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Product 1:
Getting A Grasp on K-1 Guided Reading Instruction

1. What does guided reading instruction at the K-1 grade level look like? What is the
nature of a Kindergarten classroom? What is the nature of a 1st grade classroom?
Before instruction overall can begin, we as teachers need to be reminded that
when a student enters from kindergarten into first grade, every individual student has
been exposed to different levels of literacy. All students possess the fundamental ability
and attributes they need to become literate. Many have encountered a great deal of
literacy by the time they enter first grade. But most children need teaching. We as
teachers need to provide a range of experience and instruction that is necessary for
students to be successful. The transition from kindergarten to first grade is a huge step for
children. This is the time that they truly take the step to become readers and writers. Like
all things, some students will be stronger in the area of literacy than others. The nature of
a kindergarten and a first grade classroom during guided reading are based off of
rereading familiar texts, book introduction, reading of a new text, post-reading discussion
and follow-up activities. Students at these levels need repetition. This lesson format may
also vary bit if there are students that are emergent readers. Many times in kindergarten-
first grade, this is where phonemic awareness, print concepts and letters are introduced
and developed.
Before diving into what guided reading truly looks like in kindergarten, we need
to look at the nature of what a kindergarten classroom is. A typical kindergarten
classroom is not quiet or calm, but it does have a sense of organization. When we enter a
kindergarten classroom, it must be literacy-rich. There should be a design of centers for
students to transition and choose from. The National Association for the Education of
Young Children suggests assigning locations for building, dramatic play, reading, puzzles
and art projects. There should also be an area for students to put their belongings,
supplies and personal items, to avoid any chaos or over-the-top disorganization. In reality,
the classroom is going to be hectic, but keeping it organized chaos is part of what a
kindergarten classroom is. This is the first time that students are entering a lengthy
academic adventure from elementary school, all the way to graduation of high school.
Students may be nervous and unsure of how everything works. Students also are
introduced to many literacy-rich concepts in kindergarten. Guided reading looks a bit
different in kindergarten than it would in other grades. Students begin with their
phonemic awareness and phonological awareness. Phonemic awareness refers to the
specific ability to focus on and manipulate individual sounds in spoken words.
Phonological awareness is a wide skill that includes identifying units of oral language;
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parts such as words, syllables, and onsets and rimes. These awareness skills are gained
through sight words and repetition. Students begin with reading books. Now, they don't
necessary ‘read’ the books. Students take picture walks to make predictions and simply
enjoy the concepts of reading. They may not understand the written words on the page,
but they are exposed to the literacy around them. Picture walks can range from very basic
to very complex for kindergarten students. They are also exposed to early variations of
comprehension strategies. Using the Daily 5 in Kindergarten is a great way to keep
students engaged and motivated to read. For example, if on Monday we are focusing on
Sight Words, the Daily 5 will incorporate the sight words we are working on, alphabetic
letters and sounds, and writing them.
When entering a first grade classroom, the dynamic is a shift from kindergarten.
Children in first grade are head over heels for school. They are overwhelmed with
enthusiasm and excitement for learning, life, friends and their interests! The age of first
graders is often marked with friendships, growth, loss of teeth, more emotional highs and
less emotional lows. The nature of a first grade classroom is more organized and students
understand the concepts of school. First grade is where many students become readers
and writers. According to Scholastic, building reading skills is an essential part of a first
grader’s learning process and academic success down the road. Even when students are
not specifically learning “reading,” they are constantly using this skill to learn other
subjects—which is why it’s crucial for your child’s success in all subjects. In first grade,
this is when students begin to apply their skills of reading and writing to other subjects.
Scholastic has made a list of what students should be learning to build reading skills in
first grade:
• Recognizes the features of a sentence (for example: first words, capitalization,
and ending punctuation).
• Recognizes the spelling and sound of two letters that represent one sound, such as
th, ch, wh (these are also known as digraphs).
• Learns to read regularly spelled one-syllable words.
• Understands how an “e” at the end of a word changes a vowel within the word.
• Breaks up longer words into syllables in order to read them.
• Reads grade-level words that have “irregular” spellings.
• Talks about and answers questions about the text he reads.
• Reads texts aloud at an appropriate speed and with expression.
• Compares different characters, events, or texts.
• Understands the purpose of and uses common features in a book, such as
headings, tables of contents, and glossaries.
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2. What is the content of the instruction? What is the student doing and learning? What is
the teacher doing and learning?
