Mrs. Pirate Teacher: Book Study: Week 2! (Guided Reading- Grouping Students)

It's week 2 of the #GuidedReadingGals' book study on The Next Steps in Guided Reading by Jan Richardson!

This week, Laura from Where the Magic Happens is blogging about Chapter 2: Assessment and Grouping. Go check out her page for an in depth blog post about Chapter 2!

Since chapter two is mostly about the different types of assessments you can use, I decided to blog about grouping students. There are so many ways to do this, so this is just one option!

Right now, my school system is using Read 3D to assess students' reading. At the beginning of second grade, students are assessed on nonsense words (columns 2 and 3 below), fluency (columns 4, 5 & 6), reading accuracy, and written & oral comprehension. After the assessment, I print out a scoring sheet that looks that this:

To the left, it has student's names but I have cut that part off. The column with the colored letters gives you their reading level. We have found that many students score lower than their actual independent reading level due to the written comprehension portion; so, in the column all the way to the right, I have written the students' highest reading level and percentage.

Then, I take the chart above and sort students based on their highest reading level. I write their names under the reading level and circle their accuracy percentage next to their name.

I use this sheet to help make my groups. This is where it gets difficult because I don't just start at the lowest level, count 6 kids, and group them together. I go back to my data sheet, look over their fluency and reading level with their written comprehension score, and look at my anecdotal notes.

After much thought, I come up with my groups:

*You can see where the 2 students with the lowest reading level were grouped with the highest reading level students. I try not to do this, but in this case, the students were so far spread out and I couldn't have 5 reading groups, so I created a mixed ability group. When this happens in a reading group, I get my higher students started and then work with my lower students. Their stamina usually isn't quite as long yet, so after spending 15-20 minutes with them, I'm back to my higher readers to finish up the thirty minute group.

*If you look at Josiah, you can see he read a K but was put into a lower group than two students who reading a level J. This is where looking back at all the other components of your assessments is so powerful. I found that he struggled with comprehension and lacked solid reading strategies. Therefore, I felt he would benefit from the lower group.

Grouping students is definitely a challenge. There is so much to consider! Once you begin guided reading groups, you might need to rearrange students again and that is okay! You will get to know your students as readers within a few weeks and you might find that their strengths and weaknesses would be better met in a different guided reading group.

Don't forget to go check out Where the Magic Happens for a great post about Chapter 2!!