Five Steps of a Guided Reading Lesson

How a text is introduced and the kind of support that is given during reading can all affect whether a text is easy or hard for a child (Fountas & Pinnell, 1996).

Step one is setting the scene. Hold a conversation with your child about the text to give the reader and idea about the author, type of story you will be reading, and the concept of the book. This helps prepare the child for the reading they will do in the story. By setting up the scene, the child will have the ability to recall their own thoughts, experiences, images, language, and vocabulary. Making connections before you even begin reading. This is a good time to make a prediction about what could happen in the story. This stage is important because it will set the child up for the comprehension component of the lesson as well as get them excited and engaged in the reading process.

Step two is using a picture walk. This step is used for readers who are just beginning to read. The adult can walk the child through each page of the story and guides them, instructing the child to look at the pictures and illustrations. This helps the children understand that the pictures are an important source of information and can be used as a strategy to determine character, setting, action, plot, and vocabulary that might appear.

Step three is the reading of the text.  For beginning readers, the adult’s goal is to absorb the child in reading the text. The way to do that is usher child through the process. The adult will assist the child in useing an assortment of strategies to figure out words and will coach, prompt, and inquire the child as they are reading the text out loud together.

Step four is returning to the text. This is the time when the adult takes the child back into the story and uses a specific strategy or vocabulary word to focus in on. Also, the adult is helping the child to understand the strategy and process that he/she used while reading. Sometimes children do not recognize what they have done to make sense of the print and the adult makes clear to them what they did. Guiding them to understand this is important so that they can do this on their own in the future. 

Step five is responding to the text. This step is the main comprehension piece of the guided reading lesson. The response can be oral, written, or visual. It is a way for the child to have a chance to tell what happened in the story, to express if their predictions were correct, to connect personally, etc.