PLANNING SUPPORT & SAMPLE LESSON

24 Excerpted from

Next Step Guided Reading Assessment

Early Guided Reading Lesson Plan

In this section, we’ll walk through the Early Guided Reading Lesson

Plan; it’s a two-day plan. We recommend copying a set of these templates

(making a double-sided copy with the Early Guided Reading Anecdotal

Notes sheet on the back) to have on hand while working with your early

readers. You’ll use the same text for both days; students will ﬁnish the text

on the second day, rereading if they complete it early. Keep in mind that

while you’ve pinpointed an instructional focus in your planning, you’ll also

want to take into account what happens during the lesson when choosing

your teaching point after reading.

Day 1 LEssoN CompoNENTs

Before Reading

Sight Word Review (1 minute)

(This review is optional after Level E.)

Select from the High-Frequency Word Chart (see Appendix pages

184–185) three sight words that you have already taught. Begin by

asking learners, Are you ready for the sight word challenge for the day? Then,

dictate the words one at a time as students write them on a whiteboard.

Say, Write the word want. Think about what it looks like. Support and

scaffold writers as soon as they need help and before they write the word

incorrectly, giving prompts and visual links like:

• Want is almost like went but has an a in it.

• The word where has the little word here in it.

The word they has the little word the in it.

Place a check on the High-Frequency Word Chart for each word students

wrote correctly without any prompts or help. Students should have at least

six check marks for each word before it is considered a known word.

Early Guided Reading Lesson Plan (Levels D–I)

Title: Level:

Instructional Focus:

 Day 1 Date:  Day 2 Date:

Before Reading

Sight Word Review (optional after Level E) (1 minute)

Book Introduction (3–4 minutes)

This book is about

New vocabulary:

Book Introduction (1 minute)

Brieﬂy review reading from Day 1 and invite students to continue

reading the text from Day 1.

During Reading

Text Reading With Prompting (5–8 minutes) Prompt for self-monitoring, decoding, ﬂuency, vocabulary, and comprehension as needed.

Self-Monitoring

• Something didn’t make sense, did it?

What can you do?

• Are you right? Does that make sense

and look right?

• Read that sentence again, think about

the story, and what would make sense.

• I noticed that you self-corrected.

That’s what readers do!

• Think about the story and try something

that looks right.

• You ﬁgured out that tricky word by

yourself. How did you ﬁgure that out?

Decoding

• Cover the ending. Is there a part you

know? Try that again and think,

“What would make sense?”

• Do you know another word that looks

like this one?

• Break the word into parts and think

about what would make sense.

• Think about the two words that make

up that contraction.

• Can you think of a word that has

the same part in it?

Vocabulary

• Look at the picture/text feature to help

you understand that word.

Fluency

• Reread that sentence the way the

character might say it.

• Put these words together so it sounds

smooth.

Comprehension

• Tell me about what you just read. What

happened at the beginning?

• How does the character feel now?

• Why do you think that character did that?

• What might the character do next?

After Reading

Teaching Points (1–2 minutes) From your quick observations, select a decoding, self-monitoring, ﬂuency, vocabulary, or

comprehension strategy to quickly demonstrate and teach. See Early Guided Reading Prompts and Teaching Points Chart on page 192.

Retell

Comprehension Conversation (1–2 minutes)

Retell

• Can you retell the story or recount

important facts that you learned?

• Beginning-Middle-End (B-M-E)

• Somebody-Wanted-But-So-Finally

(S-W-B-S)

• Five-Finger Retell

Comprehension Conversation

• What are you thinking? What did you notice?

Do you have any questions about what you’ve read?

• What was your opinion of that book? Does anyone have a different opinion?

• What kind of text is this? Have you read any other texts like this?

• How are

books different from books?

• How do you think (character) feels about that?

• What was the big idea/central message/lesson/moral? Why do you think that?

Teach Sight Word (1–2 minutes) (optional after Level E)

Word Study (choose one; 5–7 minutes)

• Picture sorts • Sound boxes

• Making words • Analogy charts

Guided Writing (8–10 mi nute s)

Levels D & E: Dictated or open-ended sentence

Levels F–I: Beginning-Middle-End, or Somebody-Wanted-But-So

The Early Guided Reading Lesson Plan

found on page 190 in the Appendix is

a template you can use to plan your

lessons. Each component of the lesson

is described in detail here and appears in

brief on the template.

tIp

planninG support

& sample lesson

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Next Step Guided Reading Assessment

Book Introduction (3–4 minutes)

• Gist Statement: Begin your book introduction with a focused gist

statement. For early readers, name the characters in the book and

brieﬂy describe the problem. In an informational text, state the

main idea and what children might learn from reading the book.

