This is a picture of the finished kit. However, when we started our mentor meeting, we gave each person an empty shower caddy and then gave them the items for the kit one by one and explained how each thing could be used in a guided reading lesson. 
We also gave each person a cookie sheet and bag of magnetic letters (pans came in a 2-pack from the dollar store and magnetic letters also came from dollar store). We shared ideas for making and breaking words, doing quick sight word lessons, and also doing vocabulary activities.
We gave each person these laminated cards on a ring. On the back are prompts for supporting kids with the strategy listed on the front. This is something teachers can use as a reference for supporting kids while reading.
One of my pet peeves in guided reading is when children come to the back table and don't have a pencil, so we suggested having 10-12 sharpened pencils in the kit for kids to use. The pencils I use are colorful and fun and can only be used during guided reading. We also put a timer (for fluency practice), several sizes of sticky notes, white cover-up tape for interactive writing activities, and rubber bands. The rubber bands can be used when teaching kids to stretch and sound out words. Students hold the rubber band between their fingers while they are reading and when they come to a word they don't know, they stretch the rubber band while also stretching out the sounds in the words to try and figure it out. These work well with struggling readers and give them something hands-on that reminds them to monitor meaning and at least ATTEMPT to figure out words. When using these, the teacher has to reinforce that the rubber bands are TOOLS for reading, NOT TOYS!
Each kit had a whiteboard and marker, but we didn't have enough $ to buy whiteboards, so we just had teachers use a whiteboard from their own classroom and put it in the kit. We gave them 3 colors of Expo marker and shared ideas for introducing vocabulary and doing word work on the white board. Some teachers put 5-6 whiteboards in their kit so that each child in the reading group could have one to work on.
These are retelling cards. We printed out the words, backed them on cardstock and laminated them. At the end of a guided reading session, the teacher can give each child a card and have them retell what happened in that part of the reading selection. Somebody (the character), Wanted (the plot), But (the conflict), Then (the solution), So (the resolution).
We also put sentence/word strips in the kit to use when introducing vocabulary or teaching sight words. Students could also write a sentence describing their reading selection on the strip. The colored overlay sheets are made from report covers that we cut in to strips. Some struggling readers benefit from a colored overlay (green and blue seem to work best) on the text while reading.
We made copies of several graphic organizers and put them in page protectors. The teacher can lead a discussion before or after reading and the organizer can be filled out by students. By using sheet protectors and Expo markers, the organizers can be used over and over.
We made a variety of spinners that can be used after reading to discuss story events.
We copied these mini-posters and put them in page protectors. These help students thoughtfully discuss story events after reading.
Each kit also included alphabet charts (these are available at the district office) and mini-posters that teach the fix-up strategies. We showed the mentees several ways to use the alphabet chart with their lower readers.
We gave each teacher a couple of different ideas for managing guided reading groups and talked about how to get EACH CHILD sharing and discussing ideas and how to deal with students who want to dominate the discussion. With the "Talking Star", only the person holding the star can be talking at that time. Everyone gets the star at least once. The "Helping Hand" (which is just a die cut) can be used in a variety of ways. For example, each child is given a hand and each time they share, they fold over one of the fingers. By the end of the disucssion, each child should have 2-3 fingers folded down. The teacher can decide how many times each child should share. You can also use it to help teach kids the "5 Finger Rule" when choosing a book.
Each mentee made a little set of "Lasso's". These are just pipe cleaners that we bent in to the shape of a lasso. When introducing vocabulary, you can have kids "lasso" the words by finding them on the page, reading them in context and then discussing what the words mean. This is a quick way to introduce vocabulary. The lassos can also be turned around, hooked on the figer and used to track print for struggling readers.
We gave everyone several laminated bookmarks to put in their kits, one for younger grades (What To Do When Stuck on a Word) and one for older grades (Using Fix-Up Strategies).
We gave each mentee a few reading "TOOLS (NOT TOYS!)". These are all things that can be used in younger grades for students who still need to track print or for students who often skip lines or loose their place. HOWEVER, we talked about the importance of getting kids to eventually track print with ONLY THEIR EYES and reinforced that good readers probably don't need to use a hand-held tracker while reading.
