If you want to make junior class teachers feel guilty, look them straight in the eye and ask: “How are you getting on with guided reading?” Reactions usually range from the slightly shifty (“Who me?”) to the cathartic confessional (“It’s a fair cop, guv. I’ve never done it in my life and I haven’t the foggiest idea where to start. Heeelp!”).

In five years on the literacy in-service training trail, I’ve met very few key stage 2 teachers - especially in Years 5 and 6 - who feel confident about this aspect of the literacy hour. It isn’t surprising. Guided reading didn’t get much coverage in the original National Literacy Strategy training - in fact, it was blink-and-you-miss-it on the video.

Since then, specific guidance has concentrated on infants and younger juniors who need additional literacy support. Another package, Further Learning Support, for Year 5 stragglers, is due out later in the year, and includes many helpful suggestions for guided reading with these children.

But all this advice is focused on establishing basic skills and fluency. What exactly are teachers supposed to do in guided time with a group of average, or above average, top juniors? How can they justify using valuable teaching time on children who are already readers?

“Guided reading is every bit as important as children get older,” says Kevan Collins, deputy director of the NLS. “As they gain control of reading strategies, you can use this small group time as a very powerful way of developing comprehension and understanding. It’s an opportunity for you to monitor individuals’ progress, and it gives all pupils the chance to engage in quality discussion.”

Indeed, as there are usually only about six pupils in a guided group, it makes the perfect vehicle for focused speaking and listening, as well as role-play and drama activities. “You can encourage pupils to think of their guided group like a book club. They read a chapter or so independently, then come together for focused discussion or activities around a relevant aspect.”

Kevan Collins suggests building strong links between guided reading, homework and independent time. Children can prepare their reading for homework, or during the independent session of the literacy hour - while one group prepares, another can be working with you. Or once children get the “book club” idea, you could train them to run a discussion group on their own. You take a guided session, and at the end you set up the discussion topic for the next.

If you’re worried about how long it takes to get through a whole book, you could perhaps focus some group work on specially chosen sections of your serialised class novel. The group could take over part of the story - reading a forthcoming section independently and, in guided time, discussing and devising an appropriate way of presenting it to the class (a dramatised reading? critical commentary? freeze-frame or hot-seating?).

Sometimes a shorter piece, such as a magazine article, poem or short story, will be more appropriate. “By key stage 2, guided reading is about covering the full range of texts for the year group - fiction and non-fiction,” says Kevan Collins. “The teacher should select a teaching objective at the appropriate level for the group, then apply that in reading, using a variety of ways of responding to the text, including writing, role-play and discussion questions, or other speaking and listening activities.”

GUIDED READING FOR HIGHER ORDER SKILLS

These six stages provide a framework for a guided session. The emphasis and time spent on each will vary, depending on your objective.

1 Introduce the text Here you could, for example: * develop orientation strategies - ask pupils to look over and discuss the text with a partner for two minutes; choose one pair to tell the group what they think it’s about;

* make connections to other books - ask them to recall books by the same author, or on a similar theme;

* relating reading to other learning - where the book is related to subjects covered in other curricular areas, discuss relevant features of the text-type.

2 Strategy check

Revise comprehension strategies, for example:

* word and sentence level strategies - using phonics or syllabification, looking up the meaning of unfamiliar words; using the context to make sense of it; * retelling: “Explain this section in your own words”;

* making connections to other texts you’ve read and your own experience; l discussion - using the responses of others to aid your own comprehension;

* remaking or reinterpreting the text in some way - oral, written, dramatic, graphic, artistic ways of understanding.

3 Teaching objective

State this clearly, for example: * “Today we’re going to look at how the characters in this family are introduced and the devices Philippa Pearce uses to help us picture them. We’ll also think about how she influences our attitudes to them.”

* “Let’s look at how much of this leaflet is fact and how much is opinion - gathering evidence for what we decide. And then let’s check out how the author tries to make us accept opinions as facts.”

* “You’re going to present this poem to the class, so let’s think about the atmosphere it’s trying to convey, and the ways the poet creates atmosphere. How can you use your voices - and anything else you can think of - to put that over?” 4 Independent reading

Try to ensure children spend some time reading independently as part of the session, because this is your chance to monitor progress. Ask each individual to read a little aloud to you, and check for accuracy, phrasing, fluency and comprehension.

5 Return to the text

A chance to revisit your main objective through looking again at a part of the text, for example:

* “Look back to the point the author made at the top of page 3 - how do you know that’s an opinion, not a fact? What techniques has he used?” 6 Wider response

Finish by inviting a more general response, such as: * “So what have we learned today about characterisation?”

* “Think of other examples you’ve come across of people twisting facts and opinions like this - maybe on TV or in something you’ve read.”

* “If you were making a backdrop to accompany this presentation, what would it be like? What colours, shapes, images, textures would you want, and why?”