Katie Zaborski

1st Grade
Guided Reading Lessons Taught: November 17-20

Group Members:

Three students (1 boy, 2 girls): Bader, Amihya, Emily H.

Guided Reading Level: C

Considered to be average among their peers in the classroom.

How did you choose these students?:

My mentor had recently moved students around in her guided reading level groups and
left the decision up to me which group I wanted to work with. When reviewing the
groupings, I selected the students that seemed to fall into the middle of amongst their
peers. I selection was also based on a pre-determined goal which was to provide
strategies to the students and have their reading level improve to a first grade level.

Assessments Preformed Before Guided Reading Lessons:

What assessments did I use?

o The students I selected were leveled as B-C guided reading level on my mentors
sheet of guided reading groups. In order for me to begin planning for my guided
reading lessons, I chose to preform reading records on each of the three students.
Each student was assessed on a B leveled text as well as a C leveled text. I
documented brief notes as well as any typical meaning, visual, or syntax errors
based on their readings.

What did I learn about my readers from the assessments? AND How will I used this
information to guide my instruction?

o I was able determine what reading strategies would most benefit the students after
completing the assessments. I noticed that all three students used picture clues
when they reached a difficult vocabulary word in the text. They paused their
reading to look at the picture and then make their best guess at the word. Due to
this, I also noted the students lacked comprehension skills. The students were
each so focused on wanting to get every word right that they lost the
comprehension component of their reading.
Names of books you will use and why you will use them?

Day 1 & 2: How Many by Katie Knight and Illustrated by Signe Nordin.
o I selected this guided reading text because it offers a predictable, repeating story
line. The pictures relate directly to what is being asked of the students in the text.
They will be able to utilize picture clues to help define unknown or difficult
vocabulary words. This is a great beginning text to help them being working one
of the goals that I have for their guided reading lessons.

Day 3& 4: Bills First Day by Cynthia Swain and Illustrated by Richard Harrington
o I selected this guided reading text for three reasons. The first reason is because
mentor has read it with her other fellow C guided reading groups and she
requested I use it for my lessons to keep the others on track. Secondly, the text
offers new an enriching vocabulary words that are predictable through letter
sound correspondence and picture clues. This will help strength the reading
strategy I am implementing and give the students more practice with it. Lastly, it
still uses a predictable enough texts that will help the students in making sense, or
comprehending, the story line.

State 2 goals for the lessons. And How will you know if they have accomplished these goals?

Goal 1: Students will use picture clues to help with unfamiliar words, but also students
will use visual clues of the difficult vocabulary word.
o I will know students have accomplished this goal when they are not only looking
at the picture, but they are looking at the letters of the word and thinking about
letter sounds that correspond to that vocabulary word.

Goal 2: Students will be able to answer comprehension questions based on the guided
reading texts.
o I will know students have accomplished this goal when their oral retelling of the
text helps them answer and produce more meaningful responses to comprehension
questions that follow the guided reading lesson.

Guided Reading Lesson 1

I.

Book Introduction: How Many? By Katie Knight and Illustrated by Signe Nordin
a. Before the reading
i. Were going to work together today to work on a reading strategy can help
us become better readers. I know I sometimes struggle with reading, but if
I remember to use this strategy that we are going to work on together then
I can become a better and stronger reader. Our focus today is to get our
mouths ready by thinking about letter sounds and looking at pictures to
help us figure out those difficult vocabulary words.
ii. Lets look at the book were going to read today, the title is How Many?
and the author is Katie Knight and Illustrated by Signe Nordin. Who can

tell me what the author of the story does? Listen to students response.
What about the illustrator? Listen to students response.
iii. Lets practice our reading strategy.. what do you think this book is about
just from looking at the cover? Listen to students ideas. Those are some
awesome ideas, that is what good readers do before they read a book.
They look at the cover and think about what the story may be about
iv. Now, lets take a picture walk through the book. For now, we are just
going to have a look at the pictures in the book. Have them stay in sync as
they look through the book.
v. Introduce and point out new vocabulary throughout the picture walk. Have
students try to get their mouths ready with corresponding letter sounds and
use picture clues to help them decipher the new words. The new
vocabulary words include: eyes (3), wheels (4), wings (5), candles (6),
kites (7), windows (8), eight (9) and smiles (10). Allow the students the
opportunity to try it for themselves, but also model it so students now how
implement the newly introduced reading strategy.
II.

