The teacher reads aloud to the whole class using texts that go along with the core curriculum, favorite authors, and/or favorite characters.  Students are encouraged to respond before, during, and after the reading. Read aloud books are reread many times to increase critical thinking and vocabulary knowledge. During this time the teacher focuses on modeling fluent reading and comprehension strategies.

The teacher uses an enlarged text that all students can see. This enlarged text may be a big book, a chart with a poem or song on it, or an overhead of a page from a science or social studies text book. The teacher involves the students in reading chorally and teaches explicit reading and comprehension strategies that the children will use during guided reading and independent reading.  Another aspect of shared reading focuses in on letter and word knowledge.  This is a time that a focused lesson will be taught on a phonemic skill that is new or being reviewed.

   Guided Reading & Managed Independent Learning

The teacher works with a small group of students who have similar reading levels and strategy needs.  This instruction is at the child's instructional level.  The rest of the children in the classroom are working independently in literacy stations.

What is Guided Reading?

What is Managed Independent Learning?

Independent Reading

Students read on their own from a wide variety of materials. The reading is from a collection of books in each student's browsing box which includes books at the child's independent reading level.  Many of the books have been seen before during guided reading or shared reading.  This rereading helps to develop fluency and confidence.  It also allows the child to practice the reading strategies taught during shared and guided reading.

Teacher and students compose messages and stories that are written using a “shared pen” technique that involves the students in the writing process.  The students write what they can and the teacher writes what they can't and sometimes what they have already mastered. The teacher and students negotiate what the message will be, the form of the writing project, and who the audience is.  The projects produced during independent writing are hung in the classroom and hallways and become independent reading material during managed independent learning time.  These projects are also used for shared reading and for mini-lessons during writing workshop. A lot of word work and phonics skills are reviewed during this time.

Shared Writing is similar to Interactive Writing with the difference being the teacher is the scribe.  The students still negotiate the message and help get the message down orally while the teacher does the writing.  A lot of word work and phonics skills are reviewed during this time. Shared Writing is used more toward the end of first grade and in second grade.

The students engage in writing a variety of texts. The teacher guides the process and provides instruction through a focused mini-lesson and through individual conferences with the student writers. 

What does a Writing Workshop look like?

Guided writing is when the teacher works with a small group of students that have similar needs. This may happen during writing workshop while the other children in the classroom are writing independently. The lesson during a guided writing lesson is focused on what the students may need remediation on.