What is a TRG?

Speaker: Hello there, and welcome to the New Worlds Reading Initiative. Today, we're going to introduce you to a wonderful resource that will enhance your reading instruction. Get ready to explore the world of Teacher Reading Guides. So, what exactly is a Teacher Reading Guide?

Teacher Reading Guides are book-specific and carefully created to accompany New World's Reading Books, and Florida's ELA B.E.S.T. Texts. The Guides provide grade-level-specific strategies and activities that support VPK through 5th grade reading instruction. Teacher Reading Guides are aligned with Florida's grade-level standards, ensuring that the lessons meet grade-level expectations and support students in reaching mastery of benchmark skills. 

The activities and information in these Guides are supported by the science of reading and utilize evidence-based practices that are grounded in research. The best part about these Guides is that you can access and download them for free on the New World's Reading website.

Now, let's take a closer look at Teacher Reading Guides. Teacher Reading Guides are tailored to selected books and follow a consistent structure. On the front page, you'll find key information to help guide your instruction, such as the grade level, book title, author, and illustrator. An essential question to establish the focus, provide a purpose for reading, and support comprehension.

A book snapshot that provides an overview of the genre, text type, and overarching themes or topics of the text. A skill focus chart that outlines the specific skills and strategies addressed in the reading guide. Learning targets framed as "Today, I am...so that I can..." to help students understand the purpose of their learning. A building background section to help students connect with the content of the book, build their prior knowledge, and foster engagement. In the next section, you'll find Word Work, which provides activities to support building foundational reading skills, such as alphabet knowledge, phonological awareness, and phonics.

The activities within the Guides provide explicit and systematic instruction for skills and strategies, using the gradual release of responsibility framework. They directly align with grade level standards, equipping your students with the necessary tools to become fluent readers.

The next section spotlights explicit vocabulary instruction. Talk about new and interesting words will help students be more dynamic communicators by targeting Tier 2 vocabulary words that are key to their understanding of the text. The reading guide provides a student-friendly definition for each word, using simple language and concepts children are familiar with. There is also a full sentence that connects each word back to the context of the story, as well as a page number for easy reference.

The last section, Read for Meaning, is divided into before, during, and after reading questions and activities to support deeper understanding of the text, including comprehension strategies such as visualizing, questioning, and summarizing; text analysis prompts to explore characters, plot, settings, and themes; interpreting the author's message, purpose, or perspective; oral language development through conversations and collaborations with peers; opportunities to make text connections; and writing activities to support active reflection and the reading-writing connection.

Now that you know about the components of the Teacher Reading Guide and you're excited about incorporating them into your instruction, let's talk about how to access these valuable resources. It's as easy as visiting the New Worlds Reading website at www.newworldsreading.com. Once you're on the website, navigate to the top of the page and click on Resources. Locate and click on the Educator Resources tab to explore the full selection of reading guides and other helpful resources.

Remember that these downloadable PDFs are free and available to all VPK through 5th grade educators. With Teacher Reading Guides and many more resources on the New Worlds Reading website, you can empower yourself as an educator to create effective and engaging reading experiences for students. Unlock new possibilities for your classroom by exploring Teacher Reading Guides today.