Transitioning from a Whole-class Basal Text Approach

to a

Balanced Literacy Concept

focusing on using a

Guided Reading Approach:  Grades K-5

This website was developed to document Van Buren Elementary School's transition from a whole-class basal text to a balanced literacy concept focusing on the use of a guided reading approach.

Use the buttons below to go directly to particular areas.

BACKGROUND

The 2003-2004 school year brought about a Textbook Adoption Committee for Reading/Language Arts. The committee consisted of a teacher from each K-5 grade level, a special education teacher, a Title 1 / Reading Recovery Teacher, a reading intervention teacher, and the principal. We began by discussing the perceived strengths and weaknesses of our current basal textbooks. Then we previewed new textbook series available from various publishers. The new basal series seemed virtually identical to each other as well as to the series we were currently using. The committee soon realized that our school would benefit most from a new approach to teaching reading rather than just replacing what we were already using with a newer version of the same thing. We found that basal textbooks encourage fragmented teaching of skills and concepts. They also use a whole-class teaching approach. Scores from Ohio’s Fourth-grade Reading Proficiency Tests and Third-grade Reading Achievement Test indicated that most often our students were not reaching the state’s goal of 75% proficiency. Based on these scores, it was obvious that an instructional approach different from  whole-class teaching was necessary. The question now was “What is the best approach to providing reading instruction?”

            In December 2003 members of the Reading Committee attended a special training session on using a Guided Reading approach to teaching reading. The person conducting the training was Kathie Cloonan. Kathie’s session seemed to be the answer we were looking for. Here was an approach that provided a balance among the following: shared reading with the whole-class, writing instruction, modeling and practice of skills and concepts, and (most importantly) small-group instruction at the students’ instructional  levels of decoding and reading comprehension. Click on the link to view a video of Kathie Cloonan describing the Guided Reading approach and the Balanced Literacy concept.

            Our Reading Committee determined that a Balanced Literacy concept focusing on the Guided Reading approach was the best match for our school. We were convinced that the best way to train our teachers was by bringing in Kathie Cloonan. To do this we needed approval of the school board.  

GETTING APPROVAL

             In March 2004 members of the Reading Committee spoke before the school board. Our purpose was to inform the board of the conclusions we had reached. We intended to share our professional knowledge with the hopes that the board would approve the new approach and the hiring of Kathie Cloonan to provide monthly training. We explained why we were dissatisfied with the whole-class basal text approach. The fragmented teaching of skills and concepts meant that many students did not receive adequate attention to their needs. Basal programs alone do not enable a teacher to pinpoint a child's reading difficulties. We also explained that our teachers wanted more training on teaching reading, especially how to help children with identified reading difficulties. We wanted a reading approach that would help children develop strategies for reading. The committee also explained that basal textbook series are expensive and involve a lot of consumable materials. Click on the link to view an estimated cost comparison of a new basal textbook series versus the adoption of a Guided Reading approach with proper training. Once approval was given, the next step was preparing the Book Room for materials to be used during Guided Reading lessons.

THE BOOK ROOM

            We began in May 2004 by contacting publishers of Guided Reading materials. Each grade level was asked to select different fiction and non-fiction leveled books. Leveled books are books identified as being at a particular reading ability level. For the sake of consistency, we chose to follow the Fountas and Pinnell guided reading levels. Click below to link to Scholastic, Inc., Wright Group, and National Geographic School Publishing websites for excellent sources of guided reading materials.

