Guided Reading

Hey friends! I hope you are having a great last week. I’m sure most of you are soaking up these last few days/weeks of summer! I know I am. I can literally feel my to-do list creeping up on me! If/when we have to move again, it will be in JUNE…not August, the week before I go back. Ha! My mind is completely in school mode which is why I literally don’t even have boxes and we are moving in a week and a half! :/

Anyway, Caitlin at Kindergarten Smiles was doing a book study with several other bloggers on The Next Step in Guided Reading. I was pretty behind and didn’t get to do it at the same time as them. But, I still wanted to read it because it seemed like a great resource. I got it on my kindle, and so far, I am SUPER impressed! I figured I’d give you all a little run down of what I have learned and share some of my favorite Guided Reading pins that go with what I am learning! I am really enjoying it, and getting a lot of out of it. It’s not exactly an EASY read, but it isn’t too dense and it’s very concise. I love that it has specific strategies for each level. SO helpful! You can order your copy by clicking on the picture.

The start of the book goes over what students must be able to do in stations for you to have an effective small group. 🙂 I think most of us know that, but it’s so important to have it reinforced. And, I loved her three specific things they must know.

1. They must know how to work in teams.
2. They must know how to solve problems. 
3. They must know how to do independent activities. 

I feel like 99.9% of me being interrupted during GR is because of one of these issues. Either they are coming to me, or I am having to talk across the room to a little sweetie who is using his pointer to pick his nose or poke his friend instead of reading the pocket chart cards. That happens alot less than friends coming up to tell me that they are arguing and can’t figure out what to do.

I taught my kids to play Paper, Rock, Scissors when they had a disagreement. It was pretty simple, but it worked like a CHARM!! We even talked about doing it 2 out of 3, haha. I think that really helped manage things like who gets to go first. Here is another adorable chart for tackling that issue! Of course, click on any of the pictures to go to the original source. I take no credit for these fab ideas!

Now this is plain brilliant!! It almost looks like you could make each student an expert. I think I would probably narrow it down, so it could be a reward. Experts would have to be helpful and easy to get back on task after they help a friend!

This little chart could help even the silliest of our friends who forget EVERYTHING…all the expectations…all the time! 🙂 Seriously…you can look at these pictures and know exactly what you should be doing when reading with a friend.

I absolutely 100% love this idea. I can honestly say it’s one of the coolest things I’ve found on Pinterest and I have like 6,000 pins. She had them take a picture of their work during stations. I used to have them do this with the iPad, but this is just as fun and a little less cause for fear hahah! My ipads did NOT have otter boxes and I shook a bit each time they lifted those babies up to take pictures.

I honestly think this poster pack from Kristin is a must have for teaching (and reminding them of) station expectations! LOVE it!

I hope you liked these ideas! I’d love to hear anymore that you have to share! I’m hoping to go through this book with you! I’ll be back with lots more from this fabulous resource soon! 🙂

I finally took the plunge on got on Blog Lovin AND Facebook! 🙂 Head over to my facebook page for a surprise! I promise…promise…promise…this will have a button and not look ridiculous ASAP! 🙂