This post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience. Any purchases made through one of our links earns us a small commission, at no extra cost to you, which helps to support the blog so we can continue sharing content like this with you. All views and opinions expressed are purely our own.
First, let's take a look at my guided reading area. I absolutely LOVE my table, shelves and drawers! Everything I need is right at my fingertips!
Here's a close up of the Sterilite drawers behind my table. They house all of my guided reading supplies and group books. The labels came from the sweet Rachel over at The Tattooed Teacher. I customized them with my own font and wording. You can check out more of my classroom here!
Let's peek into some of the drawers... shall we?!? I have five reading groups, with approximately 3-6 students in each group. Each group's book for the week and reading activity supplies are kept inside the appropriate drawer. This keeps my OCD heart happy... organized and out of sight!
I keep all of my tracking supplies, digital timers, and sand timers inside a separate drawer.
We use some type of "tracker," including eyeball rings, witch fingers, or finger lights, each time we read. They really help my struggling students with one-to-one correspondence.
My kiddos' favorite are the finger lights! I purchased mine from Amazon.
My favorite are these "Reading Trackers" from Lakeshore . They are perfect for tracking multiple lines of text.
Another tool we use a ton during guided reading is our "Check-A-Roo" checkmarks from Learning Loft. I actually ordered mine years ago from Scholastic.
They serve as a great reminder to check for understanding while we are reading with a partner.
We also use our reading strategy bookmarks and Five Finger Retelling cards almost every time we meet.
Now that we've taken a look at how I organize my guided reading area, let's take a look at my guided reading binder. I customized this cover using a freebie from the fabulous Maria over at Kinder Craze.
The first insert is a copy of my weekly guided reading schedule, which you can snag below. As mentioned earlier, I have five guided reading groups with 3-6 students per group. I meet with my low group every day, my low-med and medium groups three times per week, and my high-med and high groups twice per week. I would love to meet with all of these groups every day, but I also meet with guided math groups throughout the day. To quote the two sisters, "Fair isn't always equal." The groups who need me the most, see me the most. I apologize if you do not agree with these sentiments, but I do quickly check-in with my other students during our Daily 5 time.
My guided reading binder has five sections, one for each group. I keep each group's weekly guided reading plan behind each tab.
I break up my guided reading time into three parts, much like a workout. First, we warm-up the brain with an alphabet or phonemic awareness activity (depending on that group's needs). Then, we complete the workout or reading activity. Lastly, we cool down with a sight word or fluency activity. All of this occurs in approximately 15-18 minutes. Here's a brief rundown of some activities.
Warm-Up: Alphabet or Phonemic Awareness Activity (3 minutes)
Workout: Reading Activity (8-10 minutes)
Cool Down: Sight Word or Fluency Activity (3-5 minutes)
Believe me when I say I have changed the layout of this plan almost every single year I have taught, but I am happy to say that I think I have finally found a schedule and plan that works! Grab a copy of my Guided Reading Schedule and Guided Reading Plan below!
Find some of our favorite guided reading resources below:
Don't forget to check out my "Guided Reading / Small Group Instruction" board on Pinterest for more ideas!
Happy organizing, scheduling and reading!
Here's a close up of the Sterilite drawers behind my table. They house all of my guided reading supplies and group books. The labels came from the sweet Rachel over at The Tattooed Teacher. I customized them with my own font and wording. You can check out more of my classroom here!
Let's peek into some of the drawers... shall we?!? I have five reading groups, with approximately 3-6 students in each group. Each group's book for the week and reading activity supplies are kept inside the appropriate drawer. This keeps my OCD heart happy... organized and out of sight!
I keep all of my tracking supplies, digital timers, and sand timers inside a separate drawer.
We use some type of "tracker," including eyeball rings, witch fingers, or finger lights, each time we read. They really help my struggling students with one-to-one correspondence.
My kiddos' favorite are the finger lights! I purchased mine from Amazon.
My favorite are these "Reading Trackers" from Lakeshore . They are perfect for tracking multiple lines of text.
Another tool we use a ton during guided reading is our "Check-A-Roo" checkmarks from Learning Loft. I actually ordered mine years ago from Scholastic.
