How Guided Reading Improves Productivity

In a recent article from EdSurge.com, I thought about how to improve my future students' reading and comprehension abilities. This article imparted a simple and effective method to helping students reach their full potential. Now we all know that each student is going to learn in a different way mostly and each student will have a different reading level and ability. Our goal, our mission, our challenge, is to include them all in the lesson and at the same time, enhance their potential on what ever level they are at.

 

One of the biggest take aways for me was establishing a routine. From the article: "Children tend to be more engaged when a routine is established. I’ve found that this is especially true in getting kids to respond to guided reading, since part of the learning is done independently." (edsurge.com) Routine is definitely a must in any classroom, especially if you have students on the Autism Spectrum.  With a routine, you are able to establish each day what you expect out of the students and what they can expect during the class time.  With Reading, routine will help the students relax and be able to focus on what they are learning.

Another idea was to break lesson plans down into sections.  " I start each lesson with a question, then go into reading, then ask a skill-based question, like why each detail in a book supports the main idea.  I then end the session with an open ended or multiple choice question, leaving time to provide feedback on the students’ answers." (edsurge.com) This helps the students with the first idea: routine. Irma, the teacher from the article, stated that this was great for students to know what was going to happen throughout the lesson so that they will be prepared for the questions.  It helps them dig in a little deeper into the content so they can be on their A game.  Dedicating enough time for Reading is sometimes a challenge.  You have to be creative with your time and integrate reading into other subject areas.  This will also improve student's knowledge of vocabulary and relate their readings to the subject they are reading about. 

The article also spoke of Reading stations to get students some differentiated reading time in.  This particular class room used the Daily 5 as a template to encourage students to explore different methods of reading and comprehension.  One section of this independent reading time is devoted to vocabulary, one is devoted to writing.  So students are "occupied" at each station while the teacher is able to work one on one or within a group to help each student with a problem area.  I witnessed this style of reading time when I visited with one of my clinical class rooms.  I think it is a great way to organize the class to have the most impact in what little time you have in the day.  Again, keeping with the consistent model, this will have a great impact on the students' progress.  

This will certainly align with the teaching standards 1: Teachers Demonstrate Leadership

 4: Teachers Facilitate Learning for Their Students and 6: Teachers Contribute to the Academic Success of Students.  As teachers it is important to create the best possible outcomes and environments for your students.  Using technology, consistency, and organization, the teacher should be able to facilitate a great environment and structure for student's to learn.  I plan to use some of these methods in my future classroom.  I think they will be very beneficial to my students as well as help me as a teacher leader to instruct the entire class effectively and efficiently.  The more tools and tips we have the better and the best learning is accomplished by trying new things.  

Resources:

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2016-02-13-guided-reading-how-to-organize-the-chaos


Photos:

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