                            www.scholastic.com        www.wrightgroup.com        www.ngschoolpub.org

            After receiving cases and cases of leveled books we began the process of organizing the Book Room. Each book was stamped inside the front cover identifying it as a Van Buren Guided Reading book. A color-coding system was developed for each level and each book was labeled with a colored sticker. The letter of each level was then written on the sticker. This enables the teacher to quickly see what level a book is identified as. Matching colored magazine holders were purchased to store the leveled books. Other materials such as reading games, skills activities, and leveling kits were purchased for teachers to check-out of the Book Room for use in their classrooms. Much of August 2004 was spent by committee members preparing the Book Room. Discussions with teachers from other schools using a Guided Reading Approach were very helpful for organizing the Book Room. One useful suggestion was to label the magazine holders with the books’ titles and write teachers’ names on clothespins. When a set of leveled books is checked-out, the clothespin is stuck on the book’s title written on the magazine holder. This tells all teachers at a glance who has which books and where the books belong. During our August 2004 staff workday the teachers wrote the books’ titles on the magazine holders. This helped all the teachers to become acquainted with the different leveled books. Click on the link to view a video tour of the Book Room. Now we were ready to start our Balanced Literacy/Guided Reading training with Kathie Cloonan.

TRAINING

     Training began with Kathie Cloonan spending three days at our school. Kathie created a training schedule that best met the needs of our K-5 school. She has since visited for two day training sessions nearly every month. This personalized training has helped the teachers to become very confident with the Guided Reading approach. Please click on the link to see Kathie's web site www.kathiecloonan.com. You will be able to view many different possibilities for training.

IMPLEMENTATION

    Please click on the links below to see how different teachers implement a Balanced Literacy concept in their classrooms.

            Leveling students and organizing groups

            Classroom management

            Watching a Guided Reading lesson    (For excellent descriptions of Guided Reading lessons, click on the link to articles)

            Variations such as Literature Circles and Reader's Theater

COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP

When an entire elementary school changes its methods of reading instruction from a whole-class, basal textbook approach to a Balanced Literacy concept using a Guided Reading approach, everyone is involved in the transition. This means not only teachers but, also, students and parents.  Monthly articles have been published in our school’s newspaper to help the community become aware of the new approach. Click on the link to view these articles.

BENEFITS

    BENEFITS OF A GUIDED READING APPROACH

    Here are teacher comments about each benefit.       

“I have more specific information to offer at parent/teacher conferences”

"Working in small groups allows me to get to know my students' strengths and weaknesses and makes students more accountable for their reading work"

"I can speak to each student and listen to their individual responses"

"It has more of a 'family feel' to it. Almost like a bedtime book discussion"

“An ideal opportunity to discuss phonemic sounds and rules of phonics”

"The 'Word Finder' helps us use context clues by telling us the page and paragraph numbers so that we can read the word as it is used in the text and try to understand its meaning"

"Students get to tell strategies (phonics or otherwise) in their own words"

"Discussions are more meaningful because they relate to what we are reading ... not a worksheet"

“The students love to question each other after reading. I am amazed at some of their higher-level questions”

"Writing the questions for literature circles seems to be easier for my better readers. The readers in my lower groups have trouble with this so I often ask my own questions as well"

“It is so neat hearing the children become more fluent in their reading. They are really using a lot more expression when reading out loud.”

"I still really enjoy reading to my students so I make time during my day, outside of 'guided reading time' to do this"

"The students enjoy reading to their group during our literature circles"

“I have noticed my kids becoming more aware of punctuation when reading. The kids actually pause at commas and periods”

"I think my students are reading more fluently because they've had much more opportunity to read"

“I never realized that my third graders wouldn’t know the meaning of the word education. We had a quick mini-lesson right then”

"I'm often adding history, background information, and real world knowledge to our reading discussions"

"The teachable moments usually come from questions or comments made by students... much more meaningful than a planned discussion"

“I can include graphic organizers, vocabulary assignments, and written response questions that are really meaningful because they are related to the book the group is reading”

"I'm stressing more written work in literature circle jobs because it is vital that students be able to write answers and not just complete multiple-choice style questions"

“I believe that many of my students were capable of more but they didn’t believe it about themselves. After working together for so long, they saw what they were capable of and started believing in themselves. This confidence helped raise their test scores”

"By having a variety of jobs in literature circles, students are able to shine in some areas while still working to improve others"

