Why Guided Reading for your homeschool?
It’s no secret that reading is one of the most important skills for kids to master. That’s why it should be at an automatic level in every child’s curriculum! But how do you create successful guided reading lesson plans for first grade – without any guidance of your own or experience whatsoever?
That’s a good question. Let’s go over all the necessary info about creating great guided reading lessons so homeschool moms like yourself can make sure your reading lesson and homeschool day runs smoothly!
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Why make your 1st Grade Guided reading lesson plans?
Starting your homeschool year as a new homeschool mom can be a daunting task. And when you start to think about the technicalities of education – like, “not just simple reading lessons, but it’s gotta to be guided reading lessons too?” and all that entails, it can be downright scary.
Of course, you don’t have to create lesson plans at all. As a homeschool mom, you have the freedom to simply purchase a curriculum that teaches reading.
However, sometimes you do want to be “that” homeschool mom and take it not just a few steps forward, but a few giant leaps forward in your homeschool planning. Maybe you like being detail-oriented and maybe, like me, you are a planner at heart! Maybe you even think planning is fun! And that means creating some of these awesome lesson plans yourself!
I can totally get on that train. I love me a good lesson plan, especially one that I’ve created. Because I know what I create specifically for my kids hits the nail on the head effectively. I know what they need to know and how they need to know it. Which makes creating my own lesson plans not only easy and fun, but exciting!
I didn’t start off knowing how to build lesson plans when I started homeschooling. Just like you, I had to do my own research. And that starts with your natural curiosity about making it in the first place.
Even though it could be intimidating to create your own lesson plans, with the right information and tools at your disposal, it doesn’t have to be. Let’s go over everything you need to know before creating your guided reading lesson plans, as well as some tips on how to make them as successful as possible.
Download this FREE guided reading lesson plan template!
You’ll be able to know exactly what to do during your reading lesson and follow a sure, yet effective, plan of action each time!
Why is guided reading so important?
Guided reading has been shown to be one of the most effective ways to help your first grade level kiddos improve their reading skills. In fact, when done correctly, it can help your little ones not only improve their reading skills but also their comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary. Wow, right?
This is because guided reading can allow you to work with your kids on a variety of texts at their individual reading level. Just in case you don’t know this, we’re hoping to help you with your first grader to enlighten you with all things you need to know about guided reading lesson plans for first grade. And there are several components that make up a successful guided reading lesson plan. These components include:
- the purpose of the lesson
- the focus of the lesson
- guided reading activities
- assessment tools.
Let’s take a closer look at each one.
The purpose of a guided reading lesson
The purpose of a guided reading lesson is to help your kids read and understand a text at their individual reading level. In order to do this, you need to select texts that are appropriately challenging for your kids.
Additionally, guided reading lessons should be designed to help your kids improve their reading skills in specific areas, such as comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary.
The focus of a guided reading lesson
The focus of a guided reading lesson should be based on the specific goals that you have for each child. For example, if the goal is for child to improve their comprehension skills, then the focus of the lesson should be on reading texts and answering questions about them. If the goal is for him to improve his fluency, then the focus of the lesson should be on reading texts aloud and practicing reading at a faster pace.
Activies you can include for guided reading lesson plans for first grade
There are many different guided reading activities that you can use in your lessons. Some popular guided reading activities include:
- predicting what will happen next in a text
- asking questions about a text
- summarizing a text
- identifying the main idea and supporting details in a text
- comparing and contrasting two or more texts
- explaining how a text made them feel
- identifying the author’s purpose for writing a text
- reading time during aloud or have your child read with expression
Assessment tools
Assessment tools are an important part of guided reading lessons because they allow you to track the progress that your kids are making and to determine if they are meeting the goals that have been set for them.
Some popular assessment tools include:
- running record
- guided reading probes
- guided reading questionnaires
- text level guided reading assessments
- fluency measures
- comprehension tests.
How to create 1st grade guided reading lesson plans
So, now that you know a little bit more about guided reading and guided reading lesson plans, it’s time to start creating your own! Here are a few tips to help you get started:
- Start by selecting the goals that you want to achieve with guided reading.