• Picture Walk and Introduce New Vocabulary: Before

students read the text, it is essential that you provide time

for them to “walk” through the text using the illustrations to

construct meaning and discuss what is going to happen in the

book. As children are doing this, help them notice and discuss

the following:

» Unfamiliar vocabulary and concepts. Use pictures and kid-friendly deﬁnitions to

explain what the word or concept means. To help children remember, invite them

to repeat the word.

» New words that may be difﬁcult to decode. As students are “walking” through

the text, point out any unfamiliar words. For example, the word

special

might

appear in the text. Simply say,

I see a tricky word on this page. Point to this word

[show children in their book].

This is the word

special

Read it with me

[invite

children to read the word aloud].

During Reading

Text Reading With Prompting (5–8 minutes)

Invite early readers to read independently (and softly) while you prompt

and observe individual students. It is helpful for early readers to read

softly rather than silently. Reading softly enables them to monitor and

recall what they’ve read. Remember that they are reading the book

independently, not chorally or as a round-robin. As you coach

individual students, remind them of the instructional focus for the

lesson. Use the prompts on the lesson plan to encourage students to

monitor for meaning, decode unfamiliar words, and improve ﬂuency and

comprehension. Also make note of strategies you need to bring to their

attention after reading. The goal during reading is to support students as

they read and to identify what they need to learn next.

After Reading

Teaching Points (1–2 minutes)

Once all the students have read the text at least one time, invite them to

close their books. Use your observations and notes to select a teaching

point for the group from the Early Guided Reading Prompts and

Teaching Points Chart found in the Appendix on pages 192–193.

planning support & sample lesson • Grades K–2

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Next Step Guided Reading Assessment

Retelling or Comprehension Conversation (1–2 minutes)

For early readers, you have two choices for your after-reading

conversations. You will ﬁnd both of these on the Early Guided Reading

Prompts and Teaching Points Chart. (See Appendix, pages 192–193.)

The ﬁrst is to focus on retelling. Per the CCSS, retelling is an essential

skill for students in grades K–2. Thus, you will want to provide time for

students to practice with the different types of retelling scaffolds provided

in the lesson plan. If students are adept at retelling, or if you want to dig

a little deeper, you may wish to use the comprehension conversation

questions provided here, which are also tied to the standards. These

questions will spark conversations about readers’ opinions and ask

readers to compare and contrast texts, think about characters, and infer

the theme or central message of a text.

Teach One Sight Word (1–2 minutes)

Note: This activity is optional after Level E. See pages 135–136 for details.

Word Study (5–7 minutes)

Early readers who are reading texts at Levels D–I are still learning how

to apply phonics skills. Therefore, it is important that you spend the last

5–7 minutes of the Day 1 guided reading lesson doing one word study

activity. The four options for word study at this level are as follows:

• Picture Sorts: Readers sort pictures according to their

initial consonants, medial vowels, initial digraphs, or initial

consonant blends.

• Making Words: Students use magnetic letters or letter tiles to

make words that you dictate.

• Sound Boxes: Students who have difﬁculty hearing and

encoding or writing short-vowel sounds, digraphs, or blends

may still have poor phonemic awareness skills. Slowly

articulating a word, letter by letter, while writing each letter in

a box, helps children hear sounds in sequence. Use a Sound

Box (see example at left) and dictate three or four phonetically

regular words for students to write. Target words with short

vowels, blends, and digraphs. After you dictate the word, prompt

learners to say the sounds as they write the letters in the boxes.

Select words that are not already memorized, so the students

have to rely on hearing the sounds.

• Analogy Charts: Students use a T-chart or two columns to write

and sort dictated words according to their respective spelling

patterns. You can use this activity to teach the silent-e rule, vowel

patterns, and word endings.

Example of a Sound Box

l a m p

CCSS Standards for Retelling

RL.K.2 With prompting and support,

retell familiar stories, including key

details

RL.1.2 Retell stories, including

key details, and demonstrate

understanding of their central message

or lesson

RL.2.2 Recount stories, including

fables and folktales from diverse

cultures, and determine their central

message, lesson, or moral

RI.K.2 With prompting and support,

identify the main topic and retell key

details of a text

RI.1.2 Identify the main topic and retell

key details of a text

RI.2.2 Identify the main topic of a

multiparagraph text as well as the

focus of speciﬁc paragraphs within the

text.

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Next Step Guided Reading Assessment

Day 2 LEssoN CompoNENTs

Before Reading

Sight Word Review (1 minute)

This review is optional after Level E.

