Morgan Frye, M.Ed.

Master of Science in Education


Guided Reading Literacy Centers



Table of Contents



Introduction
Word Work Center
Read to Self Center
Listen to Reading Center
Online Content Center
Conclusion




Introduction





Guided Reading Literacy Centers



Guided Reading Literacy Centers are centers that occur daily during our Guided Reading Instruction block. During Guided Reading, there are two groups of Guided Reading instruction happening at once, and students that are not at centers are engaged with the literacy centers. These centers include Word Work, Read to Self, Listen to Reading, and Online Content. My Guided Reading Literacy Centers loosely follows the method of the Daily 5, a researched literacy instruction program that utilizes different components of reading into daily instruction.



Above is a picture showing students participating in the Guided Reading Center. Students are all reading the same text in a silent whisper voice.



While students are reading in a whisper voice, I am seated in the center of the table and move from student to student listening, addressing misconceptions, and providing assistance when needed.



In our Guided Reading Center, students read with one-to-one correspondence, use the pictures to ensure that the words make sense with the picture, and show fluency with concepts of print. This student is reading a level A book.




Word Work Center





What is the Word Work Center?



The Word Work Literacy Center is an instructional strategy used to reinforce the work that was completed during the whole group phonics and reading block of instruction. This center focuses on ensuring that students have practice and mastery of those skills and continue to work with letter identification, letter formation, letter sounds, and sight word recognition. These centers are usually hands-on and work to increase students' fine motor skills with cutting and pasting. These centers are discussed at the beginning of Guided Reading block to ensure that students will be able to carry out the activity with minimal staff support. Students are quiet and engaged with this center as the material is hands-on, developmentally appropriate, and allows for students to have significant time and practice with skills that have been previously discussed.



Pictured above is a student working in the Word Work Center. This student used scissors and glue to cut out and paste her work on the page. This helps teachers gauge an understanding of where students are in regards to completing independent work correctly.



Above is another student's work from the Word Work Center. This student misidentified the sounds in "bug" and "top," and I was able to address the misconception after Guided Reading Centers ended.




Read to Self Center





How do students engage with the Read to Self Center?



The Read to Self Center is a center that occurs during Guided Reading block that ensures that students are beginning to build stamina in reading to themselves. The books that they choose are not always on their specific reading level, but the freedom of choosing books doesn't contain students to specific texts and allows students to explore a variety of genres and topics. In my classroom, we have a library space where students can pick their books that will be used for that center time and we currently use desk space to ensure that students have safe bodies when reading. Building stamina is an important part of reading, and students know when they have a stopping point and can switch to online content.



Above is our current library space for the Fall season. Students have access to other books in the bookshelf next to this one. My students enjoy reading seasonal books or books related to the unit that we are working on, and the books will change to a winter theme after our fall break.



Students are building stamina in independent reading. This picture was taken at the beginning of the school year, and allowed for students to see how and what independent reading looks like. Students are now given more freedom in where they dit during independent reading center.



Above is a student invested in her book at the independent reading center. Independent reading groups now have greater autonomy in choosing where they sit in the independent reading center. My students love to sit in the mini beach chairs to read.



Above is another student engaged in his book at the independent reading center. I allow my students to choose books that are not on their independent reading level if the book piques their interest. We discuss picture reading and looking for words we know in the story, even if the student cannot read all of the text on the page.




Listen to Reading Center





How are students engaging with content in the Listen to Reading Center?



The Listen to Reading Center that occurs during our Guided Reading block allows for students to be able to listen to recorded reading and follow along with the recording with minimal support and teacher intervention. Students are able to listen to the book they have in their book baggie, which is preselected by the teacher. If I do not have the book on CD for the students to listen to, I record myself reading the text and give students the iPad to listen to the book. They know when there is a stopping point so they may switch to online content on the computer.



Above are students engaged in the Listen to Reading center. Students enjoy this center as they are allowed to listen to the books on CD and follow along with the reader.



Above a student follows along in the Listen to Reading center. This center is helpful to students as it builds fluency and comprehension while having a reader read to them as they are able to hold the book. Most of the reading done to students is done in whole group, and students enjoy being able to listen to reading alone and hold the book while the speaker reads.



Above are the baggies that contain CDs for students to listen to the text from. Students have personal CD players that the teacher monitoring helps students play.



These are the Listen to Reading book bins that students pick up when they are in this center. I ensure that students have books that are on their level in the book bags as well.




Online Content Center





How is the Online Content Center helping students succeed?



The Online Content Center is a center that occurs during Guided Reading block that gives students a chance to engage with online content in a meaningful way. This center reinforces the work that students are already doing in class. CoreLexia is the program that we use most often, and students move through the Clever application to login to the site. There are several different components of each section in CoreLexia, including phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension.



CoreLexia is the application used during Guided Reading Literacy Centers. Above are students engaged in this center and working through the material on the site. The site encourages students to work at their own pace and provides differentiated instruction based on in-site progress monitoring.



Above is another students working through the CoreLexia site. I am able to see if students need to rework through certain sections or skills and see progress in this space on my teacher-facing page.



Above is the Clever homepage for students when they log into the application. The Clever homepage is home to the different applications that students use, including CoreLexia and ST Math.



Above is a still from ST Math, another computer program that students use during Guided Reading Centers when they need a change from CoreLexia. ST Math encourages math skills growth with the same idea as CoreLexia in encouraging students to work at their own pace.




Conclusion





What is next for Guided Reading Literacy Centers?



Guided Reading Centers are centers that are continuously changing as students needs are changing and developing over the course of the school year. Right now, these listed Guided Reading Centers are appropriate for the instruction and reinforcement that students currently need. Students enjoy the centers and are excited to begin Guided Reading instruction every day. As the year progresses, our centers will change to accommodate student growth. Student groups will change as well to reflect changes in reading levels and changes in student needs.