“Because the groups meet for twenty minutes, the rest of the groups are doing other things in assigned areas. One area is the silent reading corner. This means that the children are reading silently for twenty minutes every day. We never had this when doing whole-group instruction”

"I love that my students read their assigned chapters silently, but I will know their comprehension level when we meet as a group"

“Not only does the guided reading table provide differentiated instruction, but so does the practice zone (also known as literacy zone or center) area. The children can choose to do projects and/or activities that are just right for them”

"Guided Reading allows teachers to meet with small groups all year, however, the activities and instruction in these groups can be often changed so that it always seems new and fresh"

RESULTS

    We began using a Balanced Literacy Concept focusing on a Guided Reading Approach in October 2004. Third grade students took Ohio's Reading Achievement Test in October and March. Looking at how much the students improved, the March results were astounding.  Here is a break down of the spring test results compared to the fall results. The category order from lowest to highest is: Limited, Basic, Proficient, Accelerated, and Advanced.

                        3 students improved from Limited to Basic

                        2 students improved from Limited to Proficient

                        2 students improved from Limited to Accelerated

                        3 students remained at the Basic level

                         4 students improved from Basic to Proficient

                        5 students improved from Basic to Accelerated

                        1 student improved from Basic to Advanced

                        5 students remained at the Proficient level

                        9 students improved from Proficient to Accelerated

                        5 students improved from Proficient to Advanced

                        4 students remained at the Accelerated level

                        8 students improved from Accelerated to Advanced

                        11 students remained at the Advanced level

            After analyzing these remarkable results, we have decided that the change to the Guided Reading approach is the primary reason for such improvements. We are anxious to see the results of future Reading Achievement Tests because our students are participating in Guided Reading starting in kindergarten. We predict that both the October and March scores will be higher. When asked, other teachers felt their students were showing improvement with reading ability. Everyone agreed that all the students' attitudes towards reading have really improved. Reading has become something that our students enjoy. It is no longer something to be dreaded. The children love meeting in reading groups and are reading so much more just for pleasure. Below are quotes from third grade students when asked for their opinions about Guided Reading and the "old way" (whole-class basal textbooks).

"I loved Guided Reading! We learned to ask questions and share ideas. We came up with strategies, too."

“The Guided Reading was a big change but it was fun. I liked getting a little bit away from our textbooks because they were bugging me.”

“I liked Guided Reading because we got to read a lot.”

“I liked being able to do Practice Zones and get up and move.”

“I liked it because everyone shares ideas and thoughts."

"It made me a better writer because it gave me ideas."

HELPFUL RESOURCES

 Cloonan, K.       www.kathiecloonan.com

 Fawson, P., & Reutzel, D. (2000). But I only have a basal:  Implementing guided reading in the early grades. Reading Teacher, 54, 84-97.

 Ford, M., & Opitz, M. (2002). Using centers to engage children during guided reading time:  Intensifying learning experiences away from the teacher. Reading Teacher, 55, 710-717.

 Fountas, I., & Pinnell, G.S. (1996). Guided reading:  Good first teaching for all children. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

King, C. (2001). “I like group reading because we can share ideas”:  The role of talk within the literature circle. Reading, 35 (1), 32-36.

Martinez, M., Roser, N., & Strecker, S. (1999). ‘I never thought I could be a star’:  A readers theatre ticket to fluency. Reading Teacher, 52, 326-334.

Mooney, M. (1995). Guided reading – the reader in control. Teaching PreK-8, 25 (5), 54-56

Mooney, M. (1995). Guided reading beyond the primary grades. Teaching PreK-8, 26 (1), 75-77

Short, K. (1999). The search for ‘balance’ in a literature-rich curriculum. Theory into Practice, 38 (3), 130-137.

Villaume, S.K., & Brabham, E.G. (2001). Guided reading:  Who is in the driver’s seat? Reading Teacher, 55, 260-263.

Worthy, J., & Broaddus, K. (2002). Fluency beyond the primary grades:  From group performance to silent, independent reading. Reading Teacher, 55, 334-343.