1

Katharine Stypinski
Guided Reading Plan
May 30, 2018
Professor Cydis

Dolphins, Guided Reading Plan

Standard(s):

NJSLSA.R10. Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and
proficiently with scaffolding as needed.

L.3.6. Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate conversational, general academic, and
domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal spatial and temporal relationships
(e.g., After dinner that night we went looking for them).

Objective:

Students will read and discuss narrative text and engage in discussion of key concepts and
vocabulary through the development of graphic organizers and journal entries to demonstrate
comprehension at a level of (3) proficiency based on a 4 point rubric scale.

I.Preparation for Reading

A. Activate/Build Prior Knowledge

Develop an open discussion relating to dolphins and what students know about dolphins.
Have they seen them before? Have they touched one? Tell them about a personal
experience that involved dolphins whether it was seeing one up close or seeing one from
afar in the ocean. Discuss what dolphins do and how they breathe if they are a mammal
living underwater. List some similarities between sharks and dolphins then list some
differences.

B. Preview Text and Make Predictions

Preview the book with the students by doing a Picture-Walk. Have the students look at
each picture, maybe pass the book around for certain pictures if it is a big part of the
story. At the beginning of the book as the student’s to make a prediction of what they
think is going to happen when the women falls into the ocean off of the boat. As they see
in the next pages what happens talk about what good came out of it.

C. Develop Vocabulary Knowledge

Pull some of the words that really stick out in the story and relate to the main topic of the
story, key words. For example some vocabulary words would be: shallow, shore,
blowhole, and mammal. Put them on a whiteboard and ask the students if they know what
 2

the words is and what it means. If they do know what the word means have each of them
explain it and then say it in a sentence. Some of the vocabulary words would be

D. Set a Purpose for Reading

Bring up the topics of beginning, middle, and end. Arrange this on a timeline on the
board and have the students think about when each section would happen in the story.
Have them thinking about what events might be going on at these certain time periods
and how important they may be to the whole story.

II.Read Silently

Have the students read silently. Make sure they can understand what is going on in the
book they are reading. Break down into the one on one section and listen to the student
read silently and observe the way they read the book. Notice if they are having difficulty
with any words they come to, if they do have problems then help them out as needed
sounding out the words. As they read the book and find the purpose of the story have
each student tell you the purpose of the story and then talk to each other about the main
parts in the story.

III.Respond to Reading to Develop Comprehension

A. Revisit Purpose Setting Question

Revisit the previous discussion about the timeline of the story and what events take place
during those parts of the story. In the beginning the woman fell into the ocean and got
scared because an animal quickly approached and she thought it was a shark. Ask the
students why they think it made her so scared if there was a shark swimming around her
in the water. This could bring up the topics of sharks and what makes them so scary and
it would explain why the women would be scared to be in the water.

B. Clarify Additional Concepts/Vocabulary

Begin a discussion on the vocabulary terms we used before reading the story. Have the
students reread them and say the definition and use them in a sentence now that they have
read the story. This should be easier for the students now that they have seen it in the
story. Coming back to the vocabulary words helps them get a full understanding of what
the word means and how it can be related into a story like Dolphins. This can then be
brought into a vocab game to help the students learn the vocab words even more.

C. Supporting Comprehension of Structure

This is the time when students will review and make sure they understand the concept of
the story they read. This can include revisiting the sequence of events that happened
throughout the story. Going through the sequence allows students to find the most
 3

important parts of the story. Help them pull out key words that they think make the story
easier to understand when following sequential order.

D. Seeking Additional Sources for Information

Students who are interested in the topic of dolphins can grow their knowledge using
outside resources. This includes using books on the topic, have a library available to them
whether it is the classroom library or they can go to the school library. Students can also
use the computers to do research on dolphins, finding what they look like and the
different kinds of dolphins. For students who are not interested in the dolphins have them
look up other sea animals that they might be interested in and help them find resources to
find out more about that specific animal, for example a book could be “Hungry, hungry,
sharks” if they are interested in sharks.

E. Additional Purpose Setting Question

IV. Review/Reread and Explore Strategies

Go back to the timeline that was written during the pre-reading stage and ask students to fill in
the timeline. As a group the students will organize the events that happened in the story. Then
put students into pairs to break down the timeline again making sure every student understands
what happened in each section of the story. Then this can be further explored by acting out these
scenes and doing a play of the story that was read.

V. Applying the Literature/Extending Reading across the Curriculum

Engage students in exploring the natural habitat of dolphins. This should include where they live,
what else lives in their natural habitat, what it looks like, and how they acclimate to it. They will
do this by creating a 3D Diorama of the habitat of the dolphin. This will be a visual of what they
learned, along with this they will do a presentation to the class of what they made in their
diorama. Using materials to create something 3D is a hands on learning activity, this is very
helpful for visual learners. Some students prefer discussion and lecture which we have gone
over, now it is a chance for the visual learners to have their turn at showing what they know how
to do. Each student will present the diorama to the class and explain what is in the environment,
including plants, animals, and other objects.