An interview with Jan Richardson about her book The Next Step Forward in Guided Reading- Jan tells the whole story about Guided Reading. An interview conducted by Dr. Sam Bommarito

I had the privilege of having dinner with Jan Richardson while at LitCon a couple of weeks ago. Several literacy leaders were there, and we had an amazing discussion about the current state of affairs in teaching reading (and writing). One thing we discussed was the current criticisms of Guided Reading and other balanced literacy practices being made by some on social media. The social media versions of those practices are often in strawman form and bear little or no resemblance to the current models of guided reading. Phonics is an important part of guided reading, as is writing and comprehension development. Nowhere will you find a better explanation of what Guided Reading is or a better blueprint of how Guided Reading should be implemented than you will find in Jan’s book. Let’s learn a little about Jan’s background and then dive into what Jan said during the interview.

These are highlights from the interview. In case you want to jump to a particular topic, the highlights are time-stamped.

HERE IS A LINK TO THE YOUTUBE VIDEO:

Here is a link to Jan’s Website- This site has many wonderful resources and information! LINK

Her newest Lit Tip on this website really is special. It is a well-documented paper on guided reading and science. Be sure to download and read it. It tells the whole story about Science and Guided Reading. LINK

Jan also has a link to a white paper entitled Better Reading Instruction. It includes even more well-researched ideas that tell the whole story. LINK.

Jan provided us with a link to research about her use of guided reading LINK.

Here is a link to the PVB Office Hours Webinar Series: Teaching Phonics Explicitly and Systematically during Guided Reading (Pioneer Valley). Jan talks about how phonics is taught in guided reading LINK.

Dr. Sam’s reflections & his schedule in the next few weeks: I’m presenting at the Young Years Conference held at Tan-Tar-A. I will discuss the tremendous advantages of using play as a teaching tool for our younger children. I’ll be doing a presentation to teachers in Maryland after that. I’ll also be doing some professional development for beginning teachers in the St. Louis region. Busy times! Until next week-

Happy Reading and Writing.

Dr. Sam Bommarito (aka, the guy in the middle taking flak from all sides)

Copyright 2023 by Dr. Sam Bommarito. Views/interpretations expressed here are solely this author’s views and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other person or organization.

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Here is a complete list of the speakers at the conference:

Keynotes: Josh Varner, Ron Shuali, Dr. Adolph Brown, Eric Litwin and Jim Gill.

Featured: Jill Molli, Sharron Krull, Dr. Sam Bommarito, Vladimir Sainte and Ernesto Rodriguez.

An interview with Jan Richardson about her book The Next Step Forward in Guided