Today we are
going to talk about something that I have struggled with as a new teacher. Sure
when I was in college we had to take different language arts courses to prep us
for the 90 minute literacy block. During student teaching I watched my supervising
teacher (who was AMAZING BTW) work with her leveled reading groups on various
first grade reading standards. But when it came to me working with my reading
groups in my classroom, I just wasn’t sure I was doing the right thing!
I know it might
sound silly. I can read the standards and I know what skills my kinder babies
need to know before the end of the year. I just needed to develop some
confidence that I was using those precious 90 minutes to reach the needs of
EVERY sweet baby in my class.
After many new
teacher meetings with my principal and mentor, lots of research/reading books,
and Pinterest fun, I finally feel like I’m killin’ it! By sharing what has
worked for me I hope that I can help someone who has had a similar experience
as me!
Here are some
guidelines to follow when setting up/prepping your guided reading time:
1.
Organize your schedule for guided reading. Most
schools require a 90 minute block. Luckily, I work at a small catholic school
so I am able to make my own schedule! I know, I can feel some of the dagger
eyes you are throwing my way. Anyway we begin every morning with literacy from
9:25-11:10. We start with a 25 minute whole group and then we move into roughly
15-20 centers.
2. I arrange my groups by color. Pink are my sweet
low babies, orange are just below grade level, yellow right where they should
be or on grade level, and green are my high flyers, who need a challenge! This
year I only have fourteen students (I feel those eyes again!) so I only needed
to have four groups. Each group should only include four to five students. It
is also important to explain to the kids that they may move to a different
group at some point in the year. These groups SHOULD be FLEXIBLE! Don’t get
comfortable with having perfect set groups. As the needs of your students
change then their groups will change! J
3.
ORGANIZATION, ORGANIZATION, ORGANIZATION. Wait
have I already said organization? In order to utilize your time well with all
of your groups you will need to stay super organized! This means taking the
time to prep all of the materials you will need for groups BEFORE you meet with
that group! This may also mean having pencils, paper, dry erase markers,
boards, etc. within hands reach of your guided reading table.
4.
PLAN TIME! You have to decide what works best for
you in your lesson planning. I know some teachers at my school who just write “reading
groups” in their plans at the designated time. I may just be making my job
harder but I always write all of the skills we are practicing in each group. (For
example: Read unit 2 decodable, review sight words: can, have, I, me, introduce
–at word
family) You can also make a separate plan sheet for your groups if you like! I
found that it is easier for me to include a space for each group in my lesson
template and keep one set of plans! I LOVE Miss Decarbo’s post about how she
lesson plans! It was very helpful for me and I modeled my template from hers.
You can check out her blog HERE.
5. Center
time! Now while you are working with your sweet babes in groups, you will have
to have your other babies working independently at centers. Here’s where you
will really have to use your intuition and do what’s best in your classroom. I
have five literacy centers that are pretty much the same as daily 5. Word work,
read to self, work on ipads, work on writing, and teacher time. At the
beginning of kindergarten I do pretty much everything whole group. If you have
an instructional assistant you may want to pull groups while they monitor whole
group activities. It is important to only introduce one center at a time. I
usually let kids explore centers for morning work at the beginning of the year.
I may put out different activities to have them practice or games I want them
to learn how to play. I LOVE doing this because I can monitor what they are
doing and answer any questions they have. You will also want to discuss expectations
you have for students to follow during centers. I usually don’t begin full on
centers until late September or October (you will know when it’s right for your
kiddos!).
I hope that this information helped you get some ideas for
your own reading groups. At the end of the day YOU know what is best for you
and for your little cuties! Just remember to have confidence in yourself and
the rest will fall into place! Thanks for stopping by!
