Guided Reading Lesson Plan: Ruby Bridges 
I chose to address reading comprehension and interdisciplinary/content area reading for my 
small group lesson. The teacher is currently providing interdisciplinary instruction in the English 
Language Arts block addressing the Civil Rights Movement, since it is not a 4th grade standard 
and their Social Studies block is so short. The students have expressed passionate interest in 
the subject, and the students I will be working with are lower level readers and writers who 
would benefit from a guided/supported reading group experience. 

Intended/hopeful outcomes of this intervention: Students will practice building fluency and 
developing metacognitive comprehension skills by participating in a small guided reading group. 

Introduction to Text:  Co-Construct KWL Chart: Who was Ruby Bridges? What was the 
Civil Rights Movement?  

Reading:  Teacher and students take turns interacting with the text. By 
reading aloud, students will be able to practice and build fluency. 
By listening to the teacher, a fluent reader, and some of their 
peers read aloud, students will be able to observe modeled rate, 
prosody, and comprehension techniques. By asking questions as the 
students read, the teacher can foster metacognitive reading. 

Discussion:  What was the main idea of the story? How do you think Ruby 
Bridges felt? Would you have done what she did? How were the 
two passages similar? How were they different? 

Teaching Points:  ● Social Studies Connection: Civil Rights Movement 

● Character Education: Empathy 

Word Work:  Marshals, segregated, civil rights, dwindle 

Extend Understanding:  Drawing on their previous instruction on the Civil Rights Movement, 
students will identify what significant events in the CRM were 
related to Ruby Bridges‛s experience (Brown vs. BOE, Little Rock 
Nine, etc) Students may use their Reader‛s Journals to brainstorm. 

Assessment:  Students will answer multiple choice comprehension questions. 

Materials: KWL chart paper, pencils for each student, markers, copies of “Walking Tall” 
packet from ReadWorks including vocabulary work and reading comprehension questions for 
each student and teacher, “The Story of Ruby Bridges” 

 
Guided Reading Lesson Plan by: Kellyn McNamara, UNC Charlotte, 2018