Guided Practice for Reading Growth, Grades 4-8

Twenty-four powerful reading lessons feature original poems and short texts that interest students and build the skills and confidence they need to become lifelong, joyful readers.

“"With special consideration on our students who are developing as proficient readers, this book unpacks an essential step in skilled teaching - the guided practice component. So often, we leapfrog from modeling to independent practice; Robb and Harrison's thoughtful inquiry into guided practice helps us understand the power and promise of guided practice, the essential components of guided practice, and model lessons to enact guided practice."”

"With special consideration on our students who are developing as proficient readers, this book unpacks an essential step in skilled teaching – the guided practice component. So often, we leapfrog from modeling to independent practice; Robb and Harrison’s thoughtful inquiry into guided practice helps us understand the power and promise of guided practice, the essential components of guided practice, and model lessons to enact guided practice."

-- Molly Ness, Ph.D,

"The power of intriguing texts, purposeful reading, and development of independence in reading are the keystones of this book. Teachers will find guidance on how to snag the interest of middle school students with content texts especially written by David L. Harrison and woven into compelling lessons by Laura Robb. The authors provide teachers with a powerhouse of lessons that nudge students along in becoming independent readers who can infer, summarize, discern cause and effect, and much more. Not only will students gain skill in reading, but they will also have multiple opportunities to write, discuss, and broaden their vocabulary. An outstanding resource!"

-- Mary Jo Fresch, Ph.D.,

"This book shows teachers how to apprentice developing readers into knowing and doing the secret things that expert readers know and do.  Laura Robb and her co-author have nailed the very core of the kind of cognitive apprenticeship that transforms student engagement and capacity: provide guided practice into the use of new stances and strategies (in ways tailored to meet the needs of the whole class, small groups and individuals), and then move to deliberate independent practice that consolidates, extends and explores these moves of expert readers. "

-- Jeffrey Wilhelm

"Laura Robb and David L. Harrison′s new book is a great practical guide to help teachers provide more effective reading instruction!"  

-- Larry Ferlazzo

"Laura Robb is a legend in the field of literacy and the years she has dedicated to serving and educating shine through in this gem! Robb’s optimistic tone and steadfast belief in learners permeate each page of this practical professional resource. The included lessons are a tribute to student-centered, scaffolded learning. These thoughtfully-spiraled lessons build confidence in problem-solving and spotlight the importance of literary conversation. I greatly appreciate the focus on using real, relevant, and accessible texts to drive classroom learning. As such, Harrison’s writing amplifies the "engagement factor" of each lesson— I imagine classroom readers will get lost in the rhythm and melody of his words. Thank you, Laura and David, for sharing your knowledge, wisdom, and expertise with us all."

-- Pamela Koutrakos

"What is essential for reading growth?  David Harrison and Laura Robb provide guidelines and tips for schedules, routines, instructional practices and lessons that increase students’ reading skill and self-confidence with proven sustained growth by real students in real classrooms. The authors use the research and their classroom work to provide evidence that students working below their grade level do not need pre-made programs or one-size basals but do need knowledgeable teachers who know their students and align and craft guided practice that encourages students to work hard to meet their goals. This book details how guided practice reinforces and enhances independent reading, interactive read-alouds, vocabulary building and writing about texts in a reader’s notebook in manageable instructional practices.The implementation of the ideas in this book will help EVERY teacher develop effective and efficient targeted instruction that capitalizes on their knowledge and relationships with the students in their own classrooms."

-- Fran McVeigh

"One of the hardest parts of helping developing readers can be finding texts that support them.  In this compendium of intermediate and middle grade reading lessons, Laura and David suggest one great text after another, making offering readers the practice they need to become stronger, more proficient readers even easier!"

-- Kim Yaris

An author, teacher, coach, and speaker, LAURA ROBB has spent the last four decades in middle school education.  What teachers appreciate most about Laura is her deep commitment to children and adolescents, and her ability to show what best-practice instruction looks like day by day; a survey conducted by Instructor magazine named Laura as one of the nation’s top twenty educators. Currently, in addition to her speaking and consulting, she works part time in grades K-8. She was named NCTE’s recipient of the 2016 Richard W. Halle Award for Outstanding Middle Level Educator.David L. Harrison is the author or co-author of over 100 publications for children and educators. His work has inspired plays and been set to music. He has been featured at hundreds of conferences, workshops, literature festivals, schools, and colleges. David holds two science degrees and two honorary doctorates of letters. He is Drury University’s poet laureate. David Harrison Elementary School is named for him. In 2020, he received the first Laura Ingalls Wilder Children’s Literature Medal for his body of work (presented by the LIW Children’s Literature Festival).

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