Setting the Stage for Guided Reading-Part 1 of 4

Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay 

As the school year begins to peek its head around the corner, I thought I would do a series of blogs for teachers who want to implement guided reading in the coming year. Over the next four weeks, I will be giving tips on ways to prepare before the school year even begins. Guided reading is a tried and true practice, but it takes planning to implement effectively.  So much of that planning has to do with factors other than curriculum and content, so I want to start with how to set the stage for guided reading by designing a classroom environment that will make implementation easier. I will address (1) layout and organization of the classroom, (2)materials to stock up while school supplies are on sale, (3)how to schedule time, (4)and how to slowly introduce routines to students over the first few weeks of school.

So, let’s get started...
The classroom environment is critical for guided reading to be successful.  While a teacher may not begin guided reading groups until a few weeks into the semester (or longer with younger students), her environment sets the stage for what will happen throughout the year.  Before any bulletin board paper goes on the walls, teachers need to think about room design and function.

When someone comes into a well-organized and designed room, he knows exactly the type of activities that go on there.  I’ve walked into classrooms where I didn’t even know it was an English Language Arts class because there weren’t any books! Everything about the environment should reflect its purpose.  A house has rooms with specific functions, and because we know these functions, we can typically navigate a house without much help.  A classroom needs to function in the same way.  It should be logical in its design and function so that students can navigate and monitor themselves within it.  This sets the stage for whether a teacher can even conduct guided reading groups later on.  If the environment is set up to where the students can’t reach any materials, then they will be interrupting groups to ask for help.  So, even though every area of the room may not be used for conducting guided reading groups, it is necessary to think through their use.

There are 4 key areas that teachers need to consider prior to starting the year:

• Whole group area-This area is where the teacher conducts whole group lessons. It may be a carpet area, or it may be where the student desks are.
• Student work area-This is typically the area of the classroom where students sit to engage in whole group lessons or work on assigned activities.
• Small group area-This is the area of the room where the teachers will meet with small groups.
• Independent work areas-These areas may include workstations, classroom libraries, or student desks.  Any area of the room where students may work by themselves or with a partner is included here. 

For each of these areas, it benefits teachers to carefully think about and list what materials will be used in the space(s) and how resources will be stored. In addition, teachers need to plan what systems or procedures will be needed for students to use that area in productive ways. Write these ideas in a notebook and get as detailed as possible.  If you are a chart/table person like me, I’ve created a planning sheet you can download to help with this.

It may help to draw the areas and label where specific materials will go. Think about and outline the procedure or systems students will use for (1)getting materials, (2)going to and from the areas, (3)knowing when an area is on or off limits, (4)cleaning up, (5)what to do if a material is missing, and any other possible thing a student might need to know to function independently. Create visuals that show students what the areas are for and when they are in use. Print or make labels for all materials. The more detailed you can get in your planning, the better.  You may change the procedures as the year progresses, but at least you will have one to start.

As you plan procedures for students, also plan systems for yourself that will help you develop the habits you will need in order to successfully work with groups later. For example, if you have a table in the back of the room covered in papers, that’s not going to be very useful when it’s time to pull a group.  From the beginning, get in the habit of keeping the table cleared off.  Don’t leave at the end of the day unless the table is clutter free. If you have 5 groups, how will you keep their materials separate? Where will you store them? How will you keep notes on the groups?  Think through all of this ahead of time.

When you have your classroom set up, ask a colleague to come in and look around. Ask them to tell you what activities seem like priorities in your room. See if they can locate where things would be. Give them a treasure hunt list and see if they can find all of the items.  If they can, then you have probably labeled everything well and put it in logical places.  If you’ve done this, you've accomplished the first step of setting the stage for guided reading!

Come back next week to find out what materials to stock your guided reading area with and ideas for organizing all the clutter!