Strengths And Limitations Of Guided Reading

Guided Reading is a component of a balanced literacy program providing differentiated, small group reading instruction to four to six students with

My early reading experiences reflect the history that Vogt and Shearer (2011) describe in the first chapter of Reading Specialists and Literacy Coaches in the Real World. The basal reading programs of the 1970s and 1980s included “leveled readers, phonics activities, and a great deal of comprehension skill practice, usually found on the pages of the accompanying workbooks. The programs also included highly structured, detailed teacher’s guides, with different lesson plans for each of the three instructional groups” (Vogt & Shearer, 2011, p.13).

Classrooms are different today from those of previous generations, they have become communities of learners where students assume more responsibility for learning. As opposed to a place where the teacher is in charge the modern class room there is often a hum of students, talking about books they are reading and working together in small groups using digital as well as print text. The students are more culturally and linguistically diverse, many have English as a second language (ESL). This Critical- reflective essay will explore using the four resource model developed by Luke and Freebody, focusing on; how young children learn to read, the four roles within the resources model are Code breaker, text user, text participant and text analyst. This essay will also articulate the understanding of the three phases of reading and writing development. Phase one, experimental reading and writing. Phase two, early reading and writing and phase three, transitional reading and writing. This understanding will then be applied to an early years setting including and application of strategies for cultural differences.

As children move onto key stage one learning objectives are then aligned with 12 strands of the national primary literacy framework. [Louise Burnham, Brenda Baker,2010,pg206]

Why do pre-reading strategies that activate prior knowledge and raise interest in the subject prepare students to approach text reading in a critical frame of mind?

“The more you read, the more things you know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” This is how Dr. Seuss thought of reading, and I think of it in much the same way. Literacy is everywhere and influences us every day, therefore, it plays a major part in each of our lives. I believe that reading is an interactive activity in which learning happens, or as Clay (2001) defines it, “…a message-getting, problem-solving activity” (p. 1). Reading is the process through which one reads information and from doing so, constructs meaning about the material. The more exposure and practice one has with reading, the more knowledge one gains. In this paper, I will begin by discussing my own personal educational philosophy, then continue by stating and explaining four of my beliefs about the reading process and the research that is found to support each of them before sharing the remaining questions I have about literacy. I am an existentialist, and a strong supporter of a balanced literacy approach. My beliefs about literacy come from these foundations and perspectives that I embrace. For students to be successful in their literacy development, I believe that identity acceptance in the classroom is crucial, instruction for all students must be differentiated, direct and explicit instruction is at times necessary, and vocabulary is a significant component in the ‘Big Five’ of children’s literacy development.

Learning to read and write as a child is an experience that all can relate to. The average child learns to read and write at the early ages of three and four. Developing literacy at an early age is crucial to academic development as well as to performance in life. Early development can be just what a child needs to stimulate their minds, which in turn is assisting in the evolution of their future. The early and latter stages of development in a child’s literacy journey are the makings for their reading and writing skills. It also plays part in their analysis of obstacles as well as their developed or problematic literacy future. A child

Many students who struggle with reading ask why should we read, what is the point? The point is that being able to read opens you up a whole new world of knowledge and imagination. But to have that new world opened up you need to be able to comprehend what you are reading. The primary goal of reading is to determine the meaning of

Competence and confidence in literacy, including competence in the three major areas, reading, writing, speaking and listening, are essential for progress in all areas of the curriculum. To broaden and enhance children’s literacy skills, opportunities need to be given by providing them with a wide range of different contexts in which to use and practice there skills. With reference to the aims of the Primary Framework for Literacy ‘To support and

Guided reading is something that I found interesting that I would incorporate in a classroom. The first step, as the book states, is the teacher picking materials for their students to read. The teacher needs to make sure that they give each student a copy of the grade appropriate material. When the students are in the beginning stage of reading the teacher introduces new concepts/ vocabulary. This will help the students when they begin reading the material. Once the teacher has gone through the new concepts/vocabulary they let the students read the material. When the students are reading the teacher show keep I eye out for any students struggling with the material or for students that might have a question. The final stage of guided reading

Reading is a means of language acquisition, of communication, and of sharing information which is essential in being a productive member of society. If and when a student missed an opportunity to learn the skills necessary for reading, it’s has a profound impact on their lives. As educators we realize that teaching all children to read requires that every child receive excellent reading instruction. We are also aware that children, who are struggling with reading must receive

Over the years, she has persistently worked with teachers and children in grades K-4 to increase the school’s reading scores. She readily tries new teaching strategies, which led to the implementation of guided reading in our school. Gale assisted in the training and execution of this research-based practice with overall success and approval by our entire faculty. She continues to conduct workshops and when asked, enters a classroom to offer suggestions and training for those teachers in need of extra assistance. Gale is swift, structured, and reliable which makes her someone teachers go to when they have questions, need assistance; and when they are new to the school and require further understanding and

This journal article is published by Roger Beard and Andrew Burrell Roger is a professor of Primary Education and Head, School of Early Childhood and Primary Education at the Institute of Education, University of London; Andrew is School of Early Childhood and Primary Education, Institute of Education, University of London. They make a standardised task with repetitive design to study narrative writing by 112 elementary students (60 boys, 52 girls) in England. The test includes a 10-minute description writing task and a 30-minute narrative writing task, and the kids are been teaching by specially trained panels. From the test, the students writing have been increased. The author state, “More specifically, there was greater use of action to develop character and main event, connectives to inject suspense, exclamations for impact, adventurous vocabulary to add interest and verbs to emphasize action, thoughts or feelings.” (90) The result of this study would be beneficial on researching literacy education and children's interest.

Hobsbaum and Peters (1996) suggest that the purpose of Reading Recovery is to assist students in constructing a self-improving method of knowledge and strategies rather than teaching them a variety of reading rules. Furthermore, the teacher provides enough assistance, referred to as scaffolding, to help the student achieve a task that is within their zone of proximal development (Hobsbaum & Peters). In this way, the student can eventually begin to do tasks independently or with less scaffolding that are slightly more difficult than they can do already. Hobsbaum and Peters (1996) suggest that feedback and praise are critical for student success because the feedback and praise helps students recognize useful strategies they have used and encourage them to continue putting forth effort when reading.

Explicit instruction is important in connecting to prior knowledge and skills when beginning a learning sequence (Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority, 2016). It helps to lay the foundational areas of reading and literacy as a whole in the early years of schooling. Effective reading instruction builds on what children already know, how students learn and on what degree of support they need to become successful in reading/learn and apply new information (Archer, 2011, p.18). Here the idea of scaffolding is evident where “the support provided by the teacher (or another student)…bridge(s) the gap between their current abilities and the intended goal” (Rupley, Blair and Nichols, 2009, p.129). It is important for students who are learning something new, to have the opportunity to have it explained, the opportunity to apply that information guided by their teachers and the opportunity to apply it independently (Archer, 2011). Through an explicit approach the responsibility for learning shifts from teacher to student as they gain confidence and competence with reading. Reading is not an automatic process and must be taught, “explicitly, systematically, early and well” (National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy, 2005, as cited in Hempenstall, 2016,p.5). Building on this, it is not enough for explicit instruction to be effective; it must also be efficient so that students can meet outcomes as soon as possible and are given the opportunity to apply it. This highlights