2. Literacy is essential to learning. My goal is to create
life-long learners and readers by providing:
meaningful experiences with a variety of texts in reading
and writing
choice to drive student engagement
differentiated instruction to meet the needs of each child
3. In order to provide you with the highest quality professional development regarding guided reading instruction in the
classroom, please complete the following needs assessment. Please complete and email response by July 1, 2010 or mail to the
provided address. The responses will be used to guide future literacy professional development. All responses will remain
anonymous to others.
Strongly Disagree Unknown/Unsure Strongly Agree
1 2 3 4 5
I know what guided reading is.
1 2 3 4 5
I have received sufficient professional development regarding guided reading.
1 2 3 4 5
I have been provided with a sufficient amount of research material regarding guided reading.
1 2 3 4 5
I conduct daily guided reading lessons in the classroom.
1 2 3 4 5
I feel confident in my ability to perform a guided reading lesson.
1 2 3 4 5
I feel that guided reading is beneficial to my students.
1 2 3 4 5
I feel that guided reading easily correlates with the school curriculum.
1 2 3 4 5
I feel that teachers have adequate materials and supplies to conduct guided reading lessons.
1 2 3 4 5
I feel confident in sharing my knowledge in the area of guided reading.
1 2 3 4 5
Provide additional comments or concerns you have about the implementation of guided reading.
4. Strongly Disagree Unknown/Unsure Strongly
Agree
1 2 3 4
5
I know what guided reading is.
1=0% 2=0% 3=0% 4=78% 5=22%
I have received sufficient professional development regarding guided reading.
1=36% 2=21% 3=0% 4=29% 5=14%
I have been provided with a sufficient amount of research material regarding
guided reading.
1=0% 2=36% 3=21% 4=43% 5=0%
I conduct daily guided reading lessons in the classroom.
1=29% 2=0% 3=14% 4=36% 5=21%
5. I feel confident in my ability to perform a guided reading lesson.
1=14% 2=14% 3=36% 4=29% 5=7%
I feel that guided reading is beneficial to my students.
1=0% 2=14% 3=29% 4=43% 5=14%
I feel that guided reading easily correlates with the school curriculum.
1=43% 2=14% 3=29% 4=14% 5=0%
I feel that teachers have adequate materials and supplies to conduct guided
reading lessons.
1=0% 2=0% 3=29% 4=42% 5=29%
I feel that professional development regarding guided reading would be beneficial
to me.
1=58% 2=14% 3=14% 4=0% 5=14%
6. How and why should guided reading be
implemented in prekindergarten thru first
grade classrooms?
7. The implementation of Guided Reading
Providing teachers with the why and the how.
“Guided reading is an instructional context in which a
teacher actually shows children how to read and
supports them in processing novel texts” (Pinnell and
Fountas, 28).
8. Teachers will be able understand and discuss
research based knowledge about guided
reading.
Teachers will be able to have beneficial support
to conduct guided reading lessons.
Teachers will be able to have adequate
materials for guided reading lessons.
Teachers will be able to demonstrate students‟
reading growth and patterns.
9. Allows children to read at their instructional
level.
“Children have a circumscribed zone of
development, a range within which they
can learn” -Vygotsky 1978. (Graves, 440)
10. Guided Reading lessons allow opportunities
for scaffolding.
“Over time, the teacher must gradually
dismantle the scaffold and transfer the
responsibility for completing task to
students” (Graves, 440).
11. Allows teacher to prompt for strategies and to direct
problem solving.
Examples:
“Does that make sense?”
“Does that look right?”
“ Does that sound right?”
“These are only brief detours and children quickly return to
the main task of reading the text mostly by themselves”
(Clay, 199).
12. Offers opportunities for children to use
reading strategies at points of difficulty
self monitoring
self correcting
searching
predicting
confirming
13. Curriculum:
Guided reading can be a beneficial component to an
integrated approach towards literacy.
Guided reading lessons allow for differentiated instruction
Guided reading allows growth in meaning of
text, fluency, comprehension, word solving, and numerous
other literacy skills.
“Following the reading, incorporate writing to help children
analyze words… select examples to teach for effective word-
solving strategies… draw attention to how to take words
apart…” (Pinnell & Fountas, 28).
14. Assessment:
Running records allow the teacher to record student
reading strategies and behaviors for analysis.
The analysis of the running record offers the teacher
information on how to guide future instruction.
“In a quality literacy program, teachers use systematic
observation and assessment to identify children‟s
understanding and to inform teaching” (Pinnell & Fountas, 15).
