Reading Group

  Instruction

 ( tips and    tricks)

   Comprehension

Reading comprehension is a HUGE part of any reading pro-

gram.  Make sure to include it

in your small instruction time.  In 2^nd grade most of the kids have become fairly fluent readers and are starting to read to learn, rather than learn to read.  Although there are always the exceptions in which

a group might be needing more

phonetic based instruction.

Have handy comprehension strategies or create an anchor chart with your group to hang up.

I feel strongly that reading

groups should take place at least

4 days a week.  A very important

part of reading instruction time

is the training that starts at the

beginning of the year.  It is very

important to train your children

in how they are suppose to act,

get help, etc. during reading

group instruction.  If they are

trained properly you should have

 a successful year!!

Make sure they know:  what to

do if a pencil breaks,  who to ask

for help while you are working

with groups, etc.

         Supplies

My school library has tons of

small group leveled books for the

teachers to check out which is

wonderful.  I however also use my

Scholastic bonus points to purchase

even more supplies.  Think about

using your bonus points to purchase

chapter books in a set of 6 to use

during your reading groups.  I have

several sets of chapter books that I use

from that idea. 

Other supplies:  sticky notes, pointers,

highlighters,  reading strategy book-

marks or poster,

What the other kids

are doing:

Several teachers email me and

ask me what are the other kids

doing while you are teaching

small groups?  I spoke on that a

little bit above but can go into

more detail here:  In 2nd grade

their attention spans are long

enough to have them do more

reading on their own and less

seatwork...if you do need to do

seatwork, the work must be

authentic standard based work

that is meaningful in order for it to

work.

After seatwork than

what?

After a student has completed the required seatwork they can go to a center.  The centers are

up on the board and are organized by their desk coin.  For instance, if you sit at a desk of 4 you are either a dime, penny, quarter or nickel.  On the board, if you are a dime you  may be going to the library center, if you are a penny you may be going to scoop and spell.  Etc.

     Organization

I keep a manila folder for each group

and just give them a color name. 

Listed in that folder are pre-copied

pages of reading group organization. 

If I can create a new one I will attach

it to this page.  The one I have is old

and not saved onto a disk.  At the top

is the group color and the current

members in the group.  I always date

this because the members can change

frequently.  If it’s dated I know that

the last time they were DRA’d and

keep it current that way.  Also it’s

helpful to keep it this way for subs.