Guided reading is 'small-group reading instruction designed to provide differentiated teaching that supports students in developing reading proficiency'. The small group model allows children to be taught in a way that is intended to be more focused on their specific needs, accelerating their progress.  (Credit:  Google.com.)

Guided reading instruction incorporates word study mini-lessons, comprehension discussion, decoding 'attack' strategies, and rereads for fluency.  Using prompts such as: 'take two' - referring to familiar blends or digraphs, 'go back and get a running start',  and 'try again' (instead of our immediate urge to provide a miscued word), emergent and developing readers learn to navigate an unpredictable sentence structure and spelling system that we as adults take for granted. 

I love teaching kids to read.  LOVE IT.  As your student triumphs over harder and harder texts, I guarantee you'll exalt in their success and look for ways to expand their skills as much as I do =).

When listening to your new reader read aloud, remember the mantra they've learned at RES  (there are even hand gestures!) - "Make it look right, sound right, and make sense."  Use this prompt anytime they prepare to read to you - whether for their nightly homework, or just for fun.  It refers to focusing on visual, structure, and meaning cues.

Guided reading is not about 'catching up' or 'intervention' - third and fourth grade is a wide span of development.  If your student is an emergent reader, I'm here to support you as much as them. Other prompts you can use at home include:

- Do you know another word that looks like that?

- Can you cover up part of that word to show the smaller word within? 

- Can you say that word slowly?

- Look all the way across the word and say it slowly.

Email me, and I'll send you a more in-depth list of prompts you can use when they read aloud, along with books at your student's level. 

Reading is fun and empowering - let's show them how much they can grow, together!