These are just a few of the spinners we made. After reading, kids can spin and then tell about what they read.
We also gave each mentee a glove and they put the little self-sticking velcro dots on each finger. We then gave them a set of laminated retelling chips. This works better in younger grades, but the teacher choose which chips to velcro on and then after reading, each child chooses a retelling chip and talks about that element of the story.
We also had the mentees make these retelling cubes (just made out of folded cardstock). One is a questioning cube, one is a story element cube and one is a comprehension strategy cube.
Put it all together and there you have it.... A guided reading kit!
Each kit had a whiteboard and marker, but we didn't have enough $ to buy whiteboards, so we just had teachers use a whiteboard from their own classroom and put it in the kit. We gave them 3 colors of Expo marker and shared ideas for introducing vocabulary and doing word work on the white board. Some teachers put 5-6 whiteboards in their kit so that each child in the reading group could have one to work on.
These are retelling cards. We printed out the words, backed them on cardstock and laminated them. At the end of a guided reading session, the teacher can give each child a card and have them retell what happened in that part of the reading selection. Somebody (the character), Wanted (the plot), But (the conflict), Then (the solution), So (the resolution).
We also put sentence/word strips in the kit to use when introducing vocabulary or teaching sight words. Students could also write a sentence describing their reading selection on the strip. The colored overlay sheets are made from report covers that we cut in to strips. Some struggling readers benefit from a colored overlay (green and blue seem to work best) on the text while reading.
We made copies of several graphic organizers and put them in page protectors. The teacher can lead a discussion before or after reading and the organizer can be filled out by students. By using sheet protectors and Expo markers, the organizers can be used over and over.
We made a variety of spinners that can be used after reading to discuss story events.
We copied these mini-posters and put them in page protectors. These help students thoughtfully discuss story events after reading.
Each kit also included alphabet charts (these are available at the district office) and mini-posters that teach the fix-up strategies. We showed the mentees several ways to use the alphabet chart with their lower readers.
We gave each teacher a couple of different ideas for managing guided reading groups and talked about how to get EACH CHILD sharing and discussing ideas and how to deal with students who want to dominate the discussion. With the "Talking Star", only the person holding the star can be talking at that time. Everyone gets the star at least once. The "Helping Hand" (which is just a die cut) can be used in a variety of ways. For example, each child is given a hand and each time they share, they fold over one of the fingers. By the end of the disucssion, each child should have 2-3 fingers folded down. The teacher can decide how many times each child should share. You can also use it to help teach kids the "5 Finger Rule" when choosing a book.
Each mentee made a little set of "Lasso's". These are just pipe cleaners that we bent in to the shape of a lasso. When introducing vocabulary, you can have kids "lasso" the words by finding them on the page, reading them in context and then discussing what the words mean. This is a quick way to introduce vocabulary. The lassos can also be turned around, hooked on the figer and used to track print for struggling readers.
We gave everyone several laminated bookmarks to put in their kits, one for younger grades (What To Do When Stuck on a Word) and one for older grades (Using Fix-Up Strategies).
We gave each mentee a few reading "TOOLS (NOT TOYS!)". These are all things that can be used in younger grades for students who still need to track print or for students who often skip lines or loose their place. HOWEVER, we talked about the importance of getting kids to eventually track print with ONLY THEIR EYES and reinforced that good readers probably don't need to use a hand-held tracker while reading.
These are just a few of the spinners we made. After reading, kids can spin and then tell about what they read.
We also gave each mentee a glove and they put the little self-sticking velcro dots on each finger. We then gave them a set of laminated retelling chips. This works better in younger grades, but the teacher choose which chips to velcro on and then after reading, each child chooses a retelling chip and talks about that element of the story.
We also had the mentees make these retelling cubes (just made out of folded cardstock). One is a questioning cube, one is a story element cube and one is a comprehension strategy cube.
Put it all together and there you have it.... A guided reading kit!Other items we like to keep in our kit include:
Scissors
Stickers
Sight Word Flash Cards
Lesson Plan Templates (in a folder)
Guided Reading Binder (see "Guided Reading Binder" post)
Anecdotal Note Waterfall (see "Guided Reading Binder" post)
