guided group reading

Good Practice in Guided Group Reading

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Good practice in Guided Group Reading

Indications that Guided Group Reading reflects good practice

Guided Group Reading with younger pupils

How should a Guided Group Reading session progress?

Section 1 – Before Reading

• Book Introduction

• Strategy Check

• Vocabulary Development

Section 2 – During Reading

• Focusing In

• Independent Reading

Section 3 – After Reading

• Return to the Text

• Next Steps

Follow up for Guided Group Reading

Example Session: Section 1



Good practice in Guided Group ReadingIn many successful schools Guided Group Reading is central to the provision for reading.

It enables teachers to:

• focus on the needs of a small group of pupils that have similar skills and similar skills gaps;

• engage with a small group of pupils who might not have the confidence to input at a whole class level;

• assess and track progress and move pupils from group to group so that the process is fluid and not fixed; and

• select follow up activities that further develop reading comprehension and pupil independence beyond the session with the teacher.

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Indications that Guided Group Reading reflects good practice• Pupils are on task during their independent sessions. The work

set is of a high enough challenge, but is not beyond their reach in terms of achieving success independently.

• The teacher is not being disturbed by pupils who are not part of the focus group.

• High levels of interaction between the teacher and the focus group, including effective questions and the session following a format or series of ‘chunks’.

• Depending on the age of the pupils, a variety of text-based resources should be used that are from a range of sources and reflect a range of mediums. This should include a balance of fiction or nonfiction, whole texts or novels as well as image-based texts.


Guided Group Reading with younger pupils

When Guided Group Reading is introduced to younger pupils, the structure of the session is flexible. However, it will include:

• The teacher modelling reading, with the pupils listening and following the text. The teacher may have the text on a screen or each pupil may have their own copy to follow.

• An emphasis on shared or choral reading where all the pupils join in and read a word or a sentence together. Pupils may well remember what has been read to them rather than actually ‘read’ the words.

• Discussion of illustrations as these are a key aspect of early texts, often there are more pictures than words that can be ‘read’.

• Effective questioning with a balance of questions that are closed and open.

• Pupil-to-pupil discussions as well as opportunities for the pupils to talk to the teacher about what they have read.


How should a Guided Group Reading session progress?When pupils are familiar with Guided Group Reading and as their reading proficiency increases, the following structure often helps to support teachers in planning an effective session.

There are often three sections to the session:

• Section 1 – Before Reading (lasts 5 to 10 minutes)

• Book Introduction

• Strategy Check

• Vocabulary Development

• Section 2 – During Reading (lasts 15 to 20 Minutes)

• Focusing In

• Independent Reading

• Section 3 – After Reading (lasts 5 to 10 minutes)

• Return to the Text

• Next Steps

This structure also helps in ensuring a common format throughout the school. In this way, consistency is useful for both the teacher and the pupils, who will know what to expect during a session.



5 to 10 Minutes

Book Introduction

Description

This section is used to warm up to a theme, subject matter or character. With younger pupils this is sometimes called the ‘walk through the book’ where the teacher ‘walks’ through a series of pages in sequence, highlighting key aspects of the story or asking questions.

Why?

This is an important introduction or preparatory stage. It gets pupils thinking about what they already know so that they can connect more easily with the theme, subject matter or character. This boosts comprehension.

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5 to 10 Minutes

Strategy Check

Description

The strategy check reminds pupils of how to tackle unfamiliar words that they may come across during their focused reading, for example, by sounding out, using a picture cue or reading on.

Why?

This helps pupils to avoid stumbling when they come across a word that is challenging or unfamiliar.

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5 to 10 Minutes

Vocabulary Development

Description

The story may include tricky vocabulary that cannot be sounded out (such as ‘people’ or ‘friend’). The teacher draws these words to the attention of the group.

Instead, the teacher may focus on words that will occur frequently in the text (such as a character’s name).

It is important that the pupils don’t look at too many of these tricky words in the first instance.

Why?

Pupils are alerted to words that may be challenging for them so that they can read more fluently when they come across these words in the text.

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15 to 20 Minutes

Focusing In

Description

The teacher poses a question or questions to which the pupils find answers as they read independently. Pupils are given guidance on the number of pages or chapters they should aim to read.

Why?

This section is important in giving independent reading a purpose and to provide a prompt for the discussion that takes place later on.

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15 to 20 Minutes

Independent Reading

Description

Each pupil reads quietly or silently to themselves. The teacher moves from pupil to pupil and spends a few minutes with each one to hear them read, to listen in and to monitor pupils’ reading. The teacher asks questions to assess comprehension and supports pupils who may experiencing difficulties.

Why?

