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Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Book Review -- The Next Step in Guided Reading



This month I read, The Next Step in Guided Reading, by Jan Richardson.  It was a very detailed book with lots of great ideas for reading teacher of all levels. 

As a teacher returning to first grade I was looking for how to take my reading groups to the next level.  Jan definitely answered that in her book. 

She had some good reminders for me:
Everyday every lesson should have:
1.      Daily Read Aloud
2.    Shared Reading
3.    Guided Reading
4.    Self Selected Reading


Things I want to remember:
  • ·      Instead of ringing that loud bell….use cell phone timer to signal clean up.  Quieter/gentle reminder…will encourage room to be quieter.
  • ·      Spend Week 1 -4 Establishing Guidelines and Routines
  • ·      What happens when someone leaves a mess?
  • ·      Create Book Bags for the children
  • ·      Create “I’m Done” Poster
  • ·      Create Discovery Tubs for students who have completed all work
  • ·      Set up Routines for Bathroom, Finish Work, Unfinished Pockets, Expert Helpers to control interruptions during guided reading
  • ·      Gallon Size Bags for Book Bags for students



The Reading Journal
Jan Richardson has lots of amazing ideas for journal responses based on grade level.  I am going to start with having the children  keep a log of what they read in and out of the classroom each week. 

Once a week in their journal the children will write me a letter about one of the books.  The shape and content of the letters will change as the year goes on.  I will model during shared reading my expectations for this letter.  At the beginning of the year we will start simple with how to write a letter.  As the year goes on possible mini lesson ideas:
·      using post its to mark something that is interesting
·      reusing your post it
·      A Connection you made with the book to your own life
·      Something that surprised you in the book
·      an interesting fact
·      favorite character -- Because
·      how the main character changes in the story
·      compare two characters in the story
·      compare yourself to the character in the story
·      compare this book to another book
·      illustrate your favorite part of the book and describe what is happening
·      Tell me three reasons why this book is interesting or why  do you liked it
·      Tell me something that puzzled you in the story
·      what lesson was the author trying to teach in the story
·      What are some amazing words you found in the story and what do they mean
·      What are three important facts from the story.
·      What is the main idea
·      The Five Finger Retell
Character/Setting/Problem/Events/Ending



Jan Richardson also writes about teaching young children to ask questions as they read.  I think this is a great skill in general.  How many times do you have a visitor in your classroom and the visitor says, “Does anyone have a question?”  And one of your little ones tells a story about his dog. 

She has three levels of questions:
The Green Level
The questions that are asked and the answers can be found in one place in the book.
Who, What, Where, When, Why, How

The Yellow Level
The questions asked have their answers in the text and must you must read several paragraphs maybe even pages and compare and contrast. 

How are __________ and _____________ alike
How are ___________ and _____________ different
What caused ________________

The Red Level
The answers to these questions are not found in the text you need to draw from your personal experiences and background knowledge to answer.
I wonder why…………
Why would…………
How would
What if
What would happen if


Ok stay with me I know this is getting long however the most important part of the book is at the end.  I am all about teaching vocabulary this year.  I read that in Teaching Like a Champion.  So at the very end of the book Jan Richardson writes about the differences between the characters feelings and the characters traits.  Something a first grader will know nothing about.  However it is something that I can definitely teach.

TRAIT can be a vocabulary word---A trait describes what a person/character is like on the inside. 

Now you are ready to teach different traits as vocabulary words.  She recommends finding books to go with each trait. 

Here is what I have come up with this morning for my school year:
Week
Book
Trait
1
Chrysanthemum
K. Henkes
START with Feelings
2
Mo Willems Books
More Feelings
3
Oh No George
C. Haughton
irresponsible
4
Junie B. Jones
B. Parks
impatient
5
One Smile
C. McKinley
grateful
6
The Kindness Quilt
N. Wallace
kindness
7
1492  -- Christopher Columbus
confident
8
There’Something In My Attic
M. Meyer

Stellaluna
j.  Cannon
brave



clumsy
9
Where The Wild Things Are
M. Sendick
Mischievous
10
The Littlest Owl
C. Haughton
helpful
11
Leo Late Bloomer
R. Kraus
patient
12
The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush
T. dePaola
faithful
13
A Color of His Own
cheerful
14
Me First
pushy
15
The Gingerbread Baby
J. Brett
arrogant
16
The stable Were Jesus Was Born
humble
17
Tacky the Penguin
H. Lester
odd
18
Dr. Martin Luther King
peaceful
19
The Little Red Hen

selfish
20
The Little Yellow Chicken
J. Cowley
clever
21
Abraham Lincoln
honest
22
Plant A Kiss
A. Rosenthal
considerate
23
Curious George
H. Reyes
curious
24
Ordinary Mary;s
Extraordinary Deed
E. Pearson
ordinary
25
Where Does Love Come From
M. kirkova

Love You When
L. Kranz
loveable
26
How To  Lose All Your Friends
N. Carlson
gloomy
27
Olivia
confident
28
I Love It When You Smile
S. McBratney
grumpy
29
The Story and Life of Jesus
 Review Traits
30
Owl Babies
M. Waddell
thoughtful
31
Kindness Is Cooler
Mrs. Ruler
M. Cuyler
inconsiderate
32
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble W. Steig
miserable
33
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
J. Scieszka
calm
34
Gregory, the Terrible Eater
M. Sharmat
fussy
35
Ira Sleeps Over
B. Waber
cautious
36
Harold and the Purple Crayon
C. Johnson
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Thanks for sticking with me.  I hope you can tell from my long post that this book is well worth your time and investment.  It has lots of good suggestions for grades 2 and above as well.  
Happy Reading. :)



1 comment:

  1. I love your list of books! Thanks for sharing it and all of the awesome ideas from the book.
    Alyce

    Mrs. Bartel’s School Family

    ReplyDelete