Guided reading in year 3?

[starpatch]

I'm having a wobble about having chosen the worst performing school available (they have a broad curriculum which I liked). One of they things is they do guided reading even though it is year 3. Isn't this a bit odd? DS has been silent reading for two years. I'm worrying the school won't stretch him enough. He has been there a week as we moved area. The teachers do seem lovely.

Guided reading can be done effectively right through primary. I've found the more able readers really enjoy being able to a dissect and discuss a book in a small guided group.
Not all schools do guided reading these days, but personally I think it's an excellent way of extending good readers.

Guided reading usually means that a small group read a text to/with an adult. It is usually at their own ability or slightly above. They then make predictions/discuss plot etc. It was the norm in schools for ages and a way of hearing every child read over the course of the week. Some schools have whole class reading instead now, where children all share the same text, usually pitched quite highly.

My 8yo is a prolific reader, and still does guided reading. It's fun and a great way to check comprehension, and prompt critical thinking.

Sometimes at home I'll get her to read to me a chapter of her current book and then discuss it and the language used. It really gets her thi king outside the box.

A lot of schools teach whole class reading lessons now. Look at Mrs P Teach's blog on the subject. It's a far more effective way of teaching the skills needed for the reading comprehension part of the curriculum.

My ten year olds class still do group reading. It's a good way to check that they understand the story as well as just the actual words.

One thing they do that she enjoys is they each have a different job each week. So one person is the metaphor collector, another is the story summariser, etc.!

Thanks I really appreciate the reassurance.

I used to do Guide Reading with YR6.
Being able to read the words isn't everything. The Yr6 loved their time as we chose unusual short stories were inference was needed.

Year 3 should be doing Guided Reading. It also introduces children to author they may not chose.

Guided reading is far more than reading aloud OP. It's the discussion & comprehension skills that end up leading directly into English Literature skills. It's a very important part of their learning

I did guided reading with Y6 today, totally normal.

It's common for schools to do guided reading right through to year six. The school I work in has only recently started doing whole class reading/comprehension sessions instead which seems to be the new 'thing', where they all have a copy of the text exert and read it together and then answer the questions as a class. I'm not convinced personally that it is effective for the less able readers as they just seem to get carried by the more able because some of them can't read and process at that speed!