Guided Reading Lesson :)

Last week, I was finally given the opportunity to teach my guided reading lesson to my third grade students. Out of all the lessons we were required to teach, I was the most excited about teaching my guided reading lesson. I taught my lesson during homeroom, close to the end of the day. At first, I was worried that my group of students would be tired and drained from all of their classes. However, when they came into the room excitedly, and sat down in front of me, all of my worries had disappeared.

I began my lesson by asking my group of students to raise their hands and tell me what they think of when they hear the word “trust”. Immediately, hands shot up to the sky, and they all shared their answers with me and their peers. While some students gave their own personal definition of trust, others told personal stories that reminded them of the word. We discussed who we trust, who we don’t trust, and why.

I then introduced the two characters in our book, Never Trust a Squirrel. I drew a chart on the board, and in one column I wrote “squirrel” and in the other column I wrote “guinea pig”. I asked my students what they knew about these animals. We first made a list of what we knew about the squirrel, and then the guinea pig. I asked my group leading questions to help motivate their critical thinking skills. For example, I asked them, “what living environment do these animals live in?” “How are they similar?” “How are they different?” “What sounds do these animals make?” “How do they travel?” We discussed how there are different types of squirrels. One boy discussed the flying squirrel, and how even though they are called flying squirrels, they can’t really fly. He then continued to explain that flying squirrels have stretchy skin under their arms which helps them to jump farther than other squirrels. His knowledge in squirrels really impressed me for a third grader. I asked him where he learned about squirrels, and he explained to me that he read a book on squirrels for A.R. points. I later looked in the A.R. bin, where books are kept, and discovered that there were in fact a large amount of science books.

I then continued with my lesson and introduced new vocabulary that they would need to be familiar with when reading the book, Never Trust a Squirrel. I wanted to make sure that they would remember the vocabulary, so I wrote each word on a large note card: scampered, chitter/chatter, hutch, catch. One at a time, I introduced a word, asked them what they thought it meant, and gave my own definition. For each word, some of the kids repeated the word back to me, said it to themselves, or came up to the note card, put their finger on it, and said it out loud. I was surprised by some of their vocabulary skills. I did not expect them to know what the word “hutch” meant, but to my surprise, one of the children explained that it was an outdoor cage for an animal or pet. To make sure that they were listening while I was reading the book, I assigned actions to each vocabulary word. When my group would hear a vocabulary word, they would have to act out the appropriate action. For the word, “scattered” I instructed them to pat their hands on their legs. For the word, “chitter” or “chattered” I instructed them to giggle, make squirrel noises, or any other noise they think of when they hear this word. For the word, “hutch” I instructed them to put their arms above their head in the shape of a triangle. For the word, “catch” I asked them to create their own motion. As a group, they decided to pretend like they were opening up a door or pulling down a lever.

Before I began reading, I asked my group of students to read so that they could tell me why William the guinea pig should have never trusted Stella the squirrel.
While I read the book, I asked questions, had them predict what was going to happen, and watched to see if they were paying attention to the vocabulary. On one page, I overlooked a vocabulary word, and they quickly pointed it out to me, and did the appropriate motion. This was very reaffirming to know how close they were paying attention. I also could tell that they were paying attention by their positions. All the kids in my group were facing me, looking at the pages. Some of them sat Indian style with their hands in their laps, while others sat on their knees, leaning forward.

After reading, I asked them the same question I asked them prior to reading, “why should William the guinea pig never have trusted Stella the squirrel?” My group answered this question by referring to the different events that happened within the story. By asking this question, I was testing how well they were paying attention, and how well they understood the story, and the concept of trust.

I then asked them to think of someone that they trusted (mom, dad, teacher, friend, pet) and write about the environment that they share with this person or pet. The responses were delightful to read. Based on their responses, I was able to once again check for their level of understanding of the concept of trust, check their spelling and grammar skills, and even learn more about them. Most of the students in my group understood the directions. They told me who they trusted, why, and the environment they shared with them. Some of them even included a personal story which explained why they trusted this person. One boy, who has severe A.D.D., had a more difficult time. I could tell that he was motivated by the story, because he wrote about his own guinea pig. However, he could not explain why he trusted his guinea pig, or the environment he shares with his guinea pig. He was the last one to complete the assignment because it was so difficult keeping him in his seat. This was definitely a challenge for me. I tried to pay him a lot of attention, and help him work on his paper. I asked him questions that helped him think of what he could write about, and even encouraged him to draw a picture at the end.
I learned a lot from teaching my guided reading lesson. It was really neat to teach what I learned in class, and see how my kids responded to it. I learned how effective reading a book can be to children, if you read it in an effective way. Just from teaching my lesson, I was able to observe how much my group was learning about trust, animals, environments, new vocabulary, etc. When I become a teacher, I plan to use guided reading lessons for all the books that I read in my class. Through using visual images, audio, movement, and guided questions, my students will be more motivated and eager to read. I also think it is important to read books that interest them. At the beginning of the year, I think it is important for students to write down their interests. This way, teachers can take that into consideration when purchasing books for their classroom, and in their guided reading lessons. Before leaving W.A. Young Elementary, I hope to be able to teach one more guided reading lesson to my third graders, and hopefully learn more about its effectiveness on children.