Guided Reading-Alex N.

The clip that I chose to watch was a clip of a first grade teacher who was answering questions regarding guided reading. I chose this clip because I thought it would give me more knowledge about guided reading, and I also thought it would be interesting to see what types of questions would be asked. I really enjoyed this clip and got a lot out of it. One of the things that I really liked about this clip was how the teacher explained how many times you meet with the guided reading groups. This was a question that I had been thinking about and was glad I got it answered. The way she explained it was that you are to meet with guided reading groups everyday, and depending on what level the groups are at reading-wise you are to meet with them more or less frequently. The teacher had several good ideas which she uses for her guided reading times. One of them was this idea of "book bags", these are Ziploc baggies that students fill with their guided reading books as well as note cards with information about what they are learning this week, for example long and short vowels. I like this idea because, as the teacher explained, it allows the students to work on their weaknesses throughout the day as well as at home with their parents. Therefore it gets the parents involved in their child's learning which I think is really nice bonus.

The teacher explained her procedure for placing students in their ability groups and I thought her idea was beneficial to the students. She uses different colors for her groups, but she has different kids in different colors all the time. Also, when she calls groups over to her for guided reading she does not call them by color, she calls each student by name. I think this is a good way to avoid any stigmas that could be created by having students in the same groups all the time. While this video did not show a guided reading session in progress, I still thought it was really helpful. It gave me a better understanding of guided reading through answering questions that I had, as well as questions I did not know I had. It also had some nice ideas that I might want to use in my classroom.

Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txC-Qo_8GiU