The hard part of making the switch to Whole Class Guided Reading is deciding to do it. Once you have committed to diving into it whole heartedly, the teaching, resourcing and assessment comes easily. In this post, I offer 5 steps for covering to whole class guided reading. Click here to see why and how I made the switch initially.

1. Decide what skills you want the children to learn by the end of the week.

It may be seen as extra workload, but the fact is Reading is a separate subject that require skills that need explicit teaching. Giving children comprehension after comprehension to answer independently won’t improve their reading skills because they are not:

1. Discussing the text in depth.
2. They are unaware (most of the time) what the questions are actually asking them.

Once you have decided what skills you want the children to learn by the end of the week, the lessons seem to take care of themselves. As mentioned in previous posts, I plan my lessons based on VIPERS.

I’ll aim to cover each skill in a week, using the same text. Sometimes, I’ll group two skills together, for example: retrieval and explanation, as the skill of retrieval isn’t as difficult as the others.

2. Choose a text.

Aim to use a text that’s age appropriate and across a range of genres. I tend to use this or something similar (see below) to ensure the children understand how to apply the skills taught across a range of text types.

The focus I put on choosing a text is more so on choosing extracts that I think will interest and extend the children. Sometimes I photocopy a chapter from a book. Other times I print off an article from a newspaper. I find this website excellent for finding age appropriate texts.

3. Decide how you’re going to ensure you hear each child read on a weekly basis.

A big query about switching away from reading stations/carousel is ‘how will you hear each child read?’. This strategy is based off the idea that the lessons are 30 mins long, 10 of which are spent on reading. The idea is that the teacher starts off reading, setting the tone, pace and expression you wish the children to have for that piece of writing. It’s then recommended that you use some of the below techniques:

• Echo Reading: Teacher reads a line using expression and correct pace. Pupils repeat back the exact same line just like the teacher has read.
• Chorus Reading: After the teacher has read for a paragraph, decide on a sign (example clap twice) and the whole class continue on from where you left off together.
• One student reads: After the teacher has read for a paragraph, choose a pupil that you need to hear read that day- feedback on expression and fluency.

As the same text will be read for the week, it is advisable to allow your lower ability readers to read aloud at the end of the week. This way they have had the chance to hear and see the text in advance.

I insist that children use a ruler or (even better) one of these strips to help keep them focused on the words being read.

These strips are aimed at children with dyslexia, however the entire class can benefit from them as it allows them to follow the words as they’re being read, with ease.

 

This is the feedback sheet I have created to use in lessons to keep a note of children’s reading.

Whole Class Guided Reading Feedback

However, if you like a hard copy/book to record your notes in- I recommend this book/diary: Guided Reading Planbook:It’s an easy way to keep your notes together and keep track of the children’s reading day by day.

4. Choose an activity appropriate to the skills taught on that day.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a written or oral task. The children could be making posters or creating a mind map on an iPad- it doesn’t matter. Once the activity relates to the skill- that’s the main thing! For example, I am teaching a Vocabulary lesson on Monday and this is what my plan looks like.

Children will be matching the new vocabulary learned from the text to the definitions on activity sheet which I made: see below.

This way, they’ll have a better understanding of the vocabulary for the week and can progress in deepening their understanding of the text.

5. Make use of other medias other than extracts.

Most reading skills can be taught through pictures, film clips, art etc. To really extend children’s comprehension/discussion skills, once a week aim to plan in something that is not an extract. Ideally, it should like to the text you are doing that week, however, if that is not possible, it’s a great way to see which children have grasped the skills taught that week.

For example, next Friday, we will use our inference skills to make deductions from this picture. See how I do this here.

True, there is no reading in this lesson. However, there is a lot of discussion and depending children’s understanding/opening their mind to other possibilities. The key to understanding at Primary level is definitely TALKING! The guided reading strips and guided reading book are AF links, for a products I truly believe in.

 

Click here to see some of my Reading resources.

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