Reading Experiences in the Kindergarten Classroom Kindergarten
classrooms also differ in terms of the instructional practices
that teachers use to help children learn to read.6 Teachers’
practices vary in terms of their instructional approaches—that
is, the extent to which learning is teacher directed and
involves the whole class; teacher directed and involves small
group activities; or teacher guided and involves individual-
child activities or child-selected activities. Teachers’
practices can also vary according to the ways that children are
grouped for instruction—whether children are organized into
mixed-level groups, achievement groups, or peer-tutored groups.
In whole-class, teacher-directed activities, the teacher
initiates and leads the majority of activities while the entire
class is involved. Teachers can also lead and structure small-
group and individual teacher-directed activities, which
sometimes can occur concurrently with child-selected activities.
Child-selected activities in kindergarten migh