are specific for each session and nurturing a helping atmosphere could be the factor that adds the most to the efficient results of guided reading. As an illustration, a teacher could utilize picture books to acquire vocabulary while facilitating a group of books from emergent readers.