When emergent readers begin encountering lessons including guided reading,
they will experience a balanced literacy program or BLP. A balanced literacy program
regularly provides different kinds of reading and writing to students. According to “What
Is Guided Reading?” from Chapter One of Fountas and Pinnell, guided reading enables
children to practice strategies with the teacher’s support, and leads to independent, silent
reading. The content of learning is based off of the student’s ability. It is also meant to
challenge the students. By reading aloud, teachers help children experience the text, even
though they cannot fully read yet. During shared reading, students learn critical literary
concepts and get a feel for reading. It is through guided reading that the teacher can show
children how to read and support them as they read. The purpose of guided reading is to
teach children “on the run” according to Fountas and Pinnell. They are enjoying the story
because they understand it themselves. The ultimate goal in guided reading is for students
to independently use reading strategies successfully. Fountas and Pinnell focus on a
similar process in guided reading, which has components that are similar but may change
depending on development of the child. Their process goes as follows:
• A teacher works with a small group.
• Children in the group are similar in their development of a reading process and are able
to read bout the same level of text.
• Teachers introduce the stories and assist children’s reading in ways that help to develop
independent reading strategies.
• Each child reads the whole text.
• The goal is for the child to read independently and silently.
• The emphasis on reading increasingly challenging books over time.
• Children are grouped and regrouped in a dynamic process that involves ongoing
observation and assessment.
Fountas and Pinnell focus on what the teacher is doing and what the students are doing.
In kindergarten, the content area focuses more on opportunities to be exposed to reading
and writing opportunities. They must have literacy experiences that will help them move
from their early approximations to more refined concepts of how print works. In
kindergarten, children also learn to recognize and name upper and lower-case letters.
According to Fountas and Pinnell’s research, teachers have found that students tend to
learn the letters that are in their name first. As children approach and enter first grade,
most children will have a body of knowledge that they can use as resources towards
reading. First graders have an understanding of how some words look, and whether
something “makes sense” or “looks right.” They also have knowledge of what print looks
like and what information it contains. In guided reading, there are essential elements of
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which go along with it. This chart was created by Fountas and Pinnell on what the student
and what the teacher is doing during a guided reading lesson. This gives a great angle of
what the classroom should look and sound like during a guided reading lesson.
Before the Reading
Teacher • selects an appropriate text,
one that will be supportive
but with a few problems to
solve
• prepares an introduction to
the story
• briefly introduces the
story, keeping in mind the
meaning, language, and
visual information in the
text, and the knowledge,
experience and skills of
the reader
• leaves some questions to
be answered through the
text
Student • engages in a conversation
about the story
• raises questions
• build expectations
• notice information in the
text
During the Reading
• “listens in”
• observes the reader’s
behaviors for evidence of
strategy use
• confirms children’s
problem solving attempts
and successes
• interacts with individuals
to assist with problem-
solving at difficulty (when
appropriate)
• makes notes about the
strategy use of individual
readers
• read the whole text or a
unified part to themselves
(softly or silently)
• request help in problem-
solving when needed
4
After the Reading
• talks about the story with
the children
• invites personal responses
• returns to the text for one or
two teaching opportunities
such as finding evidence or
discussing problem-solving
• assessing children’s
understanding of what they
read
• sometimes engages the
children in extending the
story through such activities
as drama, writing, art or
more reading
• talk about the whole story
• check predictions and react
personally on the story or
information
• revisit the text at points of
problem-solving as guided
by the teacher
• may reread the story to a
partner or independently
• sometimes engage in
activities that involve
extending and responding to
the text (such as drama or
journaling)
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3. How can assessment be used to make and change groups of students or plan for the next
lesson?
After a guided reading lesson is completed, a teacher is always going to ask him/herself,
‘Am I teaching guided reading successfully?’ This is the case with any instructional approach.
The ultimate answer to that question is if the approach responds to the children’s learning needs
and helps them fuel their own learning. To know a teacher is successful in guided reading, they
do not need to wait for the end of the year testing. They will know by the moment-to-moment
observations that are made during the lessons and observations. Running records are another way
to assess students ability and see where they are as a reader. If a teacher is following Fountas and
Pinnell’s Literacy Curriculum, then there is a Recording Form for teachers to follow while the
guided reading lesson is happening. Students can be pulled before or after a lesson for
assessment. There are goals that are to be set which can be followed and made notes of for
behavioral evidence, demonstrating that those goals were achieved.

