As part of the Roxbury School District’s differentiated instruction initiative, the district’s Kindergarten and First Grade teachers have been engaged in training focused on Guided Reading and Literacy Centers.  Together, Mrs. Danielle Lynch – Supervisor of Humanities, PreK-5, and Mrs. Joyce Jose – Nixon School Reading Specialist, have designed a training session that incorporates a variety of sound instructional strategies.
 

“Guided reading is a teaching approach that is designed to help individual students learn how to process a variety of increasingly challenging texts with understanding and fluency. Guided reading occurs in a small-group setting because the small group allows for interactions among readers that benefit them all. The teacher selects and introduces texts to readers, sometimes supports them while reading the text, engages the readers in discussion, and performs a mini-lesson after the reading. Sometimes after reading a text, the teacher extends the meaning of the text through writing, text analysis, or another learning activity. The lesson may also include work with words based on the specific needs of the small group.”  Fountas and Pinnell, 1996.
 

Through Guided Reading, the classroom teachers are able to meet students at their readiness levels and work with them on achieving realistic goals.    Mrs. Lynch stated, “Providing our students with Guided Reading experiences is an integral part to a Balanced Literacy Program.  Guided Reading values the instructional levels of students.  In turn, students are able to learn at a level that is “just right” for them.”

In order for teachers to effectively carry out Guided Reading in their classrooms, they also need to consider what the other children are doing while they are instructing a small group of students.  To answer this need, Mrs. Lynch and Mrs. Jose devoted part of the recent training to the development of Literacy Centers. 

“A center is a physical area set aside for specific learning purposes.  Centers have appropriate materials to enable children to explore and work independently and behave as active learners.  Centers promote reading, writing, listening, speaking and viewing.  They provide open ended activities that extend and/or reinforce learning.”  Fountas and Pinnell, 1996.

In addition to Mrs. Lynch and Mrs. Jose sharing a host of center ideas, the classroom teachers also brought a center idea to share with their colleagues.  Through this sharing, classroom teachers were able to return to their classrooms with over 75 center ideas.

Teachers who attended the workshops have received the information regarding Guided Reading and Literacy Centers very positively.  One of the participants commented, “I think it was just about the most helpful workshop I have ever attended. Now I incorporate Literacy Centers into my daily morning activities along with the centers I had in place. The kids love them.  You gave us so many center ideas and activities that we all could really use in our classroom. Thanks for the fabulous job!”
 

Mrs. Lynch and Mrs. Jose are looking forward to continuing training in this area in the coming school year.