Standard 1.5

Standard 1.5 Differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities

“Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of strategies for differentiating teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities.”

Guided reading is an excellent strategy to provide differentiated teaching to students of various reading levels, and allow for students to interact with texts int he various ways referenced in the curriculum (SCSA, 2014). Various studies on the effects of guided reading show it to be an impactful and valuable asset to the classroom. Iaquinta (2006) argues that an effective guided reading routine embedded in the classroom literacy program is ‘best practice’ when helping students to achieve their reading potential. Guided reading can be used with readers of all levels and has three main benefits, according to Iaquinta (2006);

Guided reading allows the teacher to meet the various needs of every student in the classroom, allowing them to expand their reading abilities;

Guided reading gives the teacher an opportunity to teach students to read increasingly challenging texts with fluency and understanding;
Guided reading helps to equip students with problem-solving strategies that help them decode unfamiliar words, concepts, and ideas.

These last two benefits are particularly central to the Literacy curriculum (SCSA, 2014).

Fluency and decoding are integral capabilities included in the WA curriculum (SCSA, 2014), and guided reading provides students with a small group opportunity to practice and discuss their coding and problem solving strategies when approaching challenging texts.

During my Immersion practicum, I differentiated teaching for my 20 students with 5 differentiated reading groups, ranging from support to extension. Each group had a book of varying difficulty (gauged by vocabulary, sentence structures and length) as well as a weekly focus decided by myself.

By grouping students by ability, I was able to focus closely on their developmental level and provide the best instruction to help them develop their decoding skills. For example, the lower groups were scaffolded more closely with literal questions before moving onto inferential questions about the text. Higher ability groups were asked inferential questions from the start, and were also asked to form their own questions. I planned my lesson focus and questions ahead of time using a ‘guided reading planning sheet’. This sheet was also used during the session to take notes on the student’s responses to questions as well as their reading fluency. Questioning and reading fluency are both included in the curriculum (SCSA, 2014).

Bloom’s taxonomy provides an excellent inspiration and framework when it comes to questioning, and fits well when differentiating. The 6 forms of questioning, and the varying complexity of the questions within those forms, allows for myself to use my professional knowledge and knowledge of the students to select questions that are at an appropriate level for my students.

References

Bloom’s Taxonomy. (2013). HIGHLAND LITERACY. Retrieved 2 August 2016, from https://highlandliteracy.com/reading-2/blooms-taxonomy/

Iaquinta, A. (2006). Guided Reading: A Research-Based Response to the Challenges of Early Reading Instruction. Early Childhood Education Journal, 33(6), 413-418. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10643-006-0074-2

Reitsma, P. (1988). Reading Practice for Beginners: Effects of Guided Reading, Reading-While-Listening, and Independent Reading with Computer-Based Speech Feedback. Reading Research Quarterly, 23(2), 219. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/747803

Western Australian Curriculum. (2014). K10outline.scsa.wa.edu.au. Retrieved 2 August 2016, from http://k10outline.scsa.wa.edu.au/home/p-10-curriculum/curriculum-browser/english-v8