There are certain materials that you will definitely want to invest in to help make your job as a guided reading teacher much easier. Here are just a few of the things that I use on a daily basis with my guided reading groups.
Leveled Books
You can get your books from a variety of sources. Our school is blessed to have a literacy library for grades K through 2, and another one for grades 3 through 5. Books were purchased from a variety of sources (see Literacy Library Resources for more information). In addition, our reading basal adoption came with leveled books. These books are typically only on the grade level range of the grade that you teach, so if you have higher or lower readers in your class, you will need to borrow from other grade levels. Another good resource is Reading A-Z. This site has a TON of great leveled books that you can download and print in PDF format, along with lesson plans and worksheets for each book. If your campus does not have a literacy library, this might be a good option for you to invest in.
Whiteboards
I use a personal whiteboard with every group that I work with. I also have small whiteboards for each child in the group in the event that I need them to work on a particular skill. I purchased my whiteboards from our high school shop students. However, you can also visit a local home improvement store and purchase large sheets of whiteboard material. They will often cut it down for you as well.
Don't forget that you will need whiteboard markers and erasers. Whiteboard markers are on our school supply list and I use orphaned socks as erasers.
Clear Plastic Sleeves
These can be purchased at your local teacher supply store or online at one of the many teacher resource suppliers. I like to put the various graphic organizers into these sleeves and then allow the students to write on the sleeve instead of the organizer itself. While my organizers are laminated, placing them inside the sleeve gives it a little extra protection so it will last a bit longer. You'll need wet erase markers (vis-a-vis markers) to write on the sleeves, and something to erase with. I use baby wipes, but have also used tissues and a spray bottle with water in the past.
Plastic Letters
Even in third grade my students absolutely LOVE to work with these letters. I strongly encourage you to invest in some. The letters are used for the "build, mix, fix" activity in which they build their words with these letters. Most letters come in two colors - blue for consonants and red for vowels. I purchased clear fishing tackle boxes and placed letter stickers on each compartment to organize the letters, but you can also purchase them prepackaged in a box with sections for each letter. I also have one set of letters that I began collecting when my own children were in preschool that are simply the magnetic refrigerator letters. Even though they are not color coded by consonants and vowels, they work just the same and my students don't seem to mind the rainbow colors.
Place Markers
I found this cute idea on Pinterest a few months ago. They are very simple to make and the kids seem to love them. My lower groups really use them consistently. While I place them out for my stronger readers, they rarely use them. Since there is a wiggly eye on the popsicle stick, I always say, "Put your eye on your words and follow along." Some of my students prefer to put the eye on each word as they read while others lay the stick flat along each line of words.
Expert Hats and Stop Sign
This is another great idea that I cannot claim as my own. In order to minimize distractions to my guided reading groups, and maximize ownership of the rotations, I put two students in charge while I am working with groups. These are my "experts." If other students have questions about the activities that they are to be doing during rotations, they ask an expert. Experts wear the "Expert" hat. I also have a stop sign that I made by printing a stop sign graphic onto cardstock and gluing it onto a popsicle stick. If students approach the guided reading table while I am working with a group, I simply hold up the stop sign.
Timers
Timers are a must! I use these timers for a variety of things during guided reading. I use the red digital timer to keep me on track during my small guided reading groups. Without the timer, I would quickly lose track of the time and would have only worked with one group. The blue digital timer is for the students to take with them to the library. I also use 1 minute sand times for fluency practice. We tried digital timers but they were too noisy since they went off every minute. I purchased the digital timers for $1.00 at the dollar store and the sand timers were purchased in packages of two for $4.00 at the local teacher supply store.