Book Introduction (1 minute)

Brieﬂy reintroduce the text. Today you will read to ﬁnd out more about

. Introduce any new vocabulary readers might ﬁnd challenging.

During Reading

Text Reading With Prompting (5–8 minutes)

Brieﬂy review the text that students read on Day 1, and introduce any

new vocabulary they will encounter in the next section of the text.

Children continue reading from where they left off on Day 1, as you

confer with and prompt individual students based on your observations

and focus strategy. Fast ﬁnishers can reread the book (or other books

they have read in previous guided reading lessons).

After Reading

Teaching Points (1–2 minutes)

See pages 192–193 for suggestions.

Retelling or Comprehension Conversation (1–2 minutes)

Use the retelling prompts or comprehension conversation questions to

strengthen students’ ability to summarize a story, recount facts they have

learned, and/or converse about the text they have just ﬁnished reading.

Teach Sight Word

See pages 135–136.

Guided Writing (5–7 minutes)

During guided writing, learners will write a short response to the book

they have read. Next Step guided writing helps students apply the

phonetic features you have taught during the word-study portion of the

guided reading lesson. Guided writing occurs at the guided reading table

so you can support and prompt individual students, coaching them to

apply the skills and strategies you have taught. You’ll be amazed at the

amount of teaching that you can squeeze into one guided writing session.

Depending on the ability of your students, you may choose to dictate a

few sentences about the text or let students craft their own response to

the reading. See Early Guided Writing Procedures on page 150.

planning support & sample lesson • Grades K–2

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Next Step Guided Reading Assessment

Early Guided Writing Procedures

Dictate one or two sentences about the text, or provide students the opportunity to retell or summarize

their reading. If you choose to dictate a few sentences about the text, you will want to include the

following:

• New sight word taught with the book

• Other familiar sight words

If your students are reading at Levels F–I and need support in summarizing a story, teach them one of

these two options. Have them practice that one before introducing the other.

Early Guided Writing Response Options

Retelling: Beginning-Middle-End – B-M-E (ﬁction)

Invite learners to write on separate sticky notes, three to ﬁve key words from the story. Assist

students as they group the words in sequential order under the headings B-M-E. To write their

retelling response, children use the key words from the sticky notes.

Retelling: Somebody-Wanted-But-So

Students write a summary of the story using the following framework:

Somebody—Who is the story about?

Wanted—What did this character want?

But—But, what happened?

So—So, what happened next? How did the story end?

(Adapted from Macon, Bewell, and Vogt, 1991)

As students are writing, support them in the following ways:

• If a student forgets a word, prompt the writer to reread silently what he or she has written so far to

see if he or she can remember the next word. If the student still can’t remember, dictate the entire

sentence and have the child repeat it. Avoid dictating the sentence word by word for students.

• After a student has ﬁnished writing his or her own response, prompt the child to reread for meaning.

The more students get in the habit of rereading their writing, the better.

• If a writer misspells a sight word, erase the wrong letters and ask, What’s missing? Provide a visual

scaffold by giving a clue such as, The word where has the word here in it. If these prompts are not

successful, write the word at the top of the page and ask the child to copy it a few times.

• If a writer asks how to spell a word, remind him or her that when writers want to spell a word they

say it slowly, sound by sound, or “stretch out” the word and write the sounds they know. This

practice encourages risk taking and independence. Again, you’re promoting the “I am a writer; I

can do this myself” mind-set.

• If the writer forgets conventions such as correct letter formation, capitals, and end punctuation, prompt

the child to reread and edit his or her writing. If needed, model correct letter formation at the top

of the student’s guided writing booklet.

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29Excerpted from

Next Step Guided Reading Assessment

Making the Most of the Early Guided Reading

Lesson Plan Template and Anecdotal Notes Sheet

To help you make the most of these two reproducible teacher resources, follow these tips for planning

activities and recording students’ performance over the course of two days:

• Make two-sided copies, with the Lesson Plan template on one side and Anecdotal Notes sheet

on the other.

• Jot down your plan notes before meeting with your early guided reading group as follows:

» Title: Write the title and level of the book you’ll be using.

» Instructional Focus: After pinpointing your instructional focus, write it on the top of the

Lesson Plan sheet, along with the date.

Before Reading

» Sight Word Review: Select three previously taught sight words from the High-Frequency Word Chart

(found in the Appendix on pages 184–185). Remember that this part of the lesson is optional after Level E.

» Book Introduction: Create a gist statement to introduce the book and preview any new vocabulary.

After Reading

» Teaching Point: Choose a strategy to model based on your observations during the reading.

Consult the Early Guided Reading Prompts and Teaching Points Chart on pages 192–193 for ideas.

