My questions are: 1. Is oral reading necessary for emergent readers during guided reading ALL THE TIME? I think that emergent readers should be reading aloud in guided reading, but not round robin style. Students in guided reading should be reading in a "one inch" voice so that when the teacher comes around to listen, s/he can listen to the child and monitor the mistakes and self-corrections that the children are making while they read. This is an excellent time to take a running record as well because the teacher can gather a TON of helpful information by analyzing a running record. Round robin reading puts kids on the spot, makes poor readers even more uncomfortable, and eliminates the need for other children to problem solve through tricky words because only one student is responsible for the reading at a time.
2. I emphasized that by the time students are reading for comprehension, silent reading is encouraged. Is there a certain level whereby students should be reading independently rather than orally? That's a good question. I don't know if Fountas and Pinnell have a specific level that kids are suggested to read silently. But even if kids aren't reading silently, they ARE still reading for comprehension. I usually begin encouraging students to read silently at level I or J, which is when I feel that the decoding/fluency stage is somewhat mastered (although not for all). But I still ask students to read aloud for me in a one inch voice when I come to them so that I may monitor their oral reading (fluency and accuracy) and talk with them about what's happening to check that the comrpehension piece is going on as well. 3. How do you balance the need to listen to students for decoding/fluency with scaffolding silent independent reading? During guided reading, the teacher needs to be moving around the table/carpet to listen to the kids reading. That's what makes it guided. The teacher is making decisions on what to teach the kids based on how they are reading in the group (the kinds of mistakes and self-corrections they are making). Also there is a lesson to be taught in guided reading (either before the reading and/or after the reading) that teaches the kids something- a reading strategy either decoding or comprehension based. Also, in guided reading the teacher has selected the books, which is what makes it guided. Independent reading is different in that the kids are self-selecting books that are "just right" for them. They are using reading strategies taught to them both from whole class instruction (shared reading or read aloud mini-lessons) and they are putting those strategies into place on their own. The teacher may come around to conference with the child, but the teacher cannot meet with every child every day. Therefore the students are responsible for reading and responding to that literature in some way. In first grade, I found that it was difficult to have the class really do "independent reading" for an extended period of time because many kids are reading books that are lower levels and many of the kids were not prepared to read independently for extended periods of time without constant supervision. Many teachers put centers in place to facilitate literacy activities during this time. This all depends on your comfort, your style, and your expertise in the area of reading workshop. It also depends on your students, their levels, and your management system in the classroom. These are just my opinions! I'm sure some will disagree... I'm interested to hear other perspectives on the issue, though! Kristin NJ Kristin Gristina Language Arts Coordinator Livingston Park Elementary School _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
