Guided Reading for Parents


Hey friends! I am really excited to share with how I communicate with parents about guided reading!

Guided Reading Letters



First, I keep everything organized in a binder. It contains all the letters that I send home to parents at back to school night, during conferences and throughout the year. The key to guided reading success at home is COMMUNICATION! 
At back to school night I give my parents some information.
I give them the form on the left that explains what guided reading is. 
Let's face it, most of us didn't know much about guided reading until college or until we did it - hands on! So why do we expect parents to understand guided reading?!
In my school we use DRA, but here is why I give my parents both DRA and GRL levels. 
when parents go to look for books through scholastic, sometimes they only give one or the other. A parent may pass by a great book series because they think it isn't ok for their kid! 
My parents become fluent with both DRA and GRL. 
I send home scholastic notes that give hints and helpful series for each level. 

One thing I stress to parents is that there is no LOW reader at the start of the year. I let them know that they are ENTRY level readers. I don't want parents worrying from day one thinking their child is a low reader when they are right where they are supposed to be! 

I also only give them a correlation chart up to level 28/M
I don't want the pressure given to parents that they think their child has to get further than that in a year. If a student comes in higher - great. I don't mention it. 

As my littles make it through the different levels, I send home a certificate for them! I let them know how proud I am of them and from what level to what level they went from. 
Throughout the year, I send home letters with the students. I take mini running records with students weekly (or I try to make it weekly)
I fill out this sharing success form. It lets parents know how they are doing in specific aspects of reading. I let them know that they are working on it, right on track or have something mastered. I let them know about reading instructionally with me or independent on their own. 

I also give them the same few pages at conference time, and I also give the full page sheets to parents at conferences as well. I want them to have the information. 

This is the form I use with my students that start with written responses. 

This is the form I use with my students that are at a level 3- until the reach written responses. 
I want parents to know what their child is successful at, AND what they can use help with. 
I leave a spot for notes so that I can put information that I noticed during that running record. 

If a child is NOT reading at their benchmark level, I send home their certificate to praise that child for trying so hard AND then I send home the WHAT LEVEL XX MEANS.

Parents often think that a certificate means they are on track. Many parents think that their child is a gifted reader. We all do that, but let's be honest, parents don't always understand that their child may not be reading at the level they should be. They don't know how to help or what they are supposed to be reading. 

I send home the larger sheet and write at the top, this is what our current benchmark is and we are working to get so and so there. I want them to see what their child SHOULD be reading, but still celebrate their child's current success. 




I even do the sharing success sheets after doing the DRA tests. It is a perfect way to be sure I get them done while I am testing since we know we don't do groups during testing time! 

Seriously, look at his face when he got to grade level!!!! I don't know that his smile could be any bigger!
This is what my award usually looks like when I send it home. My kids LOVE when I have out my sharing success page because they get a certificate. 
If this is something that you think you would be interested in, please check out my pack. I have the separated by level 3/4 or level C up through a level 14 / H

Pack 2 is levels I/16 up through a level 28 M. 

This is my bundle. It has all the levels from 3/4 - C/D up through a 28/m

If you would like to see my periscope about this, check out my you tube video below. I mention where to get your freebies and peoples packs that I use for intervention with guided reading.




I will be giving away a copy of my bundle pack. Leave a comment below with your name, email and about how you communicate about guided reading to your parents. I will pick one winner on Friday morning at 8 am! 
Congrats to Erica from I Teach Elementary! I will be emailing you today! :)
Have a great night! 
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25 comments

  1. I usually talk to parents in person, but would love to have a printed resource for them to refer to! Great product!
    kcahcrim@comcast.net

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  2. I try to talk to them all in person at meet the teacher night but also send home information about guided reading and this would be perfect!! Looks amazing!!

    Hsease99@hotmail.com

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  3. I usually do a one on one talk in person but this is an awesome resource that will reinforce and share information about guided reading and parents can also use as a handy reference.

    miaqunin@gmail.com

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  4. I completely agree with the emphasis and importance of communication with parents about at-home reading. Many parents don't understand the purpose of reading at home and this resource helps them to guide their own children during the literacy journey.
    Not all parents attend information nights or parent-teacher interviews so this is the perfect way to touch base with all parents.
    tholt@bigpond.com

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    1. You are so right! I have about 5 parents that never show! So frustrating

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  5. I communicate with my parents by sending an informational letter home about guided reading. We talk at conferences and my students take guided reading books home in a bag to read to their parents at night. I include a form that says "I listened to my child read _____. My child did _______!" They fill the last line in with an adjective to describe the amazing reading done by their child. The kiddos get so thrilled :) your pack looks amazing. My email address is MaureenHoyne@gmail.com

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  6. I talk to parents about guided reading during Curriculum Night and then again during the beginning of the year 1-on-1 conferences. Having something concrete would be amazing, though! Most of my parents are eager to read with their kids at home but often say they don't know what they can do to help their kids. Ericateacheselementary@gmail.com

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    1. congratulations Erica! I will be emailing you this morning! :)

