by Proud Mary

Created on: April 04, 2009

Guided Reading as an instructional strategy

For a brief period in education, some prominent researchers and university professors persuaded many educators that children will learn to read by immersing them in a print-rich environment, allowing students choice of what to read, and by reading aloud to students. This pedagogy was referred to as the Whole Language approach to teaching reading. After many years in practice several states, districts, and schools began to report falling scores in reading comprehension on standardized assessments. The Achilles heel of Whole Language had been revealed. Literature and quality reading materials are not enough to influence students desire and ability to read. Ultimately, many students who were taught reading in schools during the Whole Language generation never learned to comprehend what they read. Secondary educators were astounded to find that many ninth graders were reading far below proficiency levels-often many grade-levels below their peers.

Leaders of the Whole Language model fought diligently to get high-quality picture books in the hands of students, some of whom never held a book before starting kindergarten. While these education leaders' motives were honorable, leading teachers away from traditional basal readers for the sake of "real literature" vs. "abridged versions" turned out to be misguided. Traditional basal instruction was steeped in the Guided Reading model. Opponents of basal readers complained that publishers who reformatted or reillustrated trade texts also often rewrote or edited the original texts. Publishers did this for various reasons, such as adjusting readability-levels and discerning and editing inappropriate content for the sensitivities of early learners. A major detractor from the impression of the effectiveness of basal readers was that publishers could not replicate an entire novel or chapter book; they often chose excerpts from longer works to be published in the basal anthology. Hence the debate between educators began regarding the importance of reading "authentic" literature vs. reading selections in a basal reading program.

Some descriptions of Guided Reading have characterized the methodology as being akin to a Socratic approach, or one where a teacher poses questions which students answer as they read a selection. However research shows that Guided Reading is an instructional model that offers even more support for students before, during, and after reading. Specific classroom practices

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