Monday, July 20, 2009
Recently, I have been reading a great book by Fountas and Pinnell on Guided Reading. From reading the first couple of chapters, I've noticed that implementing this type of reading program requires an entire paradigm shift. This brings me several concerns because this coming school year, our school will indeed need to undergo this type of shift. Our previous reading program incorporated some aspects of guided reading but in all truth the teachers would not implement those components fully. I would like to see if any of you who come across this blog would be able to share some experiences about dealing with these type of changes. Any suggestions/warnings would be greatly appreciated as well some sound advice...
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There would be a big difference if all the teachers were to follow a guide, not everyone exactly but tweaking it to their tastes. It's difficult to change something that would in doubt make a difference, but only if the teachers are all on the same page. We are in a similar situation for next year when we all have to be "doing the same thing." Not school wide but district wide. I hope everyone does their part.
ReplyDeleteI think the teachers will have more buy in when they see the value that Guided REading provides and the huge gains students have when instruction is differentiated at their level. We started this transition last year and what really helped was modeling the guided reading lessons in the classrooms with several groups so that the teachers could see how it worked. The Scholastic Guided REading program also has a guide which designates the reading behaviors that should be evident at each level which also helped the teachers see how instruction needed to be differentiated and how guided reading provided that framework. Perhaps, we can do some cross campus observations!
ReplyDeleteLisa that sounds like a great idea! Like I said, since it hasn't been fully implemented at my campus, I really don't know exactly what it would look like. Maybe, I can go to your campus to see it in action first and that will help me see a better picture of it and help me assist the teachers with implementation... About the Scholastic Guided Reading program, we have some (very few) components of these books. Since they are quite pricey we may be able to get at least one set per grade level (with lots of begging for the money) how have you all been able to share resources amongst your teachers? Does each teacher have his/her own set?
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