Mastering the Jan Plan

For those of my readers who are also in the educational field, you probably already know the name Jan Richardson. She is the Small Group Reading guru. She has literally written the book on guided reading lessons and strategies for students of all levels. You can find her book {HERE}

Trust me when I say that Jan's book is the equivalent of the Bible when it comes to getting students to excel in their reading.

Jan Richardson was kind enough to come to the Hills and give the teachers a 2 hour professional development where we watched a sample Transitional Lesson, reviewed expectations for Emergent and Early readers, and had a Q & A session.
Here are some of the notes I took from the PD this afternoon.

• Spelling sight words in Emergent and Early reading levels should be limited to 2 new words per week
• Transitional and Fluent reading groups should be using a wide variety of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry (Yes, poetry!)
• Vocabulary should be taught all day long, and across all subjects
• Vocabulary in small group should be limited to no more than 5 new words per book. When choosing vocabulary, pick words that students can't use picture or context clues to figure out the definition. Pick words that are essential to understanding the book. Introduce the word, teach the definition, and move on.
• Chapter 7 of Jan's book is all about what to do when students just aren't moving in their level. It's full of If-Then strategies
• How to begin the year:

•  When planning for Emergent- Fluent readers:

•  Jan's book is full of multilevel comprehension questions, but when all else fails, simply ask students, "What are you thinking about what you just read?"
• For LOTS more prompts for guided reading, check out p.295 in her book!

Emergent Readers

 

Early Readers

Transitional Readers

If you're looking for some strategies and quick helps, check out Jan's Website. It's full of resources and video clips. I've pretty much downloaded her entire site. Best hour and a half of my life. ;)

Jan, thank you so much for visiting us at the Hills! We hope to see you again! (hint-hint)