guided reading group lessons suggestions · guided reading group lessons suggestions . prek/early...

Guided Reading Group Lessons Suggestions

PreK/Early Kinder Pre Level A

Text Features

Phonological Awareness

Phonemic Awareness

Concepts About Print

Letter ID

Oral Language

DRA Level: A • Single idea or simple story

• Text and pictures closely relate

• Familiar topics • Natural language

structure • Consistent

placement of print • Repetitive text • One line of text

• Rhyming • Sentence

segmenting • Syllable blending

and segmenting • Onset-rime:

blending and segmenting

• Phoneme segmenting and blending

• Phoneme substitution and manipulation

• Left-to-right movement

• Return sweep • Print matching • Paying attention to

print (print carries a message)

• Letter sounds • Letter names • Letter formation

• Is easily understood

• Speaks in expanding sentences

• Connects ideas • Expands oral

vocabulary

Kinder Levels A & B

Text Features

Concepts About Print Phonemic Awareness

Phonics

Vocabulary

Comprehension

DRA Levels: A, 1-2

• Single idea or simple story

• Text and pictures closely relate

• Familiar topics • Natural language

structure • Consistent

placement of print • Repetitive text

• Left-to-right movement

• Return sweep • 1:1 matching • Pays attention to

print • Begins to self-

correct 1:1 matching



• Starts to use beginning consonant sounds

• May start to use ending consonants, too

• Remembers and uses language patterns

• Acquires sight words

• Predicts words that might be in the book

• Uses pictures to check on words

• Makes connections

© Houston ISD Curriculum 2014 – 2015

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Kinder/Early First Grade

Level C

Text Features

Concepts About Print

Phonemic Awareness

Phonics

Vocabulary

Comprehension DRA Level: 3 • Simple story

• Familiar topics to children

• Longer than levels A and B

• More of the story carried by text, but pictures important

• Full range of punctuation

• More variation in language patterns

• Has left to right and return sweep

• Controls 1:1 matching, even on longer words

• Rereads to self-correct



• Decodes CVC words

• Uses beginning and ending sounds to figure out new words

• Uses known words as anchors

• Acquires high-frequency words

• Uses pictures and words to predict meaning

• Can retell • Self-corrects to

make sense

Early First Grade Level D

Text Features

Phonics

Vocabulary

Comprehension

Fluency

DRA Levels: 4-5

• Slightly more complex stories

• Easy to understand • More attention to print

required • Strong picture support • 2-6 lines of print/page • More inflectional

endings (ed, ing, and s)

• Uses consonants and blends to decode words

• Uses parts of words (chunks) to predict and check meaning

• Knows and uses most short vowels

• Is acquiring high-frequency words

• Uses vocabulary of the book for retelling

• Makes predictions and checks on them

• Uses pictures and words to predict and check meaning

• Retells • Rereads to confirm or

problem-solve

• Moves away from finger pointing

• Learning to read in phrases when rereading


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Kinder/Early 1st Grade

Level E

Text Features

Phonics

Vocabulary

Comprehension

Fluency DRA Levels:

6-8 • 3-8 lines of print/page • Text placement varies • More complex

vocabulary text carries story

• Requires skill in word analysis

• Decodes slightly longer words

• Uses long vowel sounds, including two-letter vowels (ay, ea, ai, etc.)

• Reads compound words

• Continues to acquire high-frequency words

• Uses new vocabulary, especially when reading nonfiction

• Makes predictions and checks on them

• Using words more than pictures

• Makes connections across texts

• Rereads to check meaning

• Retells and remembers

• Finger-points only on hard words

• Starting to read in phases

• Sounds more fluent, especially while rereading

First Grade Level F

Text Features

Phonics

Vocabulary

Comprehension

Fluency

DRA Levels: 9-10

• Slightly longer text than Level E

• Print is smaller • 3-8 lines pf text per

page • Text carries more

meaning than pictures • Literary language is

introduced • More episodes in

stories • More developed

characters

• Uses short and long vowel sounds more flexibly

• Decoding more two and three syllable words

• Begins to use vowel + r combinations

• Notices new words and figures out meanings, using the picture for support

• Learns new words especially when reading nonfiction

• Makes and checks predictions

• Using words more than pictures

• Makes connections across texts

• Rereads • Retell and remembers • Needs to infer at times

• Notices punctuation and uses for phrasing

• Beginning to use more intonation

• Moves more quickly through text


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First Grade Level G and H

Text Features

Phonics

Vocabulary

Comprehension

Fluency

DRA Levels: 12-14

• More challenging ideas and vocabulary

• 4-8 lines of text per page

• Longer sentences • Expanding content • More events in stories • In H, language and

vocabulary are more complex than in G

• Uses short and long vowel sounds more flexibly

• Learns and uses more complex vowel patterns

• Decoding more two and three syllable words

• Vowel + r work

• Pays attentions to new vocabulary while reading

• Uses new words in retelling and conversation

• Rereads to get meaning of new words

• Deeper understanding of characters

• Text-to-text connections

• Retells with more detail • Determines importance

• Pays attention to a wider variety of punctuation and uses for phrasing

• Uses more intonation and expression

• Moves more quickly through longer text

End First Grade Level I

Text Features

Phonics

Vocabulary

Comprehension

Fluency

DRA Levels: 15-16

• Variety of texts • More complex story

structures • Pictures provide low to

moderate support • Different points of view

may be found • Longer tests, more

sentences per page • Memorable characters

• Decodes most one and two syllable words easily

• Growing grasp of more complex vowel patterns (ough, eigh, au, oi, & etc.)

