Guided Reading

[Tinkerisdead]

Can anyone please advise me?

My dd is 5 in reception. She reads quite well but I'm not entirely sure whether her reading is being "nurtured" at school and whether I should be asking questions, going with the flow or kicking up a fuss.

At starting school her confidence was extremely low and she wouldn't speak up, her teacher "had no idea she could read but suspected as such as she spells so well". After the first parents evening where we discussed the books she's reading at home, the teacher explained they only do guided reading and no 1:1 reading at all with a teacher/parent helper etc. the teacher made an exception due to the confidence issues, heard dd read and sent a note home agreeing she had levelled her incorrectly at pink reading level and was putting her on green.

That was in October, she reads all her green level books at 99-100% accuracy stumbling on words such as sphinx or Egypt for example. The reading record states that they haven't moved her up because of this, that there are still words she doesn't know. I carry on reading with her at home regardless as I'm not au fiat with the reading levels and her confidence issues were more of an issue.

This week dd mentioned that in her reading group, as all the other children are on yellow(?) she is told to read in her head during the session so that they can all learn their words. She says she doesn't read anything aloud.

I have absolutely nothing to compare this to and indeed I'm not entirely certain how guided reading really happens. Is it turn taking or all reading in unison? Dd has to get her books herself from the library as she doesn't have a book box at her level in the class so I'm not certain if she is assessed before she chooses.

Is this all "okay" as I say I read a lot with her at home and she reads to me a book a night but I'm wondering whether she should be getting more from guided reading if it's their only formal reading session. I wanted to be prepared before parents evening next month.

At our school the TA and teacher both read with individual pupils about once a month. Parents in school read weekly one one to one. Parents also read at home. Slowly group reading is introduced in reception and it takes over. Parents still read with the kids in school but teachers and TA read less individually.

I really wouldn't worry if you are doing lots at home. Your DD is reading aloud to you and she will be getting lots out of it. If you feel she could cope with the next stage up, look at reading owls online. My DS has been reading Biff Chip using online books.

I second the ORT reading owls on line if for no other reason than to get a better idea of what level she can manage. I say this because as I understand it (I could be wrong) reading in your head doesn't usually occur until the purple to white levels.

If she can read a text and be getting no more than 1 in 10 words wrong then that should be the right level for decoding but you also need to check her understanding of the story too. You can search for the plentiful info on how to support your child at different book bands to ensure you work with her on all of the necessary comprehension skills.

Of course you could try getting the school to differentiate for her but nothing you've said indicates this as a likely outcome!

At home i have ORT books

She reads at home at band orange level 6, getting maybe two words in a book wrong or having to stop to sound out. The rest she reads by sight.

Im totally confident that im encouraging her at home but what questions should I be asking of the school. Her reading group are all reading two levels below her(ive seen the book boxes with the kids names attached) so as it is it doesnt look like dd is being listened to or evaluated. She joins the reading group but reads in her head. When it comes to changing books she can select what dhe likes from the green band in the library.

Should i be asking for more from the school or do i carry on just working with her at home and let her coast in the classroom? Im not sure whats expected really. None of the classes have any individual reading its all guided reading throughout the school.

Oh i should add that i try to get her to prempt what might happen, retell the stories etc but im not sure how else i can work at comprehension. Shes def mastered decoding so ive got her audio books to see if she can retell a story etc. shes also started picking up intonation like exclaiming where she sees an exclamation mark or changing intonation for a question.

Guided reading in our school consists of a group of children all reading a text at the same time, but only one child is actually reading out loud IYSWIM. They discuss the text/story together.
It seems very strange to be in a group where she would be reading a different text in her head, and presumably therefore not really participating properly in a guided reading session. In our school, they would be moved to a class which had a group reading at an appropriate level (so discussion at the right level not just the text).

This doesn't sound great, tbh. She should be doing Guided Reading at a level above her "normal" reading level, and certainly not at levels below. This is because the GR sessions are designed to stretch the children, whereas reading at home is more to do with consolidation of skills and encouraging the child to enjoy reading.

Guided Reading should include some group level work on reading strategies/what they may or may not expect to happen in the book based on the title and cover/possibly a discussion of a particular sound (eg "ay"). The teacher should then listen to each child read in turn (while the others are reading in their heads) and ask them questions about the book. There should then be a group conclusion where they discuss whatever the objective was and what the group is going to do for a follow-up activity.

Sorry if that is all really obvious to you - but I thought it sounded like you might appreciate an overview of "what Guided Reading is". If your dd is really not ever being heard, especially in these sessions, I think that needs querying with the school. I would also be concerned that the sessions specifically designed to stretch her are aimed below her reading band. Is there a group she could move up to?

Also - stumbling over words like "Egypt" is not a reason to keep a child down a level. Anyone would recognise this is a tricky word. Reasons for keeping a child back a while involve decoding being good but comprehension not strong, inability to recall story or discuss characters' actions, being unable to make basic predictions and so on.

Sorry for the essay - hope it makes some sense!

DD is in yr1 and a "free reader" (whatever one of those is!) but does guided reading at stage 7 (ie quite a bit below where she is) but the teacher extends her perfectly and asks harder questions to DD and gets her thinking about the words used and thinking of alternative words etc.

Guided reading sessions (in my DC school) is rarely recorded in their reading diaries but internally for the teacher.

I guess I would be asking if there was a higher guided reading group (there isn't in DD's case hence stage 7) and if there is anything you can help her with.

Ideas that helped DD with reading (I used easier books to do it): talking about what a question is, how she knows its a question (not just the question mark) ie that it starts with "why, where, how, who" etc and what information is being asked. Asking her to think of replacement words for things ie how could you make that sentence more exciting? Another word for "said" when its in a sentence but getting her to look at what is being said so for example "Oh no!" said Floppy is more likely to be "Oh no!" cried/sobbed/moaned Floppy than "Oh no!" smiled/grinned Floppy iyswim because it has the word "no" in the sentence which tells you the character is not happy.

Two words per book is, imo, reading at independent rather than instructional level. At orange I'd think more like one or, as you move up the levels, two words a page at least. It's surprising how quickly the words add up to 100. If they are at the 90% point then that's 10 new / more challenging words / vocab / new spelling/sound correspondances learnt for every 100 read.

However I would strongly recommend adding other scheme books into the mix (reading chest?), especially if she has a predominantly ORT diet as their scheme is very key word based and can give a misleading view. Also make sure you're adding non-fiction and discuss the different text layouts, their purpose, contents page, glossary etc. Also poetry and plays are excellent for broadening exposure to text types.

I can't remember reading a post where someone has successfully changed the way a school does things, although that's not to say it doesn't happen. On MN you get to hear how differently schools do things, but making changes at parents behest (however well reasoned or evidenced), not so much!

Wow. I'm so grateful for such comprehensive responses. Thats given me absolutely loads to go on. And yes i really did need that description of guided reading as I had no idea what it entailed.

I would assume that to go guided reading at a higher level it would involve joining another class. Back in October she wouldnt read aloud in any group setting and as they only do group sessions they assumed she couldnt read. I was grateful to her teacher who took her off alone and concurred yes she is reading at more of a yr1 level. I would imagine they are loathe to send her to a new group if her confidence is an issue. But these are the discussions i now feel a bit more equipped to deal with.