Literacy

Professional Development

January 28, 2015

Organized Guided Reading

I’ll never forget my first year of teaching when I had no idea what to do during that time of the day.  I was blessed with an amazing principal who saw my need for some help in that area.  Our district had a lady who came into my classroom once a week for 6 weeks and modeled all of the elements of balanced literacy for me.  I learned SO much!! Guided Reading quickly became my favorite, though. 

When I moved to a new school and had the opportunity to teach next door to a teacher who previously taught Reading Recovery and also had been a Reading Specialist, I learned more than I could have ever imagined! She was just a wealth of knowledge when it came to all things reading!! I have just been blessed to have several wonderful teachers in my life to teach me about organizing my Guided Reading time.  I wanted to share with you some tips on organizing your Guided Reading groups.

Organizing your guided reading material can be overwhelming. Come see how this teacher keeps it all together and organized in her classroom!
Let’s start with books.  Some schools are blessed with a guided reading library.  I have always worked somewhere that has had some sort of guided reading library.  Even with that available, I used printable readers A LOT the last 3 years.  They were easy to replace if lost or torn or spilled on. Here is how I organized them in my classroom.

Something else I always try to do at the beginning of the week is plan ahead with my groups and materials as much as possible.  I know that can’t always happen because sometimes you are just in the moment and you realize you have to change teaching points or a book is WAY to hard or easy, but I did the best I could.
I keep everything I need to know about my students and their progress inside my guided reading binder. It’s the heart beat of my groups.  It’s a MUST HAVE for me to stay organized.

Guided reading organization made simple with these tips!

Here is a little peek at some of the pages inside my binder.
Guided reading organization made simple with these tips!
Everyone loves freebies, so here are a few pages for you to use with your guided reading groups!
Click HERE to download them.
Organizing your guided reading materials can be overwhelming. Come see how this teacher keeps it all together and organized in her classroom! Don't forget to grab the FREEBIES! #GuidedReading #ClassroomOrganization
pin it
Ready for another great organizational tip, hop over to Nicole of Today, in Second Grade for another fun tip!

Happy Teaching,

Amanda

EASILY PLAN YOUR K-2 READING SMALL GROUPS​

Want to use the latest research to boost your readers during small groups? This FREE guide is packed with engaging ideas to help them grow!

Hi, I'm Amanda

I’m a K-1 teacher who is passionate about making lessons your students love and that are easy to implement for teachers.  Helping teachers like you navigate their way through their literacy block brings me great joy. I am a lifelong learner who loves staying on top of current literacy learning and practices. Here, you’ll find the tools you need to move your K-2 students forward!

Topics

Literacy
Math
Science
Writing
Digital
Soc St

You may also enjoy...

15 Responses

  1. I notice the covers to the reading reference cards is different in this post than the one I downloaded. Is there a way to get that one that is pictured in this post without buying the binder set?

    1. Hi Amanda! The cards are the same, but the little covers got an update. They are no included with the binder. 🙂

  2. Love all your information and tips – thanks. Just a quick query regarding guided reading groups – when you make your groups do you have all children at the table on the same book. What I mean is if you have very diverse needs in the group do you give them a book at their instructional level or give the whole group a book that is somewhere in the middle. Many thanks. Susan

    1. Hi Susan! Yes! All children at my table are working on the same book. If the needs are so diverse that they need different groups, then I would make them separate groups. Each group always is working on their instructional level. The only time I would level them down is if they needed to work on a skill that required them to not worry a bit about decoding and it was best for them to level down. 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Which type of professional development interests you?