- Select appropriate texts that are at your child’s reading level.
- Choose guided reading activities that will help your child meet the goals you have set for him.
- Use assessment tools to track your child’s progress.
- Create a plan for each guided reading lesson.
1. Start by selecting the goals that you want to achieve with guided reading.
Here are a few deas:
Goal 1: Improve reading fluency.
To achieve this goal, you could focus on guided reading activities that help your child read texts aloud with expression. Additionally, you could use a fluency measure to track your child’s progress.
Goal 2: Improve reading comprehension skills.
To achieve this goal, you could focus on guided reading activities that ask questions about texts and require your child to provide answers. You could also use a comprehension test to track your child’s progress.
Goal 3: Improve vocabulary skills.
To achieve this goal, you could focus on guided reading activities that ask your child to identify the meaning of words in a text. Additionally, you could use a vocabulary test to track your child’s progress.
2. Select appropriate texts that are at your child’s reading level.
It’s important to select texts that are appropriately challenging for your kids. If the text is too easy, they will not be able to practice the skills that they need to improve. If the text is too difficult, they will become frustrated and may give up on reading altogether.
Some helpful websites that can test a child’s reading level include:
- http://www.readabilityformulas.com/index.php
- https://www.lexile.com/findabook/
- https://www. guidedreading.org/take-a-test/
- https://www.readingrockets.org/testyourself/take_the_test
3. Choose guided reading activities that will help your child meet the goals you have set for him.
There are many different guided reading activities that you can use in your lessons. Some popular guided reading activities include:
- predicting what will happen next in a text
- asking questions about a text
- summarizing a text
- identifying the main idea and supporting details in a text
- comparing and contrasting two or more texts
- explaining how a text made them feel
- identifying the author’s purpose for writing a text
- reading aloud with expression
You can look online to see other different activities you may can do with your kiddo. Here’s a list of 29 activities you can use from Hope is all you need and here are some activities you can use before, during, and after the guided reading lesson from The Measured Mom.
4. Use assessment tools to track your child’s progress.
Assessment tools are an important part of1st grade guided reading lesson plans because they allow you to track the progress that your kids are making and to determine if they are meeting the goals that have been set for them. Some popular assessment tools include running records, guided reading probes, guided reading questionnaires, text level guided reading assessments, fluency measures, and comprehension tests.
5. Create a plan for each guided reading lesson.
A guided reading lesson plan should include the goals that you want to achieve with the lesson, the text that you will be using, the guided reading activities that you will be doing, and the assessment tools that you will be using. Having a plan for each guided reading lesson will help ensure that your lessons are well-organized and effective.
To summarize, when creating your own guided reading lesson plans, remember to:
- Start by selecting the goals that you want to achieve with guided reading (I gave you a few examples above).
- Select appropriate texts that are at your child’s reading level. You can test your child’s reading level here
- Choose guided reading activities that will help your child meet the goals you have set for him.
- Use assessment tools to track your child’s progress.
- Create a plan for each guided reading lesson.
Creating guided reading lesson plans can seem daunting at first, but if you take it one step at a time, you can do it! And don’t forget, there are plenty of guided reading resources available online and in print that can help you get started.
Our Take on Guided Reading Lessons In Our Homeschool
You can cover quite a few concepts in your reading lessons, like word work, sight words, grammar, and comprehension with guided reading. But the beauty of guided reading is that you can also customize it to fit your child’s needs.
If your child is struggling with a specific skill, you can target that skill during guided reading. And if your child excels in a certain area, you can move on to more challenging texts, so he can continue to grow.
Sometimes we use chapter books and then review the main ideas, along with new sight words. We go over words that they’re unfamiliar with, which is probably among the best practices during your reading instruction. I like to introduce a new book that they haven’t yet read, but we also read familiar books, especially for my emergent readers. Scout will be among the first graders in no time, though he just turned 4 and will be heading into the preschool school year this fall.
