I rely heavily on the Pioneer Valley Book Builder subscription to create books for the children I work with. You can put a child’s name into the program and print out a book at the child’s guided reading level with their name within the text. This is a great resource, especially during this time of quarantine. As I was exploring the site the other day I came upon their Digital Reader, which is currently free. It allows you to access books digitally at your child’s specific reading level (they also have a free assessment if you are not sure where to start). There are even videos for some of the books that will guide the students through introducing the book, word work connected with the book, as well as writing connections with the book.
As I watched my own kindergarten daughter participate in this virtual guided reading lesson from guided reading guru Jan Richardson, I couldn’t help but think of Joey – can these resources work for him as well?
Joey continues to impress us with his strong visual memory. It seems as though I can introduce a sight word to him once, and he will soon be able to find it from a field of six. His ability to receptively identify these words in isolation continues to impress me. So we know he is able to recognize words. How do we get him from reading these words to reading and understanding what he reads? How do we measure that? How do we know when he is achieving it and it is time to increase the level of the work we give him?
Another fun book Joey and I recently discovered together was 
In trying to find
Without his device, Joey has been choosing to read books that give him more opportunities to interact during the read aloud. He wants to hold an animal, wave a magic wand, or move a velcroed piece around on his work tray. 
