Guided Reading

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What Is Guided Reading?

Guided reading is an instructional approach that involves a teacher working with a small group of students who demonstrate similar reading behaviors and can read similar levels of texts. The text is easy enough for students to read with a teacher's skillful support; it offers challenges and opportunities for problem solving, but is easy enough for students to read with some fluency. Teachers choose selections that help students expand their strategies.

What Is the Purpose of Guided Reading?

Teachers select books that students can read with about 90 to 94 percent accuracy. Students can understand and enjoy the story because it's accessible to them through their own strategies, supported by our introduction.

They focus on meaning but also use problem-solving strategies to figure out words they don't know, deal with difficult sentence structure, and understand concepts or ideas they have never before encountered in print.

Why Is Guided Reading Important?

Guided reading gives students the chance to apply the strategies they already know to new text. We provide support, but the ultimate goal is independent reading.

When Are Children Ready for Guided Reading?

Developing readers have already gained important understandings about how print works. These students know how to monitor their own reading. They have the ability to check on themselves or search for possibilities and alternatives if they encounter a problem when reading. For these readers, the guided reading experience is a powerful way to support the development of reading strategies.

The ultimate goal of guided reading is being able to read a variety of texts with ease and deep understanding. At all levels, students read orally with fluency and phrasing.

(Source: What Is Guided Reading: Scholastic.com)