Guided Practice for Reading Growth, Grades 4-8
Texts and Lessons to Improve Fluency, Comprehension, and Vocabulary
Foreword by Timothy Rasinski
Corwin Literacy
English/Language Arts Common Core | Reading (Middle/High School) | Reading (Primary/Elementary)
Use these lessons to build developing readers’ skill and desire to read, read, read!
This book will be your guide as you support middle grade students who are reading two or more years below grade level. The lessons enlarge students’ vocabulary and background knowledge and engage them in meaningful discussions and writing about their reading. As students’ reading skill and desire to read increases, you’ll watch them complete more independent reading and ramp up their reading volume—the practice they need to improve!
Guided Practice for Reading Growth provides all you need to get started. Laura Robb and poet David L. Harrison have collaborated to design twenty-four powerful reading lessons using original poems and short texts that interest your students and encourage them to think deeply. The opening chapters offer background knowledge for the lessons and teaching tips, then the bulk of this book consists of lessons—with full texts and suggested videos provided. Guided practice lessons are the instructional piece that can move developing readers forward by building their self-confidence and the reading expertise needed to read to learn and for pleasure.
This unique book shows you how to:
· Build students’ background knowledge by watching and discussing videos.
· Use the poems to improve reading and to improve fluency through practice and performance.
· Invite students to write about their reading and increase comprehension and recall.
· Ask partners to discuss before, during, and after reading as meaningful talk enlarges students’ analytical thinking and understanding.
· Design your own lessons for students with extra texts by David L. Harrison in the appendix.
Use this book to develop students’ self-confidence and the reading skill they require to become lifelong, joyful readers!
Free resources
Four Key Literacy Experiences for Developing Readers
In this excerpt from Guided Practice for Reading Growth, Grades 4-8, by Laura Robb and David Harrison, the four key literacy experiences that developing readers need are outlined.
Characteristics of Developing Readers in Middle Grades
In this excerpt from Guided Practice for Reading Growth, Grades 4-8, by Laura Robb and David Harrison, the characteristics of developing readers in middle grades is discussed.
Lesson 10: Partner Discussions for the Text "I Am Not a Number"
Use this free lesson from Guided Practice for Reading Growth with your students and lead discussions around the text "I Am Not a Number" to help students make inferences to identify personality traits, draw conclusions, and visualize. This text also builds empathy and compassion for homeless families and children.
“With special consideration on our students who are developing as proficient readers, this book unpacks an essential step in skilled teaching – the guided practice component. So often, we leapfrog from modeling to independent practice; Robb and Harrison’s thoughtful inquiry into guided practice helps us understand the power and promise of guided practice, the essential components of guided practice, and model lessons to enact guided practice.”
“The power of intriguing texts, purposeful reading, and development of independence in reading are the keystones of this book. Teachers will find guidance on how to snag the interest of middle school students with content texts especially written by David L. Harrison and woven into compelling lessons by Laura Robb. The authors provide teachers with a powerhouse of lessons that nudge students along in becoming independent readers who can infer, summarize, discern cause and effect, and much more. Not only will students gain skill in reading, but they will also have multiple opportunities to write, discuss, and broaden their vocabulary. An outstanding resource!”
“This book shows teachers how to apprentice developing readers into knowing and doing the secret things that expert readers know and do. Laura Robb and her co-author have nailed the very core of the kind of cognitive apprenticeship that transforms student engagement and capacity: provide guided practice into the use of new stances and strategies (in ways tailored to meet the needs of the whole class, small groups and individuals), and then move to deliberate independent practice that consolidates, extends and explores these moves of expert readers. “
“Laura Robb and David L. Harrison's new book is a great practical guide to help teachers provide more effective reading instruction!"
“Laura Robb is a legend in the field of literacy and the years she has dedicated to serving and educating shine through in this gem! Robb’s optimistic tone and steadfast belief in learners permeate each page of this practical professional resource. The included lessons are a tribute to student-centered, scaffolded learning. These thoughtfully-spiraled lessons build confidence in problem-solving and spotlight the importance of literary conversation. I greatly appreciate the focus on using real, relevant, and accessible texts to drive classroom learning. As such, Harrison’s writing amplifies the “engagement factor” of each lesson— I imagine classroom readers will get lost in the rhythm and melody of his words. Thank you, Laura and David, for sharing your knowledge, wisdom, and expertise with us all.”
“What is essential for reading growth? David Harrison and Laura Robb provide guidelines and tips for schedules, routines, instructional practices and lessons that increase students’ reading skill and self-confidence with proven sustained growth by real students in real classrooms. The authors use the research and their classroom work to provide evidence that students working below their grade level do not need pre-made programs or one-size basals but do need knowledgeable teachers who know their students and align and craft guided practice that encourages students to work hard to meet their goals. This book details how guided practice reinforces and enhances independent reading, interactive read-alouds, vocabulary building and writing about texts in a reader’s notebook in manageable instructional practices.The implementation of the ideas in this book will help EVERY teacher develop effective and efficient targeted instruction that capitalizes on their knowledge and relationships with the students in their own classrooms.”
“One of the hardest parts of helping developing readers can be finding texts that support them. In this compendium of intermediate and middle grade reading lessons, Laura and David suggest one great text after another, making offering readers the practice they need to become stronger, more proficient readers even easier!”
Sample Materials & Chapters
Lesson 1: Partner Discussions Using the Poem for Two Voices, "What Was She Think