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  7. I am going into my fourth year of teaching and one of my goals is to improve communication with my parents. This is a great way to communicate guided reading levels with parents something I usually just did if the parents came to talk to me in person. I think this is a fantastic tool for parents to have. Thanks for sharing! Marjorie mperea629@hotmail.com

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  8. This pack looks amazing! I wanted to buy it at the sale but had to stick to my budget. I usually speak to parents in person and send a letter home. Thank you!

    krissy15@shaw.ca

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  9. I discuss our Guided Reading program at Back to School night, but in VERY general terms... I would LOVE LOVE LOVE this amazing resource!!!

    obriene@lisd.net

    ~Erin

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  10. This is amazing!!! This will be my first year teaching and I have first grade! This would be a great resource for myself as well as for the parents of my future students. Letters and in person meetings is the way I like to communicate with parents. Thanks for the opportunity to win this!!!

    - Just a teacher from Brooklyn
    Noora D.


    Email: noorad16@yahoo.com

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  11. Love guided reading!! Our school is so big on it and we use Literacy Collaborative and guided reading is one of the five parts. I try and send home as much better information as possible to my parents that include their child's reading level, suggestions to improve, comprehension questions, etc. We do a lot of talk on guided reading during conferences where it can be more personal about their child. We also hold literacy nights and the parents have the opportunity to come in and see what guided reading is and what the entire lesson entails.
    Rachel
    rachel_sheller@yahoo.com

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  12. Love guided reading!! Our school is so big on it and we use Literacy Collaborative and guided reading is one of the five parts. I try and send home as much better information as possible to my parents that include their child's reading level, suggestions to improve, comprehension questions, etc. We do a lot of talk on guided reading during conferences where it can be more personal about their child. We also hold literacy nights and the parents have the opportunity to come in and see what guided reading is and what the entire lesson entails.
    Rachel
    rachel_sheller@yahoo.com

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  13. Ummmmm. After reading your post, yeah I don't do any of that lol. I teach kindergarten and in the past they all left my room reading. Guess that should change ASAP!!! Jenscookingpad@yahoo.com

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  14. Hi, I'm Melanie. I usually give the information through interims, report cards, and conferences. I usually attach a sheet with their mclass scores and goals but this is way more informative! If love to win it for my first graders.
    Mnr6044@gmail.com

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  15. What a great post! When I had a standard classroom I would communicate students levels through conferences and phone calls home. I don't know if I even shared the mini-goals with parents. I really should have! Now I am an interventionist and have found it difficult to communicate with parents. I really think your resources will help them understand their child's current abilities and where we can take them and how to get there. I'm really looking forward to using the bundle!

    Adrienne whathappensin27@gmai.com

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  16. I explain guided reading very generally in a packet I hand out at Meet the Teacher Night. I emphasize throughout the year that each student works at their own level and I love the resources you have created to help parents understand that! I saw your scope yesterday and fell in love with this pack!
    Ashley
    Kleinhardta@gmail.com

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  17. I'm a new teacher, so this will be my first time explaining guided reading to parents. I'm excited about your bundle because it will make this so easy! Thank you for your hard work and periscopes! I've learned tons and tons!
    Sarah Donaldson
    sarahcdonaldson@yahoo.com

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  18. Great post! I love how organized your materials are and simply stated everything is. I typically explain DRA to my parents during conferences at the beginning of the year. I have a chart I show them and explain how a child 's growth should look at different points in the year. Then as needed, I'll sit down with parents and look at the chart again. Thanks for sharing your resources!

    Karen
    An Apple a Day in First Grade
    anappleadayinfirstgrade@gmail.com

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  19. Thanks for sharing these tips. I usually send them a letter at the beginning of the year and update at conference in December. I have to admit, I'm not great about continuing to tell them throughout the year (except at awards time and through progress reports) unless a meeting is needed. I would love to start. Joanne (joalderete@hotmail.com)

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  20. I definitely need to improve on communicating this info! Currently, I just discuss it with parents at report card and conference time.
    mgnreynolds@yahoo.com

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  21. This looks phenomenal and genius! My parents are always having a hard time understanding what their child's reading level is and means- and I don't blame them. Sometimes as teachers we forget that we've been trained or we understand the educational "lingo" and we don't fully see it through a parent's fresh eyes. That is why I LOVE, LOVE your Guided Reading Letters you came up with- I'd LOVE, LOVE to win the bundle! I'm sitting here thinking about how much ease it would put my parents at. It's a great way to educate them on their child's learning/level. You are so skillful and smart to come up with this!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Joyfully,
    Sam C. Rigby
    rigbys2014@gmail.com

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    1. Oops! I got so wrapped up that I forgot to say how I communicate Guided Reading levels to my parents, lol. I usually share their child's level during a conference and show them the scale/level their child is on and where they will need to be at the EOY. I definitely need more resources to help communicate better... that's when your bundle comes in handy. ;-)

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  22. I usually talk directly to parents. Buffalobills8293@yahoo.com

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