Format: During the reading

a. Have students remain at the table we are working at, but allow there to be a desk
between them. Then have students begin reading through the text. During this
time, take notes on particularly interesting things that the students do during the
reading. I will document these notes on a separate sheet of notebook paper. These
notes in turn will allow for a meaningful group discussion after the guided reading
is over.

b. To be clear students are to read the book a second time should they finish quickly
and have not read a portion of their book to me yet. I will listen to each individual
student as they read by moving closer to them and watching their strategies. I will
document in brief annotated notes the students individual abilities.
c. Furthermore, within my documentation, I will record whether students are
independently reading this text or if they are relying on my assistance and not
implementing the newly learned reading strategy, especially when encountering
new and difficult vocabulary words.
d. All of these documentations will be then typed and be a part of my reflection, so I
know how to properly plan for the next day.
III.

After the reading

a. The group of students and I will discuss very briefly how they handled unknown
or difficult words in the text. It is during this time that I will allow for each
student to share out with the group to help promote strengthening these strategies
in the others if their strategy differed.
b. Then I will also remark to each student individually what I though they did during
the reading and how this skill will connect and further help them in their future
independent reading.

IV.

Reflection of Lesson 1
a. Notes on students independent reading during guided reading:
i. Bader: stretches out unfamiliar words in the text with using what the
knows about the sounds that letters typically make, relies on my support
for guidance and correcting him should he need to, and lacks confidence

in himself as a reader which is very evident as only because fluent in

reading as I observe
ii. Emily H: utilizes discussed new learning strategy to help support her in
reading a new text, very strong independent reader and does not rely on
my guidance, also able to quickly identify new vocabulary words by
thinking about letter sounds that correspond with the word in the text
iii. Amihya: also utilizes newly learned strategy to help her read new and
difficult vocabulary words, supported by me during independent reading
but then when left again on own during second read through, she was
fluent and very independent, thinks about how to stretch out a word before
using the picture clues as a guide to help
b. Student were actively engaged in the guided reading lesson which was rewarding
because I feared not being my mentor or being supported by her they would lose
interest. Each student found a way whether independently or with some support to
utilize the newly taught reading strategy. At one point during the lesson, I failed
to take part in a teachable moment in which the student was reading and needed to
use the picture to help. To make up for the lack of this during the guided lesson, I
had a group conversation following the guided reading lesson. I believe that I
handled the group well even with all the distraction and chaos going on around
the students. I was able to keep them engaged and tuned into what we were
working on. Lastly, this day one has given me a lot of self-confidence as a teacher
of guided reading. My hope is to be able to reach the two pre-determined goals for
each student by the end of the week.

Guided Reading Lesson 2

I. Book Introduction: How Many? By Katie Knight and Illustrated by Signe Nordin
a. Before the reading
i.

Yesterday we looked at the book How Many? by Katie Knight. Today were
going to work together today to work on another reading strategy can help us
become better readers. Our focus today is going to be about comprehension.
Has anyone ever hear that big word before? Comprehension? Listen to
students responses.

ii.

Alright, good. Those are all good ideas about what you think comprehension
may be. Comprehension is actually a strategy we use to help us understand
what a book is about. So, you can think of comprehension as a way to make
sense of what we just read in the book we are focusing on. Does that make
sense?

iii.

Now, lets try to practice our reading strategy. Lets try to think about reading
this book yesterday during our lesson. Does anyone think they could tell us
what the book was about? Listen to students ideas and responses. Remind
them at this point, it is okay if they do not remember after all a lot has
happened in the time they read and we are looking at the text now.

iv.

Alright, before we get started, I just want to review our difficult vocabulary
words to practice our strategy from yesterday. Remember, we are getting our
mouths ready with corresponding letter sounds and use picture clues to help
them decode the new words. Review vocabulary words including: wheels (4),
wings (5), candles (6), windows (8), eight (9) and smiles (10).

v.

