Guided Reading

"The ultimate goal of guided reading is to help children learn how to use independent reading strategies successfully."

Fountas and Su Pinnell, 1996

Guided reading is a major part of a balanced literacy program in our classroom.  During guided reading, students read as the teacher guides them through the story.  I pause to ask questions and prompt readers to use multiple reading strategies to decode words and comprehend the text.  Great discussions arise from our guided reading sessions as students learn to make connections to the text, predict what will happen and ask questions as they read, visualize events happening in the story, make inferences, and respond to stories in their reading response journals. It is also a time for the teacher to observe whether or not students are using the reading strategies taught during shared reading and teacher read-alouds.