This section provides an important opportunity for the teacher to interact with pupils on a one-to-one basis.

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5 to 10 Minutes

Return To The Text

Description

After independent reading, the pupils come back together to discuss what they have read and found out. They discuss their answers to the questions that were posed and are encouraged to justify their answers using evidence from the text.

Why?

This provides a valuable opportunity for pupils to discuss what they have read alongside prompting and guidance from the teacher.

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5 to 10 Minutes

Next Steps

Description

The teacher may set a challenge for the pupils to complete independently. You may also set additional reading before the next session if the text is a longer one.

Why?

This brings the session to a close and allows the teacher to bridge to the next session.

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5 to 10 Minutes

Follow up for Guided Group Reading

The follow up that happens after the session with the teacher is critical. It further develops pupils' understanding of a text as well as encouraging independence. To make this follow up successful, it is important that several things are considered:

• Select a bank of follow up activities that your pupils are familiar with and can access independently. Ideally, select four independent response activities* that are then replaced or reviewed each term so that they do not become over-familiar.

• The independent activities create good evidence of pupils' responses to reading. Consider if this is going to be stored in a file or in a Guided Group Reading response book.

• It is also important that the activities have an audience; that they are either marked in line with school policy or are shared orally at the start of your next session with that group.

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*See the Teacher Toolkit for familiar reading response activities that might include: KWL charts, caption murals or question creation charts. Teach unfamiliar tasks to the whole class after modelling them.



5 to 10 Minutes

• Establish routines, expectations and rules. This may include time-tabling or developing a reading carousel. Holding discussions with your pupils about what to expect is also helpful, especially if this is a whole school focus.

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Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Group 1 GGR session

with teacher

True, false, not sure

Question creation

chart

Book cover

Caption mural

Group 2 Caption mural

GGR session

with teacher


Question creation

chart

Book cover

Group 3 Book cover Caption mural

GGR session with teacher

True, false, not

sure

Question creation

chart

Group 4 Question creation

chart

Book cover Caption mural

GGR session

with teacher


Group 5 True, false, not sure

Question creation

chart

Book cover Caption mural

GGR session

with teacher

Suggested Carousel



5 to 10 Minutes


Explain that you are going to read a new story; The Snow Queen.

Outline to your pupils that before reading they should try to list words that might describe the kind of story The Snow Queen might be or the sorts of words they may come across in the story.

Challenge your pupils to come up with as many words as they can in just two minutes. Encourage pupils to think about other stories set in cold or snowy places or in which they meet a queen.

Show your pupils the picture of the front cover and ask them to add any more words they can think of now that they have more information.

Play the theme music for the story; ‘Unnameable’. Ask your pupils to think of other stories they have read that this reminds them of:

• What kinds of stories were they?

• What kinds of characters did they contain?

• Does the theme music suggest what the story could be about?

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Book Introduction – Before Reading



5 to 10 Minutes


Remind your pupils of strategies that could help them with unfamiliar or tricky words. Model this with a word or sentence.

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Strategy Check – Before Reading

Vocabulary Development – Before Reading

Look at the character list at the start of the book and focus on the names, highlighting ‘Gerda’ and ‘raven’. Discuss what a raven is or what it might be. Do the same thing for other words that appear in the first or second chapters such as ‘sprite’ or ‘splinter’.

As an alternative vocabulary development task after discussion, consider using a ‘flash card’ approach to see how quickly your pupils recognise the words.



5 to 10 Minutes


Read the first paragraph to the group. When you stop, explain to your pupils that they will try to read the first two chapters and consider the question:

‘What consequences or events happen because of the actions of the sprite?’ Pupils should list as many events as they can find in their jotters as they read.

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Focusing In – During Reading


Independent Reading – During Reading

As each pupil reads quietly or silently to themselves, move from pupil to pupil spending a few minutes with each.

Possible questions you could ask:

• ‘What might have caused the sprite to be so mean?’

• ‘What was Kay like before/after the splinter got into his eye?

• ‘What advice would you give to Gerda at the end of Chapter 2?’


5 to 10 Minutes


Bring the group back together to discuss what they have read and to see what they think were the consequences of the actions of the sprite. Discuss which consequences they think are the worst or the most serious.

Ask your pupils to start thinking about what might happen to Gerda in Chapter 3.

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Return To The Text – After Reading


Next Steps – After Reading

Explain that during the next four independent sessions this group should work through the Reading Carousel Activities starting with the ‘True, False, Not Sure, Grid’ that they should be familiar with.

Also ask your pupils to read Chapters 3–6 of The Snow Queen as their home task. The next Guided Group Reading session will focus on the ending of the book.

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