Good work! Now, while you are reading today our goal is to work on
comprehension. So while you read today, I want you to think about a way in
which the book is making sense to you. This will help you comprehend the
text.

II. Format: During the reading

a. Have students remain at the table we are working at, but allow there to be a desk
between them. Then have students begin reading through the text. During this
time, take notes on particularly interesting things that the students do during the
reading. I will document these notes on a separate sheet of notebook paper. These
notes in turn will allow for a meaningful group discussion after the guided reading
is over.
b. To be clear students are to read the book a second time should they finish quickly
and have not read a portion of their book to me yet. I will listen to each individual
student as they read by moving closer to them and watching their strategies. I will
document in brief annotated notes the students individual abilities.
c. Furthermore, within my documentation, I will record whether students are
independently reading this text or if they are relying on my assistance and not
implementing the newly learned reading strategy, especially when encountering
new and difficult vocabulary words.
d. All of these documentations will be then typed and be a part of my reflection, so I
know how to properly plan for the next day.
III. After the reading

a. The group of students and I will discuss comprehension. I will ask each student to
share out his or her thoughts on what they thought the meaning of the text was.
Although, this text does not necessarily provide for clear comprehension, the
students should be able to tell me that the book is about various objects and
counting up by ones.
b. At the end of my lesson, I will comment on each student individually what I
though they did during the reading and how this particularly used skill will further
help them in their future independent reading and how the others can utilize it too.
IV. Reflection of Lesson 2
a. Notes on students independent reading during guided reading:
i. Bader: reading very choppy, lack of fluency, after reminding him of
strategy from previous lesson he was able to identify more words, some
common sight words are still an issue, used pictures to be sure number
word matched the picture provided, also still relying on my support.
ii. Emily H: misreads some however she self corrects, reverts back to
independent reading (maybe higher than c level reading?), was able to
recall what the story was about so she has some comprehension skills
iii. Amihya: follows text along with finger, recalls unfamiliar words by using
yesterdays strategy, independent read, but gave very poor summary of the
story
b. Although, I planned to review the students vocabulary words, I ended up
scrapping that due to the time crunch we were on. I noticed that the students, at
least the girls, did not need the extra review of the words which means they either

are very good at recalling them or they are utilizing the taught strategy. I still feel
as though comprehension is lacking in each of the students explanations. As their
teacher of guided reading, I feel partly responsible. I do not feel as though I
informed and modeled the strategy well enough to allow for the students to make
sense of what it meant to comprehend. I want to reevaluate how I am addressing
this skill to provide a more meaningful lesson for the students in my group.
Guided Reading Lesson 3
I.

Book Introduction: Bills First Day by Cynthia Swain and Illustrated by Richard
Harrington
a. Before the reading
i. On Monday, our focus was to get our mouths ready for those unfamiliar
words and use picture clues to help us as well for figuring out new
vocabulary. Today, we are going to use this strategy again and see if we
can really strength this skill, so we can use it in our independent reading.
ii. Lets look at the book were going to read today, the title is Bills First
Day and the author is Cynthia Swain and Illustrated by Richard
Harrington.
iii. Now, lets take a picture walk through the book. For now, we are just
going to have a look at the pictures in the book. Have them stay in sync as
they look through the book. During this time, take time to address the new
vocabulary words to the students. Have students try to get their mouths
ready with corresponding letter sounds and use picture clues to help them
decode the new words. The new vocabulary words include: librarian (6),

coach (8), cafeteria (10), cook (10), nurse (12), principal (14). Allow the
students the opportunity to try it for themselves, but also model it so
students now how implement the newly introduced reading strategy.
II.

Format: During the reading

a. Have students remain at the table we are working at, but allow there to be a desk
between them. Then have students begin reading through the text. During this
time, take notes on particularly interesting things that the students do during the
reading. I will document these notes on a separate sheet of notebook paper. These
notes in turn will allow for a meaningful group discussion after the guided reading
is over.
b. To be clear students are to read the book a second time should they finish quickly
and have not read a portion of their book to me yet. I will listen to each individual
student as they read by moving closer to them and watching their strategies. I will
document in brief annotated notes the students individual abilities.
c. Furthermore, within my documentation, I will record whether students are
independently reading this text or if they are relying on my assistance and not
implementing the newly learned reading strategy, especially when encountering
new and difficult vocabulary words.
d. All of these documentations will be then typed and be a part of my reflection, so I
know how to properly plan for the next day.
III.

