This post is part of a four-post series with information related to our Primary Guided Reading Workshop conducted on October 6, 2015.

See related posts: Insights on Guided Reading, Model Lesson, Questions and Concerns

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In last Tuesday’s Guided Reading Workshop, we discussed what is guided reading and what are the elements of a guided reading lesson. First, we looked at the following definition of guided reading by Fountas and Pinnell:

We then looked at what it means to build “reading power” and the elements of a guided reading lesson that can help build students’ reading power. When Fountas and Pinnell, talk about reading power they are referring to a system of strategic actions which includes strategies for Thinking Within the Text, Thinking Beyond the Text, and Thinking About the Text.

This is the teaching-learning cycle that Fountas and Pinnell recommend for building students’ reading power in guided reading:

Looking closer then at the “Teach” step in the teaching-learning cycle for guided reading, Fountas and Pinnell suggest incorporating the following elements in a guided reading lesson:

The guide “Elements of a Guided Reading Lesson” includes information compiled from Fountas and Pinnell that explains each of the elements of a guided reading lesson and lists possible teaching moves for each element.

Finally, we introduced this very valuable resource for better understanding and teaching strategic actions to build students’ reading power through guided reading lessons. We encouraged all teachers to check out their own copy from our school library.

After starting with a Fountas and Pinnell definition of guided reading that talks about responding to students’ needs in order to build their reading power, we looked at what reading power is and how we can build students’ reading power through elements of a guided reading lesson.