» Retelling or Comprehension Conversation: Select a retelling option or comprehension conversation

question to spark a discussion.

» Teach One Sight Word: Choose the new sight word to teach. If possible, select a sight word that appears

in the text you are reading. Remember that this portion of the lesson is optional after Level E.

» Word Study: Select one activity and note the phonetic element(s) you will be targeting.

• Write the names of the group members on the Anecdotal Notes sheet. Record your observations

during the lesson here, noting with a plus (+), check (



), or minus (–) how well students self-

monitor, use decoding strategies, read ﬂuently, retell, and comprehend. There’s also space for you

to record any observations that will help you make instructional decisions for your students.

Now let’s take a look at a sample Lesson Plan template, which Maria has annotated with her thinking

about the group based on her assessment data. Evan’s assessment data is shown below; he is part of this

early guided reading group. You can see his complete Reading Record on page 106.

Evan’s assessment data from a Reading Record of a Level I text

planning support & sample lesson • Grades K–2

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Next Step Guided Reading Assessment

Assess–Decide–Guide:

Putting the Three-Part Framework Into Action

Page 106 shows Maria’s analysis of Evan’s Reading Record; she transferred his data to the

Reading Assessment Conference Class Proﬁle. Then, she grouped him with other readers

who were at a similar level and had similar needs. Now it is time to use all of the data to

plan an early guided reading lesson for Evan and his groupmates. Take a peek at Maria’s

thinking as she prepares to teach Evan’s group.

Since Evan and the other members of his group need work on ﬂuency, I chose the Level I book

Animal Snackers

by Betsy Lewin because the book contains rhyming four-line poems that I

knew the children would enjoy reading, rereading, and possibly sharing in a readers theater

style with the class.

Some of the poems in this book had challenging vocabulary for a Level I text. Since I previewed the book before

reading it with the group, I knew I would have to introduce and discuss the words

carnivorous,

from the poem

“Gorilla,” and

indigestion,

found in the poem “Ostrich.”

Knowing that Evan is relying mainly on visual cues, I know that the prompt I will be using the most often is, “Does

that make sense and look right?”

One of the CCSS standards for ﬁrst grade is that children should be able to explain the differences between books

that tell stories and books that give information (RL.1.5). We’ve been having these discussions throughout the

year, but I chose this discussion question for Evan’s group about this particular text because it is not as easy to

categorize as some. The book has cartoon-like illustrations and includes rhyming poems. I thought this would give

students an opportunity to share their opinions and give evidence from the text to support those opinions.

I chose to use the Analogy Chart with Evan and his group because although Evan was relying on visual cues to

ﬁgure out words, his miscues indicated that he was mainly using the beginning sounds of the words and not

looking through words to the end. The Analogy Chart would encourage the children to look at the end of the word

to determine whether it is a short- or long-vowel/silent-

word. Also, I know from the Word Knowledge Inventory

that Evan and the other members of his group still need a little extra practice with consonant blends, so when I

was thinking of words to dictate for the Analogy Chart, I included words with consonant blends to reinforce

that skill.

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31Excerpted from

Next Step Guided Reading Assessment

Sample Early Lesson Plan

planning support & sample lesson • Grades K–2

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32 Excerpted from

Next Step Guided Reading Assessment

Tracking Progress of Evan’s Group

of Early Readers

Each time this group reads and rereads the guided reading book, Maria

observes and records (with a +,



, or –) whether each child is self-

monitoring, decoding, and reading with ﬂuency and expression. After

reading, she notes in the same fashion whether each child is able to retell

and participate in the comprehension conversation. Then, she jots down

any other observations and her next steps on the Early Guided Reading

Anecdotal Notes sheet found in Appendix on page 191. She keeps track

of their known sight words on the High-Frequency Word Chart found in

Appendix on pages 184–185. After two or three weeks, she looks over

her notes to determine whether or not the group, or a child in the group,

is ready to move to the next level of books. She considers whether or not

they are consistent (receiving a lot of plus marks) on the focus strategies

she’s taught and prompted. If she’s unsure whether or not they are ready

to move on to the next level, she can do a quick reading record before

moving them to that level.

When Do You Take Early Readers to the Next

Step—Transitional Guided Reading?

You can consider moving students to the Transitional Guided Reading

Lesson Plan when they can:

• Achieve an instructional reading level of J or above

• Read and write a large bank of sight words

• Monitor by using meaning and visual cues

• Decode new words by integrating a variety of strategies

• Reread at point of difﬁculty to access meaning and structure

• Reread for ﬂuency, phrasing, and expression

• Remember and retell what they have read

• Apply phonic elements such as blends, vowel combinations,

silent-e rule, and endings to both reading and writing

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