Clearly, the early prevention of reading difficulties is critical (Clay, 1993; Richardson, 2018; Slavin, Madden, Dolan, and Wasik, 1996) and, to that end, there is no more effective way to prevent falling behind than guided reading. All students—those who are challenged, those who thrive as capable readers, and those for whom English is a target language—benefit from guided reading’s unique double scaffolding: 1) “just-right texts,” thoughtfully matched to each student to provide both instructional support and challenge; and 2) scaffolded instruction. Guided reading offers the surest route to critical thinking, deep comprehension, and confident, capable independent reading. Close Reading and Text-Based Evidence Reading comprehension is complex and can be taught only through the effective processing—with deep thinking—of connected and coherent texts. The RAND (2002) definition of reading helps frame the work of guided reading: Reading comprehension [is] the process of simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning through interaction and involvement with written language. It consists of three elements: the reader, the text, and the activity or purpose for reading. Reading is an active, complex, and multidimensional process that serves many different purposes. Readers are problem solvers, solving new words and navigating literary elements in fiction and text structures in informational texts, while constantly monitoring their hold on meaning. The moment meaning slips away, a red flag should go up, and readers should stop and rethink until they are reassured they are back on the meaning track, using the text as their comprehension anchor. If their dip back into the text doesn’t yield meaningful language and understanding, they need to revisit again and again until it does. An Exemplary Teaching-Assessing Loop Intentional and intensive instruction, informed by continuous formative assessment, characterizes the daily routine of the thoughtful guided reading teacher (Richardson and Walther, 2013). The teacher continuously monitors students’ progress: Are they mastering the foundational skills of reading? Are they learning to control the powerful linguistic and cognitive strategies that enable mature, skillful, independent reading? Teachers recognize that academic growth occurs across time, developmental benchmarks, and disciplines. But working with finely honed instruction and expertly selected texts gives them the best shot at maximizing the instructional leverage of each text.
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CHAPTER 5: TEACH
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