An Autobiographical Narrative on the Implementation of Guided Reading in a Middle School Environment

• Author(s) / Creator(s)

  • Derek Herman

• Abstract
  Studies indicate that, as students move through the school system, many begin to experience an increase in reading difficulties. The research, indicating that reading progress drops off or plateaus regardless of the student’s reading ability compound this finding. Currently, in junior high English language arts programs, explicit reading instruction is more the exception than the rule. Students who struggle with reading as they leave elementary school will often find that the gap between their grade level peers continues to widen if interventions are not put into place.
  Guided reading is one component of a balanced literacy program that can help alleviate the challenges faced by the struggling reader. Although at the present time there appears to be minimal research done in this area, some studies report the success of guided reading implementation at the junior high level. One intent of this project is to make a case for the importance of reviewing the literature on guided reading in middle years classrooms. The goal is to develop a common understanding of what guided reading implementation looks and feels like from the teacher’s perspective by examining the successes and tensions specific to a junior high setting. The second intent is to provide background about how I, as an educator, came to realize that action needed to be taken; therefore, I am making a case for a future in-depth look at the actual implementation of guided reading.
  I propose that the basis of the project be an autobiographical narrative on the implementation of guided reading with one group of four students who are considered to be reading at three or more levels below grade level. I will reflect on the guided reading implementation by reporting on the process leading up to, during, and after the sessions in such a way that it shows my transformations along the continuum of the meaning-making process. The practical implications of this project will hopefully move the research forward in an area that needs to be more extensively looked at. Hopefully, I can provide educators with a look at some of the literature surrounding this instructional practice in a middle school setting and give a first-hand account of the experiences associated with guided reading in a junior high setting.

• Date created

  2015-12-08

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Junior high
  • Middle school
  • Autobiographical narrative
  • Guided reading
  • Balanced literacy

• Type of Item

  Research Material

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3CV4BV6N

• License

  Attribution 4.0 International