{Differentiation Focused} Guided Reading Pack

This school year my class is filled with super smart kids..

I'm not just saying that, we literally have many kids that have already tested out of this year's Spring OAA and they are getting 100's on our new Challenge Spelling Lists we do each week that feature fifth grade words..

Like I said, they're super smart.

With that being said, a huge focus of mine this year has been DIFFERENTIATION.

I have learned a lot from our district gifted coordinator on the subject.

Many people think that giving a higher performing student extra work or something to do when they fly through one of your regular activities that you are differentiating, well you're not. Bummer! Sad City!

 Differentiation is a fine art. One that involves reaching those students that are super high. I feel that teachers will be forced into this practice soon enough with the arrival of the new PARCC exam. I know we won't have the OAA very soon and our kids will be faced with switching from a test they are very familiar with to one that involves much higher level thinking. I am getting my kids prepared every day.

By giving students choices, you are differentiating. By having students choose their best work, you are differentiating. By giving an appropriate amount of work to everyone, you are differentiating. For instance, it might take a lower performing student 30 minutes to do one sheet, while that amount of time is taken by a higher performing student to finish two sheets. They are both doing work that is appropriate for their own level so it's not just like throwing an extra filler sheet at them.

I made this guided reading menu pack for the 3rd graders at my school. I have tweaked it and asked for feedback from colleagues, I have made it my own and now I'm putting it out there. I am very proud of this pack. It's like my baby, like the first thing I have created of some larger amount of substance, not just classroom decorations {which I love BTW!!}

With that being said, check it out:

The Book Jacket activity is awesome. The kids get to design their own book jacket for the story they read. Don't expect them to know what a book jacket is, go ahead and show them a few examples first ;)

Character Portrait is a page that I feel is best for lower ability students. This isn't really something I want to see my high guys doing. I want to see them doing the Compare/Contrast page and the Alternate Ending page.

Works for everyone! I'm working on a Non-Fiction pack to pair with this one. Many of these activities are most appropriate for Fiction selections, but I like it because it can be used with any reading curriculum or group chapter books.

Happy Saturday!