Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students - Dr. Stirling ...

Researcher ReflectionsWhat did the researchers learn from collaborating on this project?The researchers maintained reflection journals throughout the project. Thefollowing insights are drawn from their unpublished journals for the 2006/2007school year.• The project proved to me we are good Reading teachers willing to learn newstrategies to improve and build on what we are already doing everyday in ourclassrooms.• Perhaps our greatest resource for teaching Reading already exists in ourschool… the knowledge that we all have in teaching Reading.• I do believe that critical and creative thinking can be taught – just to themind that is developed and ready for it.• Some children were excellent readers; but were not comfortable or confidentin creative or critical thinking. They appeared to be better at learning factualinformation rather than using personal judgment or taking guesses atthings.• It is important that each teacher collect his/her own data with each childwhen screening the children.• Having release time to assess students and to meet with the otherresearchers was very beneficial.• It is time consuming to organize Guided Reading initially – creating units,gathering materials and determining student groupings.• One highlight of this project was to visit Sacred Heart School in Regina.• The opportunity to discuss resources, benchmarks, screens, M.I.R. (MajorIntegrated Resources) and assessments was in itself invaluable.• To see the before, during and after posters hanging in the classroomsand being used was an affirmation of the many years I spent on theSaskatchewan Learning K-5 ELA renewal team.• Because of the visit, all my fears of how to implement this strategy werealleviated and I have the confidence to immerse my class into it.• I’m finding resources more readily now.• The use of technology to measure comprehension skills, and specifically theability to inference was a valuable tool that not only kept the studentsmotivated, and provided immediate feedback; but created diagnosticprintouts that could be used to inform teaching practices as well.• The kinds of questions I ask now are more open-ended, and encouragestudents to dig deeper, and think more critically.• The process of learning about the theory of Guided Reading strategieswith the other researchers and implementing a Guided Reading program wasan exciting one.26 RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students’ Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five