We’ve been homeschooling about 6 or 7 years now and in all my years of teaching, I’ve learned that incorporating activities or reading works inside your book or text or reading programs works wonders for young children.
Consider getting a reading bundle or nabbing some guided reading books either at their specific level or even at slightly higher levels.That’s the first step. You want to also get some nonfiction text, too, so you can point out important points for your little reader’s development.
Your next step is to know what your child will be learning this year. I tend to seek the Core Knowledge Sequence for this. Even though we’re in Texas and their homeschool laws are lenient, and even though Core Knowledge goes off the common core, I still like to see the concepts per grade level and use it as a guide for my teaching points for the new school year.
After I’ve determined what my child will learn this year for reading, and have the books and reading text for it, then I’ll set out to either create my own reading activities to complement the text or find some online. Following activities before, during, and after your text works great when your kids are learning about story elements, character traits, new sight words and sight word practice, vocabulary development, and more! These activities are also great for independent work for your little homeschooler.
And then we go for it!
I sometimes make my own guided reading lesson plan book, or I’ll find one on Teachers Pay Teachers. For the past few years, we’ve been doing interactive notebooks, so I now like incorporate my reading lesson with interactive notebooks!
One of my favorites on TpT is from Lovin’ Lit, and she has quite a few language arts interactive notebooks that follow the common core. Even the poetry one and history one, I’ve loved from her!
You can also find great activities in Abeka. For example, one year we decided to read Charlotte’s Web, and I searched online for some activities. I saw they sold chapter book activity books for this. It was great to really dig in there, and it truly helped my kids understand more than just the pretty picture.
Another place I like to go for reading activities is one I also have a paid membership for – Super Teacher Worksheets. You’ll find they have tons of activitiy sheets just for chapter books and even nonfiction texts. Their membership fee is extremely affordable – I think it costs only around $25 a year.
And lastly, My Teaching Library is one of my absolute favorites to go to when hunting for worksheets for ALL subjects, but even for reading. I’ve been blown away by how many resources are within this membership. They have an annual membership and also a lifetime membership here. If you’re going to be needing a lot of resources in all subjects, this may be the way to go since all the resources are high-quality and all you need to teach on a concept. You should check it out.
Tips to create successful guided reading lesson plans for first grade level for your homeschool
When creating 1st grade guided reading lesson plans, it’s important to start by selecting the goals you want to achieve. Once you have your goals in mind, select appropriate texts that are at your child’s reading level. Then, plan out a variety of guided reading activities that will help your child meet the goals you have set for them. Finally, assess your child’s progress regularly using assessment tools such as running records, guided reading probes, guided reading questionnaires, and instructional level guided reading assessments.
Adjust your lessons as needed to meet the specific needs of your child. With these tips in mind, you’re ready to start creating guided reading lesson plans that are perfect for your first grader!
Guided reading is a powerful tool that can help students improve their reading skills. By following these tips, you can create successful guided reading lesson plans that will help your first grader reach his or her academic goals!
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Heya.
This is my advice to you. Try reading a entire poem out loud in order to start off with. Best wishes. Discuss the full meaning of the class text in question too. My fifth grade literature class pupils had a interesting task recently set by me. For one single literature lesson I requested them to find online a old news article to share with their pals. We discussed the news item as a group.
That was fun. At other times of the year the youngsters have drafted poems to describe their own feelings. One thing I always do is to build a word book to use. And I always have a nice storybook for the kids to read. I use the local library a lot. I find a lot of book options there.
We discuss key themes and learn about the names of the characters. I then make a list of events on a whiteboard using two or three different colours in question. I also get them to recap. I alternatively ask for their opinion of whatever storybook we read. Other fun planned classic activities include a quiz or game.
In terms of my recent lessons this is what I did. I taught a hour lesson on cakes and biscuits to a sixth grade class. They had to write a article based on their feelings about cakes and biscuits. They also looked at some adverts. Numbers were a part of it.
Thanks so much for your comment. Sounds like you have a wonderful time!