Guided Reading Lesson

Class List & Reading Level
(names & reading levels are made up)
Student Reading Level
Name

Abby I Uses prosody, reads with accuracy, developed automaticity

Alison C Reads with prosody, reads with accuracy, reads with

automaticity, attends to punctuation, reads in long phrases
Bella C Uses prosody, reads with accuracy, reads with automaticity,
attends to punctuation, reads in long phrases

Benjamin E No prosody, reads in long phrase, attends to punctuation,

reads with accuracy
Connor F Uses prosody, reads with accuracy, developed automaticity,
short phrases

Collin G No attention to punct./no prosody/ short phrases

Dylan G No attention to punct./no prosody/ short phrases

Derek I Uses prosody, reads with accuracy, developed automaticity,

attends to punctuation, motivated reader
Julian D No prosody, attends to punctuation, accurate reading, reads in
short phrases, concerns with comprehension

Jill A Word by word, no prosody, attends to punctuation, reads

accurately, motivated reader
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Kody C Uses prosody, reads with accuracy, reads with automaticity,

attends to punctuation, reads in long phrases
Maya F Reads with prosody, reads with accuracy, reads with
automaticity, attends to punctuation, reads in long phrases

Maicyn B Word by word, no prosody, short phrases, reads accurately

attends to punctuation
Oliver F Word by word, no prosody, attends to punctuations, reads with
accuracy

Patricia H Reads with prosody, reads with accuracy, reads with

automaticity, attends to punctuation, reads in long phrases
Quinn H Uses prosody, reads with accuracy, developed automaticity

Robert E Uses prosody, reads with accuracy, developed automaticity,

short phrases

Suzie I Uses prosody, reads with accuracy, developed automaticity,

attends to punctuation, motivated reader
Simon I Uses prosody, reads with accuracy, developed automaticity

Zoey D Reads with prosody, reads with accuracy, reads with

automaticity, attends to punctuation, reads in long phrases

Students in this class will be sorted into groups of 5-6 students. This will allow for
students at similar reading levels to be together and also learn from one another.
Class Reading Groups
Group 1:
- Abby
- Derek
- Suzie
- Simon
Group 2:
- Collin
- Dylan
- Patricia
- Quinn
Group 3:
- Connor
- Maya
- Oliver
- Robert
Group 4:
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- Alison
- Bella
- Zoey
- Kody
Group 5:
- Julian
- Maicyn
- Benjamin
- Jill

Guided Reading Lesson (this lesson follows the Fountas and Pinnell Literacy Curriculum)
Grade: 1 (lesson is directed for level F readers, Group 3)
Miss Angie Carty
Standards Standard - CC.1.1.1.E
Read with accuracy and fluency to support comprehension:
• Read on-level text with purpose and understanding.
• Read on-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on
successive readings.
• Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding,
rereading as necessary.
Goals/ • Reading
Objectives • Search for and use information from pictures.
• Say a word and predict its first letters.
• Use multiple sources of information to monitor and self-correct.
• Reread a sentence to confirm.
• Read with appropriate stress and intonation.
• Read and understand words that stand for sounds (plop, chomp,
• burp).
• Make predictions based on knowledge and experience.
• Talk about characters’ feelings, based on inferences from pictures
• and text.
• Infer humor that is easy to grasp.
• Understand that sometimes you need to wait for a good thing so
• you can enjoy it.
• Phonics/Letter and Word Work
• Change a beginning letter to make a new word.
• Writing About Reading
• Predict what might happen next in a story
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Materials • Book: Berries for Pie

