In the video titled, Modeling Guided reading FAQ, Candace Bookman brings up a number of good points and activities that she uses with her students. This strategy of teaching reading provides extra support from the lowest level reader to the highest level. There were several things in this video that I liked and found interesting. The first thing she discussed was the different ways that she presents the words she is teaching. A lot of teachers usually only have their one way of showing the words, and that is either on a note card or on a white board; she uses both. I think this is a good strategy because children can easily become very bored if you keep using and doing the same technique. I also liked that each student had their own personal book bag, it contained books that were required but also of interest, which encouraged further reading.
The instructor in this video had a unique way of arranging her centers. She states in the video, that she does not have them rotate centers because each of the centers has plenty of activities which keep them from getting bored. I think this is a good idea because there are some groups that finish the task they are trying to complete early and then just sit doing nothing. Having plenty of activities at the centers allows each student to work at his/her own pace. It also makes the students responsible for their work.
The next interesting point that she brought up was how she changes the groups. There are many classrooms that often keep the same groups the whole year, regardless if the strengths of the children change. I think basing the groups just on the strengths is still not the best way to do it. I think a better way to group the students is to have some students who do well with students who struggle. This allows the students to learn from one another as well as from the teacher. Sometime it takes the direction from your peers in order to truly understand. However, I do like that she does change student groupings to get different students working together. This video answered many of my questions on guided reading. It showed me some different approaches to doing it as well as confirming some I already knew.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txC-Qo_8GiU
I watched this video as well and I thought the book bag was a very creative idea. I found it interesting that the students could take the books home with them and practice reading more with their parents. I liked that she had color coded groups but didn't always keep the students in those groups. She was constantly changing them and calling the students up only by their names not group colors. I think this video brought up a lot of interesting points that could be used in my future classroom when I am working on guided reading.
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