Gay Su Pinnell Author of Scholastic's Guided Reading Program

Try Sample Lessons from the Scholastic Guided Reading Program.

Dear Educators,

Reading has brought me so much joy throughout the years. Each week, you can find me reading one, two, or even more books. This love of reading is a gift I want to share with as many children as possible. To love reading, however, one must be able to read successfully and be exposed to a wide range of books on interesting and enjoyable topics. In light of the fact that so many of our children are struggling with reading, we can all agree that we must do everything we can to support them in this process.

That's why I am so excited about the Scholastic Guided Reading Programs. We know students need practice reading both fiction and nonfiction texts (particularly as they prepare for the year-end high-stakes assessments). Plus, more excellent books means more reasons for your kids to read.

With the growing emphasis on practicing the essential skills of reading, Scholastic's Guided Reading Blue Edition addresses the five key areas of the Reading First legislation & phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency. Targeted, purposeful lessons in these areas are included for your use.

I want to sincerely thank you for all you're doing to develop readers in your classrooms. I believe in these books and I believe in this program.

I am looking forward to learning of your success!

Your Colleague,
Dr. Gay Su Pinnell

Many the links below are in PDF format. To open these files, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader Software. If you do not have this software already installed, click here to download it for free.

Getting Started With Guided Reading in Your Classroom
What Is Guided Reading? from the Scholastic Guided Reading Program: Blue Edition (PDF file)
Scholastic Research & Results for the Scholastic Guided Reading Program (PDF file)

Putting It to Work
Guided Reading in the Primary Classroom, Mary Kreul
Matching Books to Readers, G.S. Pinnell

The Guided Reading system for book leveling assigns each book a letter (A-Z) based on the degree of challenge it represents. Guided Reading Levels go beyond readability formulae to take in many factors that affect the challenge of a book - its length, layout, illustrations, structure and organization, content, theme, and other characteristics. The chart below indicates approximate grades at which children will be able to tackle books in each level. Click on the sample lessons for the selected levels. All books and lessons are taken from Scholastic's Guided Reading Blue. The books listed below are also available in Scholastic's online Teacher Store.

	Grade Level Lessons and Books K A, B, C, D Sample lesson (A), Baby Animals Learn 1 A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I Sample lesson (H), What Will the Weather Be Like Today? 2 E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N Sample lesson (K), All About Things People Do 3 J, K, L, M, N, O, P Sample lesson (O), Look What Came From Mexico 4 M, N, O, P, Q, R Sample lesson (R), Lewis and Clark 5 Q, R, S, T, U Sample lesson (Q), If You Lived With a Cherokee 6 V, W, X, Y, Z Sample lesson (W), Through My Eyes

More Resources

Fountas, Irene, and G.S. Pinnell. Guided Reading: Good First Teaching for All Children. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Educational, 1991.

Fountas, Irene, and G.S. Pinnell. Matching Books to Readers: A Book List for Guided Reading, K-3. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Educational, 1999.

Michael Opitz. Flexible Grouping in Reading. Scholastic Professional Books, 1998.