High level questions and guided reading strategies that develop meta-cognition – teach students to think deeply about the text.
Do you remember being in the Red Birds or Blue Birds reading groups? I sure do (I know, I am showing my age).
I was one of those kids who was lucky enough to be in the higher reading groups, but was it really lucky?
If you were like me, we were left to do our own thing a lot of the time. I remember doing SRAs, learning to speed read…but very rarely meeting with a teacher.
Today we know that kids of all levels need specific, intentional instruction in reading strategies and meta-cognition. However, it seems there are many days when I simply do word work and really hit those pre-reading strategies and never make it to higher order questioning.
Does this ever happen to you? It happens to the best of us!
Guided Reading Group Guides
The number one thing you must do to have successful Guided Reading groups is to train your students in what they should be doing while you meet with your small group.
This could take a month or more to become established behaviors, but it is critical to your success.
Once all of the students are trained to meet your expectations for independent work time, you are ready to begin your Guided Reading groups.
In Primary grades, much of the time is naturally spent on oral language development and phonological awareness. As students progress in their reading skills, this is replaced with more intensive word work such as Greek and Latin roots.
But we must not forget to teach students how to think Within the Text as well as Beyond the Text.
One way is to use guided reading strategies based on Bloom’s Taxonomy.
Bloom’s Taxonomy for Guided Reading Strategies
Knowledge Level
What it is: Recall information from the story
Key Vocabulary: arrange, define, match, recall, remember, identify, tell
Sample Questions:
- Make a list of the characters
- Where does the story take place?
- Identify the setting
- Define a new word
Comprehension Level
What it is: Understand information from the story
Key Vocabulary: describe, explain, locate, summarize, interpret
Sample Questions:
- Describe the main characters
- Explain how the problem was solved
- Locate a description of the setting
- Interpret what a word means
Analysis Level
What it is: Analyze parts of the story to make new meaning and understanding
Key Vocabulary: compare, analyze, classify, examine, question
Sample Questions:
- What part was the most exciting?
- Examine the diagrams.
- Compare the setting in this story to another one like it that you have read.
- Analyze how the main character feels.
Evaluation Level
What it is: Judge the value of the information in the story
Key Vocabulary: conclude, predict, support, defend, justify
Sample Questions:
- Predict how the main character will react.
- What type of person would like this story? Support your answer.
- Justify the actions of the supporting characters.
Synthesis Level
What it is: Putting parts of the story together to create a deeper understanding
Key Vocabulary: compose, develop, produce, revise, visualize
Sample Questions:
- Develop a new ending to the story.
- Visualize a different setting.
- Compose a new problem for the characters to solve.
- Critique the text.
Easy Guided Reading Cars A-Z
Easy Guided Reading Cards A-Z breaks down these higher order thinking skills by each level.
These cards are totally focused on Before, During and After reading strategies, but have an emphasis on During and After.
And they are rigorous – no doubt about it.
These cards make it super easy to quickly target those higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, no matter what levels your students are at.
Easy Guided Reading Cards A-Z is written in iBook format, so you can even download the PDF to your iPad or smart phone and use it instantly with your guided reading groups!