• Pays more attention to new words and tries to figure out their meaning

• Discovers specialized vocabulary in nonfiction

• Begins to learn how to build schema on less familiar topics

• Retells with increasing detail using graphic organizers

• Connects to characters and topics

• Reads in a more fluent, phrased way

• Uses character voices • Reads with intonation

and expression • Begins to transition to

silent reading


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Early 2nd Grade Level J-K

Text Features

Phonics

Vocabulary

Comprehension

Fluency

DRA Levels: 17-20

• About the beginning of 2nd grade

• Beginning chapter books with shorter sentences, pictures on every page and familiar vocabulary many have literary language

• Longer and more complex stories

• Familiar concepts and themes

• Variety of texts – nonfiction, folktales, realistic stories, etc.

• Decodes longer words (2-3 syllables)

• Decodes two-four vowel combinations (ou, igh, ought, etc.) more easily on longer words

• Decodes silent letters on longer words (kn, wr, gn, etc.)

• May use pronunciation guide in nonfiction

• Pays attention to new words and uses context of words and pictures to determine meaning

• Starting to read and understand idioms and figurative language

• Understands meanings of homophones and homographs

• Uses prefixes and suffixes to determine word meaning

• Moves more flexibly from fiction to nonfiction

• Summarizes and extends text

• Comprehends text read over several days

• Infers, predicts, and analyzes characters

• Uses text features to aid comprehension in nonfiction

• Processes the text more smoothly

• Reads in phrases and with expression over longer text

• Reads silently most of the time

• Solves new words on the run without detracting from meaning

Mid 2nd Grade Level L

Text Features

Phonics

Vocabulary

Comprehension

Fluency

DRA Levels: 21-24

• Longer chapter books with few pictures

• More characters in stories

• More detail and description

• Sentences end at the middle of the lines

• Simple biographies • Challenging vocabulary • Smaller print • Takes several days to

read a book

• Decodes more multisyllabic words and many words with 2-4 vowel combinations within those longer words (eigh, augh, etc.)

• Understands more difficult vocabulary

• Understands idioms and figurative language in text

• Prefixes and suffixes used to figure out word meanings

• Figures out who’s talking when reading more complex dialogue

• Deeper understanding of multiple characters

• Comprehends longer chapters

• Greater range of genre understood

• Uses text features and structures

• Sustains fluency while reading longer sentences and longer texts

• Reads more rapidly with phrasing and limited self-correcting

• Reads character voices with greater intonation


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End of 2nd Grade Level M

Text Features

Phonics

Vocabulary

Comprehension

Fluency

DRA Levels: 25-28

• Long books with lots of text per page

• Black and whites sketches or photos scattered throughout the text

• Smaller print, longer chapters

• Complex language structures and sophisticated vocabulary

• More abstract themes and concepts

• Many characters involved in more complex and expanded plots

• Decodes longer words with more complex phonics patterns

• Can decode most two-three syllable words

• Uses letter sounds flexibly and fluently (sound of c, g, and vowels, etc.)

• Understand more sophisticated vocabulary and more complex language structures

• Prefixes and suffixes used for determining meaning

• Reads and understands many new vocabulary words especially in nonfiction

• Infers, reads critically, makes deeper connections

• Asks more questions as reading

• Answers higher-level questions with increasing depth

• Reads across a wider variety of genres

• Visualizes most of the time

• Sustains fluency while reading longer sentences and longer text correcting

• Reads more rapidly with phrasing and limited self-correcting

• Reads character voices smoothly with greater intonation

• Varies reading rate depending on the type of text read


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Grade 3 Levels N, O, P

Text Features

Phonics

Vocabulary

Comprehension

Fluency

DRA Levels: 29-38

• Topics of informational text and settings for fiction go beyond personal experience

• Well developed characters

• Many technical words explained in text

• Longer biographies on lesser known people

• Multiple characters who may deal with serious problems

• Chapter books between 40-250 pages

• Full range of punctuation

• Decodes most two-four syllable words

• Uses letter sounds flexibly and fluently

• May miscue simple words (like a and the) when reading more fluently – words that don’t change the meaning

• Understands more sophisticated vocabulary and more complex language structures in longer texts

• Wider range of prefixes and suffixes used to determine meaning of new words

• Is exposed to many new words in both fiction and nonfiction and determines meaning

• Infers, reads critically, makes deeper connections

• Asks more questions as reading

• Answers higher-level questions with increasing depth

• Reads across a wider variety of genres

• Visualizes most of the time

• Sustains fluency on longer texts with more complex sentences and wider range of punctuation and text nuances

• Reads more rapidly with phrasing and limited self-correcting on longer text

• Uses intonation and expression to match mood, characters, type of text, etc.

• (interpretive reading


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