15. Instruction:
Before:
make connection to text
give introduction
During:
students have opportunity to read independently
observe strategies and behaviors
teacher can prompt and scaffold
After:
confirm meaning or predictions and discuss
support comprehension
teachers can focus on strategies used and neglected
Kucer S.B. & Silva, C. (2006). Teaching the dimensions of literacy. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.
16. “Guided reading practices as part of a balanced literacy
program conform to the recommendations on literacy as
suggested in position statements by the International
Reading Association/The National Association for the
Education of Young Children(1998), and the National
Council of Teachers of English (2002)” (Iaquinta, 6).
17. “If student teachers, and experienced teachers, can be
persuaded that questions need to be genuine, and that
exploratory dialogue considers all viewpoints in a quest for
common understandings, perhaps guided reading will be
seen as a learning opportunity rather than „„twenty minutes
for listening to readers” (Fisher, 9).
18. “ To meet the diverse needs of all children,
teachers will need to know how to effectively
implement many instructional interventions and
management techniques ( Tomilson, 1999)”
(Gambrell, 315).
19. Parents
continue Students
Teachers at home have
implement reading
guided reading support
with success
within
Professional classroom reading
Development &
Support with
teachers and
administrators.
20. Professional
Development
Study
Support in
Sessions/
the
Monthly
classroom
Meetings
Students
Teachers
benefit from
implement in
guided
classroom
reading
21. Address identified teacher wants and needs regarding GR.
GR research information and materials will be provided.
Bi-monthly study sessions scheduled during school day.
In- class support with GR lessons will be offered.
Data will be collected by teachers to illustrate reading growth
patterns.
Monthly meetings will be conducted to discuss observations
and concerns.
22. In classroom support, study sessions, and monthly
meetings will continue.
Teachers will share their lessons amongst colleagues.
Voluntary videotaping of lessons will be shared and
discussed.
Guided reading running records will be analyzed during
meetings to provide teachers with knowledge regarding
guided reading prompting and analyzing miscues.
23. AUGUST. NOVEMBER
Meet with During faculty
teachers to meeting, share
identify GR initiative. Discuss
wants and and answer
needs questions.
SEPT.-OCT. DEC.-MAY
Meet with Begin monthly
administrators to meetings,
address needs. study session
Meet with teachers and classroom
to address outcome support.
24. AUGUST. NOVEMBER-EOY MAY
Meetings Analyze growth
During meetings and
resume with study sessions, we will patterns and
focus on discuss peer plan for
running observations and upcoming year.
records. running records.
SEPT.-OCT. DECEMBER
Sharing of Volunteers will
lessons with videotape
peers begins. themselves
Each teacher will during a GR
share with at lesson to share
least one other
teacher. at mtgs.
25. Study sessions
Conducted by the teachers for the teachers on a
voluntary basis.
Monthly meetings
Will provide a more systematic approach towards
discussions, analysis, sharing, and developing solutions
to literacy concerns.
District Professional Development
Will allow for teachers to share knowledge and lead
professional development to other grade levels. In
addition, outside sources can offer PD.
26. During meetings and study sessions, a suggestion box will be
offered to provide a secure environment for sharing feedback
anonymously.
To promote engagement, study sessions will be offered during
school day through an allotted time to be covered by a partner
teacher.
Monthly meetings will be conducted in lieu of faculty meetings to
promote engagement and will include administrators.
Year one will offer plenty of observation time before teachers are
asked to volunteer and share during year two.
27. Clay, M.M. (2005). Becoming Literate. Aukland, New Zealand:
Heinemann Education.
Fisher, A. (2008). Teaching Comprehension and Critical Literacy:
Investigating Guided Reading in Three Primary Classrooms.
Literacy, 42(1), 19-28. Retrieved from ERIC database.
Ford, M., & Opitz, M. (2008). A National Survey of Guided Reading
Practices: What We Can Learn from Primary Teachers. Literacy
Research and Instruction, 47(4), 309-331. Retrieved from ERIC
database.
Gambrell, L.B., Morrow, L.M., & Pressley, M. ( 2007). Best practices in
literacy instruction. (3rd Ed.). Guiliford Press.
28. Graves M.F. ( 2004). Theories and constructs that have made a
significant difference in adolescent literacy. In Jetton &
Dole, Adolescent literacy research and practice (pp. 433-452).
Guilford Publishers.
Iaquinta, A. (2006). Guided Reading: A Research-Based Response to
the Challenges of Early Reading Instruction. Early Childhood
Education Journal, 33(6), 413-418. Retrieved from ERIC database.
Kucer S.B. & Silva, C. (2006). Teaching the dimensions of literacy.
New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.
Pinnell, G.S. & Fountas, I.C. (1998) Word
Matters.Pourtsmouth, NH:Heinemann
