Guided Reading

"The ultimate goal of guided reading is to help children learn how to use independent reading strategies successfully."

Fountas and Su Pinnell, 1996

Guided reading is a major part of a balanced literacy program in our classroom.  During guided reading, students read as the teacher guides them through the story.  I pause to ask questions and prompt readers to use multiple reading strategies to decode words and comprehend the text.  Great discussions arise from our guided reading sessions as students learn to make connections to the text, predict what will happen and ask questions as they read, visualize events happening in the story, make inferences, and respond to stories in their reading response journals. It is also a time for the teacher to observe whether or not students are using the reading strategies taught during shared reading and teacher read-alouds. 

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The following are the "FCAT task cards", they will be helpful as you read with your child at home:

CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER

Ask yourself questions which require you to use skill of sequencing in order to form an answer. Be sure you are able to prove your answer by showing pages, pictures, etc… within the story (text).

•               What happened just BEFORE _____?

•               What happened just AFTER______?

•               What happened first, last, etc…?

•               What happened between ______ and _______?

•               What is the first, second, third, last, etc… step in_______?

PROBLEM/SOLUTION

Ask yourself questions which require you to identify the problem and solution in the story (text). Make sure you support your answer with facts and details from the story (text).

·  What was the problem in the story?

·  How was the problem solved?

*Remember to ask yourself “Why!

MAIN IDEA

Ask yourself questions which require you to find the main idea of a story (text). Make sure you support your answer using facts and details from the story (text).

·        What is the main idea of the story?

·       Describe what the story is mostly about in 10 words or less.

·       Would ________ be a good title for the story? Why?

·       What do you think would be another good title for the story? Why?

*Remember to ask yourself “Why!”

RETELLING

Ask yourself to retell a part of the story (text). Make sure you retell the story with the proper story elements. Remember to use specific information from the text. Do NOT make up information.

• Retell the part of the story from ______ to ________.

• Retell your favorite part of the story.

• In your own words, what happened in the beginning, middle, or end of the story?

FACT/DETAIL

Ask yourself questions that require you to recognize facts and details from the story (text). Make sure you use specific information from the story (text).

•               Who?

•               What?

•               Where?

•               When?

•               Why?

•               Which?

•               How?

COMPARE & CONTRAST

Ask yourself questions which require you to recognize the use of comparison and contrast in story (text).  Make sure you support your examples with facts and details from the story (text).

•  How are ______ and _______ALIKE?

•  How is ____ DIFFERENT from ____?

•  How are you SIMILAR to the character(s)?

•  How are you DIFFERENT from the character(s)?

•  What is one DIFFERENCE between ____ and  ____?

*Remember to ask yourself “WHY!”

AUTHOR’S PURPOSE

Ask yourself questions which require you to recognize why the author wrote the story (text).  Make sure you can justify your answers.

•  Why do you think the author wrote the story, article, etc…?

•  Is the author trying to explain or show you how to do something?

•  Is the author trying to entertain you or make you feel happy?

•  Is the author trying to make you think like him/her?

• Is the author trying to teach you about something?

• Examples of Author’s Purpose:

Show, Entertain, Persuade, Inform

VOCABULARY

Ask yourself questions which require you to determine the correct meaning of a word in context (within text).  Justify your answers.

•  What does __________ mean?

•  What does the word __________ mean?

•  Can you think of another word that means the same as _________?

•  Can you think of a word that means the opposite of __________?

•  What do you think the word means by looking at the clues, pictures, and words around the unfamiliar word?

CAUSE & EFFECT

Ask yourself questions which require you to describe the cause or effect of an action or event within the story (text).  Make sure you prove your answers using facts and details from the story (text).

•  What caused _____ to _____?

•  What happened because of _____?

•  What effect did _____ have on _____?

•  What might happen if _____?

•  What is the effect of _____?

•  Why did the character ______?

•  What were the results of _____?

*Remember to ask yourself “WHY!”

FACT/OPINION

Ask yourself questions which require you to differentiate between fact and opinion in story (text). 

·    Is _____ a fact/opinion from the story? Why?

·    Tell me one fact/opinion from the story?

·    Tell me one fact/opinion about you?

*Remember: a fact is something one can prove (colors, size, shape, etc..) and an opinion can not be proven (emotions, feelings, etc..).

PLOT DEVELOPMENT/RESOLUTION

Ask yourself questions which require you to identify plot development and/or problem resolution in the story.

·    What problem did the character face?

·    What happens that causes the character to change from the beginning to the end of the story?

·    How is the problem solved in the story?

·    What events lead to the resolution of the problem in the story?

*Remember to support your answers using details from the text.

MULTIPLE REPRESENTATION OF INFORMATION

Ask yourself questions which require you to use a variety of reference materials, including multiple representation of information such as maps, charts, captions, and pictures to gather information.

According to the maps/charts/captions/ or pictures…

Who? What? Where? When? How? Why?

SIMILARITIES/DIFFFERENCES

Ask yourself questions which require you to find similarities and differences in characters, settings, and events presented in various texts.

·    How are ________ and ___________ ALIKE?

·    How is ______________ DIFFERENT from ___________?

·    How is ____________ both SIMILAR to and DIFFERENT from _______________?

·    What is one DIFFERENCE between ___________ and ____________?

·    How is ________________ dissimilar to ___________?

·    How did the character change from the beginning of the story until the end?