Our school is fortunate to have an excellent leveled reader 'Book Room'. We have Rigby and Scholastic Blue Nonfiction Guided Reading sets. Once I have leveled my students using DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment), I go to the book room and check out leveled readers for each of my students. I keep the books in large zip-lock bags with a sticky note of student names on the outside. I also keep a notebook to log the books for each student. I keep the notebook tabbed with student names.....lowest level to highest level. I keep the zip-lock bags and notebook in my 'Guided Reading' crate. 

I do Small-Group Guided Reading during Sustained Silent Reading. I have tried to do it during 'Reading/Writing Workshop' but it did not work for me. I like this way better because we are all reading at the same time. Once my students are settled for SSR, I invite a small group to my guided reading table. We do the traditional 'Guided Reading' lesson and then the students take the book to their seat and keep it in their book tub. I try to meet with my lowest readers everyday, my middle groups every other day, and my highest group every few days. I have learned to become very efficient with the groups and the students know the routine. By the end of first grade they are practically leading their own guided reading. 

When my students are ready, I incorporate the Reading Response Journals into Reading Workshop and the students use their guided reading books. The books stay in their reading tubs as practice readers for a few weeks. After the books have gone home, and a few weeks has past, I take about ten minutes to collect 'old' guided reading books from their tubs. It is very easy because I have them recorded in my notebook and I check them off as they turn them in. It is kind of like recycling! The students know to keep the guided reading books in their tubs until I ask for them.

Our Book Room

During Whole-Group Guided Reading, I use our basal readers and other preselected literature. We do a lot of the activities found in Guided Reading the Four-Blocks Way as well as mini-lessons on building comprehension from Mosaic of Thought. I like to do Whole-Group Guided Reading lessons because all my students can be involved and share their ideas about the same text. I also do these lessons as a model because the students will do them independently later in Reading Workshop.