Guided Reading: Learn Proven Teaching Methods, Strategies, and Lessons for Helping Every Student Become a Better Reader and for Fostering Literacy Across the Grades

Chapter 1 The – Importance of Guided Reading

I do not read a book; I hold a conversation with the author.

Elbert Hubbard

Before the digital age, many children between the ages of 9 and 12 turned to books for escape. The library was a place they frequented to step out of reality for a little bit and plunge into the world of magic, mystery, adventure, and even fear. Throughout the decades, timeless tales captured the hearts and stirred the imaginations of the youth, some of which include Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables, R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps horror fiction series and, of course, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. And the more they read, the more complex their tastes become. In turn, their literacy skills develop almost effortlessly, for these are fuelled by a strong passion for reading.

Such is the evolution of a young reader’s mind, for narratives are a natural part of the human brain. For children, the telling of stories is a must. After all, we converse mostly in narratives, write out our thoughts in narrative, and even dream in narrative. But while children’s thirst for stories will not ever really go away, the medium from which they obtain these stories have transformed, so much so that these stories leave little for the imagination. Back then, there were only books with mostly words, a few pictures here and there, to capture a young 9 or 10-year-old’s interest. Now, every which way they turn, children can find enough distractions to keep their brains busy. At the click of a button, they can access a myriad of highly interactive games and videos. The moment they