Sample Guided Literacy Lesson for Beginning Readers

Ms. Zaczkowska conducting a guided literacy lesson with kindergarten children from Newark, NJ in July 2012.

This is a sample high intensity guided literacy (not just reading) lesson using the Lee & Low published text, Family Picnic, that we designed this summer (using Jan Richardson's lesson plan) for the primary grade summer school project that was held at the 16 school sites in Newark, NJ.  It is the type of lesson that the teacher pictured above was conducting with her students this summer.

Family Picnic by Gaylia Taylor

This lesson is designed for a small group (4 to 6 children, but given the early level I think 4 works better). The two day 20 minute lesson plan connects reading, phonics, and writing and makes it far superior to traditional guided reading.  This is an example of the work that was done this summer to prevent reading difficulties.

In crunching some of the exiting data, it appears that children who attended summer school at least for 16 out of the 25 days made good progress--growing at least one level during the month and adding important foundational skills. Imagine what gains could be garnered if this type of instruction (along with the other components we did) was typical, not simply limited to summer!

Emergent Guided Reading Lesson Plan

Levels A-C; DRA 1-4

Title: Family Picnic  Level: A   Group #____________________    Lesson #____

 

Day 1  Date:	Day 2  Date:
Sight word review-writing: Dictate the words already been studied & have children write them correctly. is, we, I	Sight word review-writing Dictate words already been studied && children write them correctly. is, we, I
Introduce New Book:  This book is Family Picnic and it’s about a boy and his family who have a reunion at a park.   New vocabulary: picnic	Reread Yesterday’s Book (and other familiar books):         Observations Notes:
Text Reading with prompting: “Get your mouth ready.” “Does that make sense?  Check the picture.” “Does that sound right and look right?” “Show me the word _____.” (for sight words)
Teaching Points after Reading: One-to-one matching (Discourage pointing after level C.) Use picture clues (Meaning) Monitor with known words Use beginning letter cues Crosschecking picture & beginning letter (always do with levels A & B)	Teaching Points after Reading: One-to-one matching (Discourage pointing @ level C.) Use picture clues (Meaning) Monitor with known words Use beginning letter cues Crosschecking picture & beginning letter
Discussion Prompt: Turn and tell your partner one thing the boy and his family did at the park.	Discussion Prompt: What from the story tells you that the boy loves his family?
Teach Sight Word: my What’s missing? Mix & Fix Table writing Writing on a whiteboard (do all 4 steps both days)	Teach Same Sight Word: my What’s missing? Mix & Fix Table writing Writing on a whiteboard
Word Study Sound Box (2 boxes): Students should say each sound as they write the corresponding letter in the box. See template in next page. Make 3 copies of the template for each child. me, go, no, he, we	Guided Writing:  Dictated sentence. [Have children repeat the sentence to hear the sounds. Prompt as needed, encourage them to take risks as they spell, & reread their sentence to help them remember the next word.] My dog is my best pal.

Sound Box Template

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