Guided Reading Adventures for Washington Kindergarteners

Many kindergarteners enter classrooms with letter-sound and sight-word knowledge. They are ready to read! “It is our goal to meet our Washington Winners where they are academically and continue them on their own trajectory,” Principal Dr. Michelle J. Richards said.

Guided reading is an opportunity for students to learn how to read texts in small group settings. Teacher Jessica Bermudez’ dual language class is also engaged in guided reading experiences with Spanish texts.

Teacher Emily Meyers met with her guided reading groups to explore a non-fiction story about the different ways children get to school. Before reading, students made meaningful text-to-self connections by sharing how they come to school each day. The students mentioned they come to school on a bus or are able to come to school by riding in a car.

During the lesson, the dual language students also reviewed long vowel sounds, focusing on the long i in words like ride and bike. They practiced applying this phonics skill in their reading and worked on sounding out unfamiliar words to strengthen their decoding skills. After reading in their small groups, students completed differentiated worksheets. They wrote a sentence or words describing how they get to school and then illustrated their writing with a matching picture.”

“Guided reading is a powerful and efficient way to differentiate and meet the specific needs of your children while teachers meet with them in small groups,” according to the Learn-Children’s Literacy Initiative website. “It gives children a chance to solve problems with new texts in a safe environment and it gives teachers a chance to build rapport as they work side by side with their students.”