Dear Readers: I have been working with guided reading since 1988. I guess that makes me old if nothing else and I have probably tried everything that could be tried to shift teacher's understanding of guided reading. I have done what you are speaking of, but I find that teachers are not sure how to participate in the role - should they be a student, a teacher, a peer? What's the purpose? I have touched some raw nerves because my expectations weren't where teachers were! That said. I believe if I had one precious half day to change the world, I would suggest that you have teachers view a DVD/video clip of guided reading that you feel matches the vision in the district. Provide an observation guide with prompts, so that teachers know what to look for. You will assist teachers in using lenses to observe that they may have never used before. For example, have them simply focus on the strategy language the teacher uses or the type of feedback the teachers uses. These are the type of teaching behaviors that bring positive effects from implementing guided reading. This observation guide then provides a seed bed for real and deep discussion. In other words, choose the observation prompts that will bring a new angle or a fresh light to their perception of guided reading.
In response to what has changed in the last ten years, I could probably write all night long. I would suggest if you are serious that you do read my dissertation (Starbucks helps you read these dynamic reading materials) as well as other dissertations on the topic. Guided reading is not easy to research because the term means so many things to so many people. Because it has been used to represent many types of reading approaches, there are probably more books out now that debunk it's use, rather than promote it. For instance, Optiz and Ford's book, Reaching Readers was very difficult for me to read. I argued all over the margins because I didn't believe that the teachers they observed were actually implementing guided reading. In short, I believe that we got off track with guided reading innocently. Before the literature-based basal came on, teachers were using literature and it was difficult to know what level it was and who should be able to read what. The prior basal's levels were pre-primer, primer, 1st grade readers and so forth. I found at that time, that I had to put particular books in the hands of first and second grade teachers to help them understand what they were reaching for with their students. They often didn't know what was appropriate. When the literature-based basal, sometimes called whole language basals, came on, teachers weren't helped much because often the stories were too difficult. Then, Fountas and Pinnell brought the Reading Recovery leveling system and this supported many in understanding where students were and to document growth. It was helpful but I believe that we took it too far so that teachers only looked at the level, rather than the zone of proximal development of the student. A child's zone of proximal development is not a level. Leveling, was the orientation of Fountas and Pinnell, being Reading Recovery teachers. I, having filmed Rigby's guided reading videos, did not see guided reading as a leveled experience. I was focused on the behaviors I saw student's using or not using but I am not a Reading Recovery trained teacher. Here we are then, desperately needing to shift our observations and instruction to the zone of proximal development rather than the level of the text. Please understand, Fountas and Pinnell were needed but we must go into a new mindset. Children need to be working at the cutting-edge of their development. We provide guided reading because we want to ACCELERATE growth. The use of the DRA or F & P to place children in a group is adequate but teachers are not using these tool to their best advantage. By the time a child passes the retelling, there is a high level of comp., fluency, etc when reading the text. You cannot see what they are doing with decoding for the most part. Then teachers set up groups and practice that level. Teachers need to go to the next level of the assessment, read the assessment and "unpack" it as I say, and find what children need to be practicing. Obviously, this means that teachers must model this with the entire class, and then bring children into it with guided practice. I hope this is making sense. Perhaps, some of you have something to add to this to help clarify. And yes, I am working on a book. Janine Batzle Dissertation: Instructional Actions of Exemplary Grades 2 and 5 Teachers Who Mediate Strategic Reading Behavior in Guided Reading with Low-Achieving Students, 2004 Dr. Janine Batzle ----- Original Message ----- From: Ron Borchert<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group<mailto:[email protected]> Sent: Friday, October 24, 2008 6:46 PM Subject: [MOSAIC] guided reading training I will be giving a half day workshop to teachers in our district that have not had guided reading training for a long time. This training has been suggested by the principals. I'm wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of short texts that would challenge the teachers. I am going to model a guided reading lesson using a more difficult non-fiction text with some of the teachers as the students in the group. I used a great article about Phineas Gage, but some of the teachers attending the workshop have already read that text. Also does anyone have any experience or resources for the guided reading plus groups that Linda Dorn describes in her reading intervention model? And finally, how would you say guided reading has changed in the last ten years? This group always has an amazing wealth of information and resources. Thank you for your help. Barb Parry _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org<http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org>. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive<http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive>. _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
