Guiding Readers Chapter 7

I'm finally getting a chance to get back to posting about the Guiding Readers book. This Chapter is all about  readers in the upper grades. Lori brings to our attention that guided reading may look like Literature Circles. This is a point of interest to me, since at our workshop today we discussed the role of Literature Circles in Guided Reading and/or Independent Reading.  And Lori mentions that sometimes Guided Reading may also look like Independent Reading. I completely get this, and love that it offers some options for us as teachers. However, I struggle with this concept in how well we can prepare for these thoughtful lessons based on student needs on an individual basis when sometimes it is a struggle to meet with all groups.

All readers struggle at some point and our job is to teach them how to work through text for deeper understanding, but some of those students may not struggle for understanding unless we increase the rigor of the task we ask them to do with the text. So, I can definitely see how we may work with a Literature Circle group and ask them to analyze the text (with our support) in a way that they otherwise would not typically do alone in a Lit Circle Group. 

Hmmm....lots to think about for sure.

Alison from Toad-ally Exceptional Learners is hosting Chapter 7- Struggling Readers in the Upper Grades and of course, you will also want to check in with Beth from Thinking about Teaching also!