After the reading

a. The group of students and I will discuss very briefly how they handled unknown
or difficult words in the text. It is during this time that I will allow for each

student to share out with the group to help promote strengthening these strategies
in the others if their strategy differed.
b. Then I will also remark to each student individually what I though they did during
the reading and how this skill will connect and further help them in their future
independent reading.
IV.

Reflection of Lesson 3
a. Notes on students independent reading during guided reading:
i. Bader: lost track of place in story because of distractions in the room, still
very poor fluently (why wasnt this evident in his running record with
me?), high frequency words in the text pose an issue because a lot are not
decodable with stretching out the word, relies on me for heavy support
ii. Emily H: strong fluency, implements strategy, is able to pull difficult
words from the text and use pictures to help identify words, some support
with new text (not quite independent, but also not quite instructional)
iii. Amihya: much needed support today, lacks confidence even as I
encourage her to continue and that she is doing well, is able to identify
new vocabulary words quickly when asked to point them out in the text
b. Guided reading was a mess today! I have a feeling the students were all off task
today and not into the reading because my mentor was out of the room for
meetings. The students, including those not in the guided reading group, tend to
lose interest and focus because the structure is gone. In spite of the lack of
focus, the students really picked up on the reading strategy and utilized it to the
best of their abilities. When I had them look at the picture then predict where they

thought the student may be, I would have them look for that word in the text. If
they could not find it, they thought about it again and then identified the word in
the text. This showed me that they are really interpreting what the pictures me for
understanding the story and those new vocabulary words. This strategy seems to
be a positive and obtainable goal for each of the students. I hope during their
independent reading the students are utilizing this new skill.
Guided Reading Lesson 4
I. Book Introduction: Bills First Day by Cynthia Swain and Illustrated by Richard
Harrington
a. Before the reading
i.

Yesterday, can either of you tell me strategy we were using for our reading?
Listen to students responses. Thats right! We were looking at pictures and
thinking about what letters and words would match the picture of the story. We
looked at all sorts of new words, including: librarian, cafeteria, etc.

ii.

We have also talked about another reading strategy that we can use to make us
become better and stronger readers. What was it? Listen to students answers.
Respond based on students responses as to their correctness of identifying the
strategy or redirecting their focus on it.

iii.

Well, today our reading strategy we are going to work on is comprehension. I

know we talked about it a little the other day in our reading group, but it is
important to keep practicing our reading skills to allow for us to become better
and more independent readers.

iv.

To comprehend means to think about the story and what it was about. Then you
are going to summarize it out loud in one sentence. Does that make sense? So
basically when I am asking you to comprehend I am asking you to do this, read
the title and the first page of the story. Then tell the students they would keep
reading, but if that was the end of the book give a quick sentence about what the
book was telling us.

v.

So, remember that todays goal while you are reading on comprehension or
summarizing. So while you read today, I want you to think about a way to put the
story, or plot, into one sentence. This will help you comprehend the text at the end
when I ask you for you a comprehension question.

II. Format: During the reading

i.

Have students remain at the table we are working at, but have them sit next to one
another and begin reading together. While they read together, help guide them if
they are not staying in sync with one another. Also, while students are reading
together help them utilize the strategies from the previous lessons as well
maintain focus on todays lesson.

ii.

Once students have read the book through together, tell them to know read the
text individually. During this time, take notes on particularly interesting things
that the students do during the reading. I will document these notes on a separate
sheet of notebook paper. These notes in turn will allow for a meaningful group
discussion after the guided reading is over.

iii.

To be clear students are to read the book a third time should they finish quickly
and have not read a portion of their book to me yet. I will listen to each individual

student as they read by moving closer to them and watching their strategies. I will
document in brief annotated notes the students individual abilities.
iv.

Furthermore, within my documentation, I will record whether students are

independently reading this text or if they are relying on my assistance for support.

III. After the reading

i.

