Guided Reading Vs. Strategy Group

Chances are you've heard both terms. You may be tempted to toss guided reading and embrace the newest "most hip" reading group on the block. But hold your horses- there's room for both in a balanced literacy classroom. Here's some of the main differences:

Guided Reading Group	Strategy Group
Teacher acts like a coach on game day, first setting the group up for the game to come, and then offering words of advice from the sidelines as the players tackle the job of reading the text beginning to end.	Teacher acts like a coach during a practice, stating a discreet skill she notices the group needs to work on, teaching it, modeling it, then allowing time for practice of that skill.
Teacher is like a safety net under a tightrope walker. She stays with student from the beginning to the end of the experience and coaches the whole time.	Teacher teaches just one skill in isolation to tightrope walker and student practices it again and again until that one skill is mastered.
Teacher supports and guides students through an entire text, and in this way, teaches them the types of problems they might encounter in a text on this level.	Teacher explicitly teaches one skill, models the skill with her own book, then coaches children through practicing the skill on their own books.
Readers are on the same reading level.	Readers are usually on different reading levels.
Readers read from the same text, chosen by the teacher because it is on the group’s instructional level.	Readers practice the new skill on a text at their own level (usually from their book box, sometimes supplied by the teacher).
Readers may learn several strategies in one meeting.	Readers focus on only one strategy per meeting.
Groups are formed as a result of some type of teacher benchmarking that indicates the approximate reading level of every student.	Groups are formed as a result of teacher observation and notes ~ usually during one on one reading conferences or during other small group meetings.
Once a group is formed, it stays together for several meetings until it’s determined that one or more children are ready to move to a different level. The younger the reader, the more levels they move through per year. By 4th and 5th grade, guided reading groups will only change 2 or 3 times in year.	Groups are formed to address a strategy need, and once that need is fulfilled (usually 1-3 meetings) that exact group does not meet again for the same purpose. Teacher reforms groups based on new strategies.
Guided reading groups are helpful when students are just being pushed up to a new level. Through GR, they can learn all the new text features and possible pitfalls they might encounter on texts of a new level.	Strategy groups are helpful once students are established in their reading level (but not yet ready to move onto the next) and collecting strategies to add to their reader’s toolbox.

See what I mean? The two can - and should - coexist! They work together beautifully, coaching and guiding, then teaching and practicing.

Not every child needs to be participating in a guided reading group and strategy group at the same time. That would be a logistical nightmare! The point is that each student is participating in a small group where they can get quality teacher attention on the skill(s) they need at the time. It is typical to see more guided reading in K-1, since children are moving through levels quickly and need the support that guided reading offers as they explore each new level and the challenges that come with each one. But as children get more proficient, they don't move through as many levels per year. In second grade, children eventually begin to participate a little more often in strategy groups as their movement through the reading levels slow. By the intermediate grades, most small groups are strategy groups. As all teachers know, there are exceptions to every rule. The beauty of using both structures, is that the type of group a child participates in is completely flexible and totally based on the needs of each child. We aim to please!