Guided Reading in Your Classroom
Scholastic Guided Reading Programs support a comprehensive reading program by integrating differentiated small–group instruction, assessment, and independent practice into your classroom.
Teachers begin by grouping students, then prompt, encourage, and confirm how students apply problem-solving strategies as they read.
See below for more on how Guided Reading works in your classroom.
How Guided Reading Works in Your Classroom
Before Reading
- Selects an appropriate text
- Introduces the story based on the experience and skills of the readers
- Engages in conversation about the story
- Notices information in the text
During Reading
- Observes the reader’s behaviors
- Interacts to assist with problem solving
- Reads the whole book or a unified part to themselves (softly or silently)
- Requests help when needed
After Reading
- Assesses children’s understanding of what they read
- May engage children in extending the story through writing or more reading
- Revisits the text at points of problem solving as guided by the teacher
- Engages in activities to extend or respond to the text
About Irene Fountas, Gay Su Pinnell, and Guided Reading
- Q&A With Gay Su Pinnell
- What Is Guided Reading?
- A Message About Guided Reading Fiction from Fountas & Pinnell
Dr. Irene Fountas
Dr. Irene Fountas is an expert on Guided Reading and has many years of classroom experience in the United States and abroad. She is the cocreator of Guided Reading Fiction Focus, 2nd Edition. She also coauthored the Scholastic Guided Reading Text Types; Fiction Focus, 2nd Edition; and Content Areas. She is a professor at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she is also the director of the Center for Reading Recovery and Literacy Collaborative, which offers professional development around the world.
Dr. Gay Su Pinnell
Dr. Gay Su Pinnell is one of America's leading authorities on guided reading. She is the cocreator of Guided Reading Text Types, Fiction, Focus, 2nd Edition, and Content Areas. She is a professor in the School of Teaching and Learning at Ohio State University College of Education. Dr. Pinnell has received the Ohio Governor's Award for service to education, as well as numerous other honors.
Guided Reading Research
Funding and Grant Opportunities
Guided Reading programs are eligible for the following funding sources:
- Title IA, Improving Basic Programs Download PDF
- Title I, School Improvement Grants (SIG) Available Soon
- Title I, Supplemental Educational Services (SES) Available Soon
- Title III, English Language Acquisition Available Soon
- Race to the Top—District (RTT-D) Available Soon
- Striving Readers Available Soon
- 21st Century Community Learning Centers Available Soon
- Special Education/Response to Intervention Available Soon