They serve as a great reminder to check for understanding while we are reading with a partner.
We also use our reading strategy bookmarks and Five Finger Retelling cards almost every time we meet.
Now that we've taken a look at how I organize my guided reading area, let's take a look at my guided reading binder. I customized this cover using a freebie from the fabulous Maria over at Kinder Craze.
The first insert is a copy of my weekly guided reading schedule, which you can snag below. As mentioned earlier, I have five guided reading groups with 3-6 students per group. I meet with my low group every day, my low-med and medium groups three times per week, and my high-med and high groups twice per week. I would love to meet with all of these groups every day, but I also meet with guided math groups throughout the day. To quote the two sisters, "Fair isn't always equal." The groups who need me the most, see me the most. I apologize if you do not agree with these sentiments, but I do quickly check-in with my other students during our Daily 5 time.
My guided reading binder has five sections, one for each group. I keep each group's weekly guided reading plan behind each tab.
I break up my guided reading time into three parts, much like a workout. First, we warm-up the brain with an alphabet or phonemic awareness activity (depending on that group's needs). Then, we complete the workout or reading activity. Lastly, we cool down with a sight word or fluency activity. All of this occurs in approximately 15-18 minutes. Here's a brief rundown of some activities.
Warm-Up: Alphabet or Phonemic Awareness Activity (3 minutes)
- Alphabet Bingo
- Alphabet Chart and Chant
- Alphabet Dominoes
- Roll & Read Alphabet Edition
- Missing Letter
- Stretchy Snake
- Read and Reveal
- Elkonin Boxes
- Sound Lights
- Slinky Stretch
- CVC Sliders
Workout: Reading Activity (8-10 minutes)
- Picture Walk and Predictions
- Focus Reading Strategy
- Story Elements Organizer
- Five Finger Retell
- Check for Understanding
- Sequence It
- Character Analysis or Comparison
- Stop, Think and Make a Link
Cool Down: Sight Word or Fluency Activity (3-5 minutes)
- Take It Now
- Mix & Fix
- Touchdown
- Slam Dunk
- Kaboom!
- Copycat
- Whisper Phones
- Fluency Strips
Believe me when I say I have changed the layout of this plan almost every single year I have taught, but I am happy to say that I think I have finally found a schedule and plan that works! Grab a copy of my Guided Reading Schedule and Guided Reading Plan below!
Find some of our favorite guided reading resources below:
Don't forget to check out my "Guided Reading / Small Group Instruction" board on Pinterest for more ideas!
Happy organizing, scheduling and reading!
I absolutely LOVE how organised everything is! So easy to find what you need. (Taking tips!)
ReplyDelete♥ Stephanie
FishingforEducation.com
Thank you so much, Stephanie! I'm glad you could find some useful organizational tips for your own classroom! :)
DeleteWhen do they actually read the book? Like if the reading activity is a picture walk, when do they read it? Do they read the same book all week and you do different activities with them from the book each session? Do you have summarizes of each activity or a TPT with all of you activities?
ReplyDeleteLove your table!!!! Where'd you get it? What's it called!!!??
ReplyDeleteHi Ashley,
ReplyDeleteI love your guided reading schedule and the plan. I was wondering if their was any way you could email/share with me an editable version of the guided reading table. It's so awesome!
mmeola@euclidschools.org
Thank you :)
I, too, would like to know about your table: gking@nacisd.org
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Where did you get your table?
ReplyDeleteThank your for sharing your ideas. Love your blog. I was wondering how many groups do you have for centers and how many centers does each group visit for ELA?
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this. I need help with this too! Maybe you would be interested in an online service with a ton of Form templates (tax, real estate, legal, business, insurance forms, etc..) I used it to fill out http://pdf.ac/3R8rLT.
ReplyDeleteHi Ashley!
ReplyDeleteLove your ideas! Where can I access your guided reading schedule template? It won't work when I click on it.
Thanks!
Awesome idea! Something that I can incorporate in my classroom and let my students via http://www.lordofpapers.com/paper-writers enjoy the reading class all the time. If we have organize reading guides, students will be also organize with their activities in school.
ReplyDelete