Guided Reading

I chose to read an article that came from a school in Michigan that is for students that are deaf. They found that their students were extremely behind and needed to find another instructional method for reading. They chose to come together as teachers and all implement guided reading as their instructional activity. They came away with really good results. They found that students improved one-half year to two years progress in just one year. They are also focusing on developing summer programs that will assist the students in reading throughout that time and to hopefully reduce the back track that typically goes on during this time.

I found this article very interesting on a few different levels. I thought it was really cool that the teachers decided to come together and pick a strategy that they would all use. I am sure that this was hard since every teacher has their routine and a mindset of what works best. Secondly, I thought it was good that in their approach, the teachers took the time to really find out where their students were in the level of reading and based their instruction and methods off of that. I look forward to implementing guided reading in my classroom!

The Guided Reading Approach: A Practical Method to Address Diverse Needs in the Classroom
By: Laura Schaffer  and Barbara Schirmer