Tips for Guided Reading in Kindergarten

Hello!  I'm Hannah from 21st Century K and this month I'm sharing a couple of pointers about guided reading groups.

Reading and writing have always been my favorites!  At the end of a school day I feel most successful when we have had focused time in flexible guided reading groups, quality core reading experiences, and productive writing sessions.  With five years as a first grade teacher and five years as a reading intervention teacher under my belt I came amply prepared to teach Kindergarten reading.  I quickly developed a daily schedule that involved guided reading groups with my assistant, skills-specific reading groups with myself, and time for word work and/or independent reading for my students.  When my students' needs necessitate it, I have also found a way to provide independent or small group book studies for my well above average readers.  Here is my daily schedule:

Time	Group 1  Below Average 4 students	Group 2 Low Average 4 students	Group 3 Mid Average 4 students	Group 4 High Average 7 students	Group 5 Above Average 5 students
9:00-9:15 a.m.	Independent Practice	Guided Reading w/ Assistant	Independent Practice	Skill Group w/ Teacher	Chapter Book Study Group
9:15-9:30 a.m.	Independent Reading	Skill Group w/ Teacher	Guided Reading w/ Assistant	Independent Practice	Chapter Book Study Group
9:30-9:45 a.m.	Skill Group w/ Teacher	Independent Practice	Independent Reading	Guided Reading w/ Assistant	Independent Reading
9:45-10:00 a.m.	Guided Reading w/ Assistant	Independent Reading	Skill Group w/ Teacher	Independent Reading	Accelerated Reader

I felt confident in my abilities to plan for reading instruction, but I wasn't always successful at the execution.  Groups easily ran long, ended too soon, left students with idle time, or were otherwise inappropriate causing behavior issues or wasted instructional time.It was with great anticipation that I participated in a book study over Boushay and Moser's (or the 2 Sisters') The Daily Five last summer.  I LOVE the "3 Ways to Read" concept and designed a well-coordinated poster set for my classroom and taught the concepts within the first two days of school.  For the first time I do NOT hear students say that they cannot read, because they understand there are different ways to read and they BELIEVE they CAN!   To provide my young students access to appropriately-leveled books for read-to-self times, every 2 weeks we have a "book swap" during reading groups.  I display all the books for a particular reading group and students choose which titles they would like to add to their collections.  Book selections are kept in students' chair pouches... an investment I made with school funds this year that was SO worth the money!

Check out my awesome chair pouches at School Specialty!

Additionally, I designed a PowerPoint to help my time management and organization.  Each slide shows which students participate in which activity during every rotation.  These slides are set to change with a chime after twelve minutes.  Alternating slides provide time for transition between activities and change with a drum roll after one minute.  Playing the PowerPoint on the Smart Board helps me stay on track with time without posting a timer by which students could be distracted.  It has been a wonderful addition to our daily reader's workshop!

Check out my poster set at TPT for FREE!

You can try out the completely editable PowerPoint FREE on TPT!

If you want to know more about The Daily Five visit the 2 Sisters' website at http://www.thedailycafe.com/.