The group of students and I will discuss comprehension. I will ask each student to
share out his or her thoughts on what they thought the meaning of the text was.
Although, this text does not necessarily provide for clear comprehension, the
students should be able to tell me that the book is about various objects and
counting up by ones.

ii.

At the end of my lesson, I will comment on each student individually what I

though they did during the reading and how this particularly used skill will further
help them in their future independent reading and how the others can utilize it too.

IV.

Reflection of Lesson 4
a. Notes on students independent reading during guided reading:
i. Bader: Absent.
ii. Emily H: very independent reading, much more positive and confident in
her skills which has grown over the week, self-correcting skills!, the word
when poses trouble for her, comprehends the story in a thoughtful
sentence
iii. Amihya: more fluent today but still relies on my support, says hopes
instead of helps corrects this mistake by page 12 of 14, tries new decoding

strategy which is covering part of the word to chunk the word into
readable parts, comprehension skill off after I encourage a new response
b. Overall, I thought that todays guided reading was well done. I made sure to
applaud each of the students efforts not only from todays lesson, but their
progress throughout the week. I wanted to help the students feel more confident
going into their future independent reading. From this lesson, it was particularly
interesting to see Emily self-correct which led me to believe that she was truly
trying to understand the text. Her comprehension was very strong. After a brief
discussion with my mentor following the guided reading, I reassessed her and
Emily had moved up a guided reading level after our week together. As for
Amihya, I worry that she is stalled out and is not gaining any independence for
her future reading. It was positive to see strategies and decoding skills build up
over the week, but she still needs some basic fundamentals.
Overall Reflection
My guided reading experience was a truly rewarding and enriching experience for myself as a
teacher of reading, but also the students that were a part of it. This was an important step in
growing as I continue to grow in my teaching practices. As an overview, I learned how to lesson
plan and effectively meet the reading needs of the students of a particular reading group. I also
learned the importance of documenting students progressions, then relying this information to
the student to help build up their confidence. When I plan for my future classroom of students I
will reflect on this teaching experience to help guide my structure for those students.
During my guided reading lessons, I think there were a lot of things that worked well. One of
the first things that I think was beneficial in my guided reading lesson was pre-assessing the

students. I truly took the time to evaluate the students guided reading level. I could have taken
my mentors most recent running records and taken as the proper level. If I had done that though,
the students would have been reading below their actual level. I could tell assessing the students
was a positive experience because rather than holding back the students and their progress I was
a part of the reason why they were able to grow.
Another part of my guided reading lessons that went well was when I thoughtfully planned
day by day. If I had planned ahead of my experiences, I never would have been able to teach and
plan my lessons around focuses around the students needs. I believe that if I had done this kind
of planning for my students I would not have become a better teacher. This type of structured
planning really forced me to think about to help the students. I could tell each day that they were
benefiting from the lessons that allowed them to become stronger and better readers.
If I were to do this experience again, I would definitely take teachable moments and
implement them. Throughout the course of my lesson, I felt as though the students need
additional support in other areas, but because I was so worried about meeting the goals I had predetermined I lacked helping them further. If I would have just taken the second to address the
other problems the students were having throughout the reading such as the lack of confidence
and fluency problems, I could have truly helped the students further for their independent
reading. This leads me to what I would plan to do for the following week. I feel as though the
students have met the goals I set out for this week, so I would work on the other two mentioned
skills. The students definitely need to build up their confidence to become more independent and
less supported while reading. Also, the students should be able to read in a fluent manner to help
them reach other reading skills like the comprehension. Therefore, if I could do my lesson

different and plan for future guided reading lessons for this group, my lessons would center on
these skills that should have been additional teachable moments for this week.
This experience helped me understand basic principles of guided reading. I realize the
importance now of planning to what the student needs because this is the primary focus of
guided reading. To truly help the student reach obtainable goals that will make them a better
reader is the best thing for them. It just takes some modeling of the strategy and then utilizing it
themselves to make sense of it for themselves. This experience made me feel more prepared for
future teaching practices on guided reading because I was able to maintain a classroom
environment while teaching. This focus also is an underlining principal of guided reading. In
conclusion, I gained a perspective of guided reading principles to make myself a better teacher of
reading and make the students stronger independent readers.