The Guided Reading Strategy is a highly engaging activity for students PreK to Grade 2. Guided Reading is a strategy where small groups of children sit with a teacher and read a book to themselves. This strategy is only used for small groups of children as it requires special attention to each member of the group. The teacher selects the appropriate books and before starting the activity will talk about the book with the group. This is an individual activity and not an activity that has students share their reading. The teachers role is to help the students decode words, deal with sentence structure and comprehend ideas presented in the text if they are struggling. This strategy helps create an interactive lesson as teachers tend to create 3 to 4 different groups completing different activities while the one group is completing the guided reading. Guided Reading is a great way to provide one on one skill building with your students and assess their reading and comprehension levels.
Make Great Readers by Making Words!
The making words strategy allows for teachers to introduce a group of words in order for students to be able to recognize other words that use those same phonological sounds. This learning strategy teaches students about word and sound patterns to therefore make and connect words. Because this is a hands-on strategy, it allows the teacher to see if the students are identifying and understanding different phonological patterns.
Wild and Wacky Word Sorts
Word Sorts is an effective strategy that is fun for students, fun for the teacher and can be a collaborative small group activity! This versatile strategy helps students decompose words to better learn phonemic awareness, vocabulary, spelling, and pattern recognition. Students group words based on their similarities to other words, and there are many ways you as the teacher can differentiate this activity for your students. Come watch the video to learn more about how you can implement this activity in your classroom, in only 5 easy steps!
Word Ladders
Have you ever heard of Alice in Wonderland? Well the author – Lewis Carroll – actually developed this reading strategy! Mr. Carroll was a master of word play, twisting and turning words and meanings to tell stories, but with this strategy, he gave us a peak behind the curtain and left a trail for us to follow. Join us on our little rabbit trail as we hop along each step of the word ladder!