Skipper Post #4

Routman Chapter 10: Examine Guided Reading
I was eager to read this chapter because I feel that my guided reading time needs some help.  The first point that is was important to me was that you should be cautious about how you group children.  I feel that most of my guided reading groups are based on reading levels but Routman points out that once children can read, maybe this isn't the best way to group them.  Flexible grouping is suggested and this is something that I would like to work towards with my guided reading.  I also liked the rules that were suggested for the students who are not working with the teacher during that Guided Reading time.  One area of my reading time that I have tried to monitor and adjust this year is limiting the amount of writing that I am requiring my students to do during my reading block.  I have tried to make sure that students are mostly reading during that time.  This is another suggestion in the book.  I also liked looking over the excerpts from Guided Reading groups because sometimes just reading about something doesn't help me with what that would look like in my classroom, but these excerpts really gave me an idea of how this should work in my classroom.  These excerpts were also broken down on the readers that would be in the groups to help know what to do with all students.  This is also a struggle for me sometimes because not all ideas work with all students.  I really feel like this chapter will be very helpful in the future as I plan lessons for my guided reading groups.