Classroom Close Up: Guided Reading with Jenna: Small Group Guided Reading
Jenna Ogier

[01:00:08.10]
Narrator: In this Classroom Close-Up segment, we zoom in on fifth grade teacher, Jenna Ogier, as she teaches two Guided Reading groups. The first group is learning to identify the main problem of a chapter, and how to defend assertions with evidence directly from the text.

Jenna: "So, your assignment was to read Chapter 2, Mark Miller, OK? And, I asked you guys some questions about it. Specifically, we've been working on main problem, right? Identifying problems that we see in a story. So, what is the problem in the chapter, Mark Miller?"

Student: "Everybody started out a new kid, like...he started out a new kid. And, he told everybody his new name."

Jenna: "Right. He's the new kid in the classroom, and the teacher, Mrs. Jules, who we've been hearing about, right? We met her in Chapter 1."

Student: "He told everybody that his name was Mark Miller."

Jenna: "Yes. She introduces him as "Oh, this is Mark Miller." OK. So, Caira?"

Student: "I think he didn't want anybody to laugh at his name."

Jenna: "You're right. He is kind of embarrassed about his real name. What part?"

Student: "It says 'He couldn't tell Mrs. Jules his real name now.' "

Jenna: "He couldn't tell Mrs. Jules his real name now. She'd think he was making it up. He's like "Oh, I've waited too long, and now, like, Oh, it's gonna be really hard to fix that mistake." But, what part of the text - let's go back - what part of the text tells us that he's a little embarrassed of his name, Benjamin Nushmut? 'Cause that is kind of a funny sounding name. So where in the text, so hold on, I want you to find the part where he specifically says that he's a little bit embarrassed of his own name. Where in the text does it say that?"

Student: "It says, um, 'his knees were shaking', and he's kind of embarrassed to tell people that that's his real, that that's his fake name, and Benjamin Nushmut is his real name."

Jenna: "OK, you're right. So, that's on page 7, when it says that 'his knees were shaking'. That is evidence that he is nervous. Good. I like how Nogil's giving a thumbs up. He's like "Yes, absolutely." Nice job, you guys, identifying the main problem of the chapter. OK? Um, and the next assignment that you have is you are going to be reading Chapter 3 and it's called BeBe's Baby Brother, and I want you, we're still gonna keep on working on the same thing, about identifying what is the main problem. So, remember that we talked about OK, if we're thinking about what the main problem is, there are lots of little problems in the story, but we just want to look at the main one, the most important one, and see if we can identify that. 'Cause good readers, we said, don't need to remember every, single little thing that happens in a story. We just want the most important thing. OK? I love how Raylin's like "I'm ready to go." "

Narrator: With the next group,

Jenna: "Next group, please come with all of your things."

Narrator: Jenna teaches a lesson on sequencing of a chapter.

Jenna: "OK, we ready? Go ahead. I like how Tylie opened up, showing me that he's ready. Nice! So, last time we were together we were working on sequencing, deciding what the most important parts were in the chapter, right? And, keeping them in order. So, like saying "First, this happened, and then this, and then this, and then this, and then this, and finally this. OK. So, since good readers often have to think about what first happened, what happened in Good Luck Signs?"

Student: "Sodeko is in a hurry to go to the Peace Day carnival, but her family says that it's not fun and games. It's a sad day."

Jenna: "Ohh, good. Why is it a sad day? You're absolutely right. Sodeko's so excited to go to this Peace Day carnival, and her dad kind of, gets mad at her, right? Because this is supposed to be a sad day; it's supposed to be a serious day. Why is it a serious day? Peace Day? Why is it serious?"

Student: "It was serious day because it's probably the thing that was about to happen, about the um, the boomy thing, about that bomb that was gonna drop down, I think. That's probably..."

Jenna: "The atom bomb?"

Student: "Yeah, the atom bomb."

Jenna: "Christian, what did you want to add?"

Student: "It's a Memorial Day for them because their grandmother died."

Jenna: "Good job. So let's go to what your assignment was, to see what were the important things that happened. What happens first?"

Student: "What happens first is that girl meets and plays with her best friend.

Jenna: "OK. Good. The second thing that happens is they have to walk through a building where they see all these scary pictures of the atom bomb survivors. And, we had said that she didn't like doing that, right? Because she saw pictures of people, maybe who had died, who had gotten burned from the bomb. Joshua, go ahead and put that pencil down, so we're not getting distracted by it. OK? Thank you. Tylie, did you want to add?"

Student: "Next, Sodeko and her um, friend, Shuzuko, talked about when Sodeko was little and the atom bomb hit. I think they were talking about the atom bomb history."

Jenna: "You're absolutely right, so the third thing that happens, is that Sodeko, right, is remembering, and then what? Maybe the picture gives us a clue. Christian, what happens next?"

Student: "They burn candle, they burn candles in front of the, the picture of their grandmother."

Jenna: "OK, 'cause in Chapter 1 we learned that Obichan, the grandmother, died, yeah, from the atom bomb. OK, go ahead, you can take your things. This assignment is due Monday."