• Level: F
• Author: Casey Mao
• Illustrator: C.B. Decker
• Genre: Fiction/Realistic
Introduction • Consider the strengths and needs of your readers and the demands of the
text as you craft the introduction. The following bulleted items provide an
example of one way to introduce the book. The introduction should be
interactive and should allow time for students to respond.
• What’s your favorite kind of pie?
• Today’s book is Berries for Pie. Take a look at the front cover. You can see
Benson and a thought bubble. What was Benson thinking about?
• Have students turn to the back cover as you read aloud “A Plan for a Pie.” I
wonder what could go wrong. Do you have any ideas?
• Take a close look at the title page. What are you thinking?
• Turn to pages 2 and 3. Benson asked his dad if they could pick berries to
make a pie. Dad said, “Sure.” Sure means “yes.” Find sure on page 2 and
put your finger under it. Let’s read this line together the way Dad said it.
• Look at pages 4 and 5. You can see Benson in the picture. He dropped the
berries into the pail. Clarify the meaning of pail if needed. The sound the
berries made was “Plop, plop” as Benson dropped them into the pail.
• Turn to pages 6 and 7. What is happening here? This time, the writer says,
“Plop, chomp. Plop, chomp.” Say those words.
• What was making the “chomp” sound?
• Look at pages 8 and 9. Dad asked Benson, “Where did the berries go?” Say
where.
• What two letters would you expect to see at the beginning of the word
where?
• Find the question word where.
• Turn to pages 10 and 11. Have students echo-read the first two lines.
What’s happening? Benson kept tasting the berries. The berries were very,
very good.
• So far, nothing has gone wrong. Do you think Benson will enjoy berry pie?
• Go back and read the story from the beginning to check your prediction
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Body • As the students read softly, notice what individuals do at difficulty or after
an error, so you can demonstrate, prompt for, or reinforce effective strategic
actions.
• If needed, guide a student to self-correct using two or more sources of
information. Prompt with ‘Try that again.’ ‘Something was not quite right.’
Reinforce with ‘You fixed it all by yourself.’
• To help a student read with appropriate stress and intonation, demonstrate
the behavior. Listen to how my reading sounds interesting. Prompt with
Listen to yourself. Make your reading sound interesting.
• Engage all group members in sharing their responses to the book.
Encourage them to listen and respond to each other’s thinking during the
discussion.
• Invite students to share their thinking about Berries for Pie.
• You know that Benson had a plan to eat a berry pie. Did you find out what
went wrong in the story?
• Benson wanted that pie. How did he feel when it was time to eat the pie?
How can you tell?
• Did you think the story was funny? What part was funny? Can you take us
to that page?
• If the story continues, what do you think will happen next?
• Has anything like this story ever happened to you?
• Continue the discussion, guiding students toward the key understandings
and the main message of the text.
• Some key understandings students may express (ideas from Fountas and
Pinnell):
• Thinking Within the Text:
• Benson wanted to eat pie, so he asked Dad to pick berries.
• As they both picked berries, Benson ate a lot of the berries because they
tasted very good.
• Dad and Benson made the berry pie.
• When the pie was served, Benson could not eat it because he was too full
of berries.
• Thinking Beyond the Text
• Berries grow near Benson’s home.
• Benson and Dad were excited to pick berries and make a pie.
• Dad was surprised to see that Benson’s pail was almost empty after they
had been picking for a while.
• Dad was patient. He didn’t mind picking more berries.
• Benson and Dad had probably made a pie before.
• Thinking About the Text
• The illustrations provide information about how the characters felt.
• The writer uses onomatopoetic words to make the story more interesting.
• The ending is surprising and humorous because Benson was too full to eat
the pie he asked for at the beginning of the story.
• The writer uses a speech bubble to convey how Benson felt at the end.
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Closure • Independent Writing: Short Write

• Talk with the students about how the story ends. Benson was so full, he
couldn’t eat the pie that he wanted at the beginning of the story.
• Ask students what they think might happen next in the story.
• Then, have students write a prediction in the Reader’s Notebook, based
on evidence from the text.
• Have students say words slowly to hear the sounds and write the letters.
Support them with sound boxes if needed. Prompt them to write easy
high-frequency words quickly.
• If time allows, have students reread and illustrate the sentences.

Assessment • Refer to the goals of this lesson and make notes of behavioral evidence,
demonstrating that these goals were achieved.
• Refer to Level F in The Fountas & Pinnell Literacy Continuum and note the
behaviors and understandings the readers in the group control or need to
control. Make notes about what the readers learned how to do and what
they need to learn how to do next.
• Use the Recording Form to take a reading record and assess an individual’s
processing on yesterday’s new book. You may want to select a student
before or after the lesson, or at some other point in the day, to code the
record. After coding the reading, select an immediate teaching point that
will be helpful to the particular reader.