STRATEGY FOCUS
Guide-O-Rama
PURPOSE
A Guide-O-Rama is similar to a traditional study guide, except the Guide-O-Rama isn’t simply facts from the text or comprehension questions for students to answer. The Guide-O-Rama provides insight into how one might process the information as they read the text and helps students navigate the text using guiding questions or “think-aloud” statements that will support their understanding of key portions of the text. A secondary benefit of the Guide-O-Rama is helping students acquire independent reading comprehension skills.
PROCESS
- Identify text that is important for your students to read as a part of the current unit of study. When planning for the use of complex text, prepare a Guide-O-Rama to aid students in navigating the text.
- Determine key portions of the text that students will need to work to comprehend.
- Create guiding questions or statements that will support students’ understanding for each of the key portions of the text. The following are considerations when creating guiding statements and/or questions for the guide:
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- Direct students to pay attention to bolded key vocabulary, figures, maps, diagrams, and photographs. Provide guiding questions to help students make meaning of the text.
- Conduct a Think Aloud around a paragraph to model for students what proficient readers do when encountering complex text.
- Provide students with the text, inviting them to utilize the Guide-O-Rama as they navigate and work to comprehend the content.
PROBING QUESTIONS
CONSIDERATIONS
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How did the Guide-O-Rama enhance your reading comprehension skills?
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What new learning did you take away from this experience?
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How might the process you used during the use of the Guide-O-Rama transfer to real life?
- Text can be defined as anything used to gain information. Guide-O-Ramas can support reading comprehension of articles, videos, fictional stories, informational resources, websites, photographs, etc.
- Consider providing a graphic organizer such as a Venn Diagram within your Guide-O-Rama if comparing or contrasting information from a paragraph would be beneficial in helping students understand the content.
SCAFFOLDS
General Scaffolds
- A text can be defined as anything used to gather information. This strategy can support reading comprehension of articles, videos, fictional stories, informational resources, websites, photographs, etc.
- Use the Gradual Release model (I do/you watch, I do/you help, you do/I help, you do/I watch to provide scaffolding for students.
- Model how to use the strategy through a Read Aloud/Think Aloud.
- Chunk the text to make it more accessible for students (e.g., number paragraphs, etc.).
- Direct students to pay attention to bolded key vocabulary, figures, maps, diagrams, and photographs.
- Provide guiding questions to help students make meaning of the text.
- Conduct a Think Aloud around a paragraph to model for students what proficient readers do when encountering complex texts.
- Consider providing a graphic organizer such as a Venn Diagram within your Guide-O-Rama if comparing or contrasting information from a paragraph would be beneficial.
- Encourage and allow students to access and use vocabulary resources and tools such as anchor charts, word walls, word bank, and personal dictionaries.
Scaffolds for Multilingual Learners
Entering/Emerging:
- Bold key vocabulary words for students to use to identify icons and match key terms and ideas to images, graphs, icons or diagrams.
- Allow students to access and use vocabulary resources and tools, such as anchor charts, word walls, word banks, and personal dictionaries (including images).
- Chunk the text to make it more accessible for students to sequence events, identify patterns, and locate main ideas.
- When watching videos, turn on captions.
Developing/Expanding:
- Pair this strategy with See-Think-Wonder or Double Entry Organizer to help them track their thinking, connections, and wonders.
- Chunk the text to make it more accessible for students to sequence events, identify patterns, and locate main ideas.
- When watching videos, turn on captions.
Bridging/Reaching:
- Pair this strategy with See-Think-Wonder or Double-Entry Organizer to help them track their thinking, connections, and wonders.
- When watching videos, turn on captions.
REPRODUCIBLE
CONTENT APPLICATIONS
SOCIAL STUDIES
Students use a Guide-O-Rama to support their viewing of a video
about the Underground Railroad. Statements guide students to pause at certain points (i.e., at the 0:10 marker) to take note of factual information presented in the video.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
When reading an informational text, use the Guide-O-Rama to focus students in on key information.
VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS
Students in a theater class use a Guide-O-Rama as they investigate the time period and place of a dramatic work to better understand performance and design choices.
HEALTH & PHYSICAL EDUCATION
When reading resources on tobacco use and vaping, students use the Guide-O-Rama to focus on the most important information.
SCIENCE
Students use a Guide-O-Rama to navigate the Periodic Table of the Elements. Statements might refer to the color patterns, symbols, or atomic numbers of the elements.
CAREER & TECHNICAL EDUCATION
Students use a Guide-O-Rama to make sense of an organization’s financial report. Statements and questions might refer to revenue, operating expenses, or taxes and how they are calculated or what they represent.
MATHEMATICS
Students use the Guideo-O-Rama when exploring math websites or texts related to the content they are learning in a unit.
WORLD LANGUAGES
Students use a Guide-O-Rama to find information in an authentic magazine or newspaper in the target language.
SOURCES
Blackburn, B. (2020, September 30). Guiding your students for independent work with Guide-O-Ramas. Share My Lesson. Retrieved March 23, 2022, from https://sharemylesson.com/blog/guiding-your-students-independent-work-guide-o-ramas.