Middle school guided reading does not have to be a struggle. A challenge teachers face when working with middle school students during guided reading is ensuring the material meets their interests and reading levels. I have been on the lookout for really good middle school guided reading ideas.
Middle School Guided Reading Ideas
- Editorial Cartoons – teach a whole class lesson on this form, read a background article during read-aloud/shared reading then in small groups try to understand the meaning of the cartoon. This works really well for working on Inferring skills.
- Newspaper articles from your local newspaper, a national newspaper, or online.
- Literacy program guided reading materials – publishing companies spend lots of time and money on their guided reading sets so take a moment to flip through these resources to see if they meet your current class’ needs and interests.
- I am lucky that the schools I have taught at subscribe to a monthly current events service called “What in the World” by Lesplan. This resource which can be ordered on paper or digitally (digital always gets my vote) contains four current high-interest newspaper articles, one political cartoon relating to an article, a news photo assignment plus crosswords, quizzes, and a map. This resource comes at two different reading levels to help you differentiate. I use these articles during my modeled/shared reading and my guided readingprogram. If your school cannot afford to purchase this resource you can also check out their monthly free articles on their main website Lesplan Website
- Another current events resource is The Canadian Reader created for Grades 3-5. It contains very similar things to What in the World resource but at a younger reading level.
- Student book club choice – have students group together and select a novel to read together. As the teacher, you can help guide their choice, but ultimately they can choose something that interests them and keeps them wanting to read daily.
- Check out these other great resources for guided reading with current events: 6 IDEAS FOR TEACHING CURRENT EVENTS
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How do you group your students into their different guided reading groups? How do you assess? How do you structure guided reading each week?
Hi Alex, I group them by reading level (DRA) or skills they need. I assess using anecdotal notes or from our discussions/written output. I schedule guided reading in when the rest of the class is working on something else.
Great resource and post as usual, Kristy.
Just wondering what reading comprehension goals you focus on in an intermediate class? I am new to this grade and wondering what age appropriate areas for focus for instruction. I have already taught and assessed inferring. What else?
Thanks!