In my humble opinion, planning for guided reading can NEVER start too early. I have been making my guided reading plans all year. I didn't really know where to start last year, and so I took copious amounts of notes {in about 7 different notebooks, on sticky notes, on Evernote on my iPad, on random piece of paper, in the Notes app on my phone, oh.em.gee.}. It was a hot mess.
But now, it's beautiful, organized and ready to use. And I want to share it with you! Just a few disclaimers:
- I fully recognize that this plan probably won't work for you 100%. It is meant to be a GUIDE to get you started on getting your own guided reading plans together. I ALWAYS love to look at other teachers' plans. It helps me SO much to know other ways to organize thoughts, lessons, and activities. So that is exactly what this is meant for, which is why it's FREE! Hooray!
- In no way, shape, or form was I asked to do this by any of the teacher authors that are mentioned in this guide. I made this guide because I ACTUALLY use these chicks' products, I love them, and it's just the way I do it. I am sharing this with you in hopes that you will get some good ideas and maybe even be introduced to these fantastic teachers and their blogs and TpT stores. {Plus, REALLY? Who in the world would pay ME to blog about their products? LOL!!}
- This is purely to help someone out there that is as lost as I was to get started on their guided reading group planning. It is a simple guide, nothing fancy, not a step-by-step, set in stone unit by any means. It is just for HELP. It's a starting point. It's a guide for guided reading! That's all!
I know that planning for guided reading can be a challenge. I know that it is overwhelming. But, you can easily plan for your guided reading groups by just having simple, quick activities lined up for the year that don't take a lot of time to plan or prep. The bottom line is that we want students to start READING and as long as you're doing something with them as many days as a week as you can {for some this is everyday, for me it's 2-3 days a week}, then you're doing it right. That's it! Add your leveled readers and you're amazing. YOU ARE!
There are a few things that I absolutely cannot. live. without. in my small groups. They are listed below, but if you can't buy these things because of budget issues, trust me when I say that I understand! Use what you have. Make your own flash cards out of index cards. Find objects that you can use in place of beginning sound cards. Do what you have to do in order to make guided reading work for your kiddos.
A. Alphabet Flash Cards and Alphabet Charts
You can get the flash cards here and the alphabet charts {for free} here.
B. Sound Sorts
We use these all the time. ALLLLLLL the time. They come from Deedee Wills.
C. Sight Word Games
There are a million bazillion sight word activities and games out there. I tend to steer clear of the activities that have a single full sheet for one word -- I try to find different things such as sight word flash cards so that I can play different games with my kiddos. You can MAKE your own flash cards by just typing it up in word with a kindergarten-friendly font {I LOVE KG Primary Penmanship -- it is my absolute favorite}, print on fun-colored cardstock and there you go. I have a few cheapie activities in my shop, too. The ones listed above are just a few of my collection and they are all mentioned in the free guide that you can download at the end of this post.
D. Fun, Quick & Easy Phonemic Awareness Activities
These activities require little to no materials or prep and they are perfect for small group warm-up or just quick practice if you're short on time. These were a part of the Guiding Readers series that I absolutely adore and am SO glad I found!! They are also great for whole-group review.
E Writing Tools
We love smelly markers in my classroom. Also, glitter markers, glitter crayons, twistable crayons, dry erase markers {YOU CAN WRITE ON YOUR TABLE IF YOU DON'T HAVE WHITEBOARDS!!! FOR REAL!}, pens - they go bananas over pens, it's crazy! -- and just regular ole' pencils. These make it fun to write! And you can have them practice writing anything. Letters. Their names. Vowels. Consonants. Beginning sounds. Then keep going as your kiddos progress throughout the year.
F. Leveled Readers
You already have these. {I hope.}
It doesn't have to be complicated. Just relax and know that you are doing it right if you are meeting with your kids.
More to come on guided reading as the summer moves forward, but I hope this gives at least someone a starting point! NOBODY PANIC! It's going to be ok! {...said Mrs. Brown to herself......}
Click here to download the aforementioned guide that I am so glad to finally be done with I am so happy to have! Labels: Guided Reading
