Small Group Questioning

Print, laminate, and put the cards on a ring.  Keep them at your conference table for small group conferences.  Try giving a set to students at the group and let them respond to the question of their choice.  Have the students ask each other the questions!

Character

Inferring Questions

Vocabulary

Literature Discussion Group Starters

Using Evidence to Support Your Answer

Happy Questioning! :-)

Sharing Time

READING WORKSHOP

Mini-lesson

Small Groups/Independent Reading

Sharing

At the end of Reading Workshop, spend 3-10 minutes debriefing.  During this whole group discussion, the students share evidence of how they used the mini-lesson focus during their independent reading.  Sharing time provides a social context for students to share their work with the teacher and peers.  The teacher can use this time to assess student learning.

Steps to Establish Small Groups for Guided Reading

 

Small-group reading instruction improves students’ reading levels and comprehension. Here are some steps for establishing and maintaining small, flexible groups. This is just one way to create and follow through with small-group reading instruction. You may use these steps as they are, or modify them to fit the needs of your students.

Step 1) Assessment

Every student is evaluated to find their individual instructional level. This can be done through a variety of assessments (DRA, SRI, and/or AR). Keep in mind that the groups will change as your students continue to grow. Continuous assessment throughout the year should determine the focus and membership of each group. 

Step 2) Establishing Groups

Once you have established your students’ reading levels, then you can assign them to groups with four or five students in each. Depending on student reading levels, you may have four, five, or six reading groups.  You may find, however, that you need to have a smaller group for struggling readers that need more remediation. Groups are flexible.  Students will not be with the same guided reading group all year.  Some teachers allow students to name their own groups or number the groups randomly, so the students do not connect growth or skill level with the number assigned to their group.

Step 3) Establishing a Schedule

Your schedule will depend on the amount of time allotted for your reading groups, as well as the number of groups that you have.  Many teachers find that 15-20 minutes per group is a substantial amount of time to accomplish reading goals/standards on a daily basis. Be sure to consider transition time when making your

schedule.  Below are some schedule examples based on the number of guided reading groups you have in your classroom.  Some schedules have RtI groups meet during one of the group times during Reading Workshop.  Some schedules have RtI groups meeting at a different time during the day. Every one's guided reading schedule may look a little different, and that's okay.

Scheduling Idea for 4 Groups

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Group 1	RtI	RtI	RtI	RtI	RtI
Group 2	Med Low	Med Low	Med Low	Med Low	Med High
Group 3	Med High	Med High	High	High	High

Scheduling Idea for 5 Groups

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Group 1	RtI	RtI	RtI	RtI	RtI
Group 2	Med Low	Med Low	Med Low	Medium	Medium
Group 3	Medium	Med High	Med High	High	High

Scheduling Idea for 6 Groups

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Group 1	RtI	RtI	RtI	RtI	RtI
Group 2	Med Low	Med Low	Med Low	Medium	Medium
Group 3	Medium	Med High	Med High	High	Super High

4) Establishing a Routine

Once the groups are constructed, establish a routine for movement from the guided reading group to other literacy activities (stations, independent reading, reading response journals, writing, etc). There are two keys to keeping the other students on task while the teacher is meeting with a group.  One, establish routines, model routines, and practice routines over and over before beginning your work with small groups.  Two, whatever the teacher gives students to do while they are not meeting with their guided group needs to be independent work that students can do on their own.  This way students will not interrupt your group to ask questions about what they should be doing.  

5) Working with Small Groups

Once the students are grouped, the teacher will select a different book for each group depending on the instructional level of the group and the students' needs.

Check out DESE's New Website for Common Core

Here is a sample of what you can find on the website linked below:

While grades 3-6 Communication Arts MAP assessment is aligned to the GLEs this school year, here are steps K-6 teachers can begin taking now regarding the implementation of the CCSS:

• Examine the text complexity of currently used materials against the text exemplars provided in Appendix B of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) document.
• Begin discussions concerning how to increase students’ ability to read text of increasing complexity at all levels.
• Emphasize nonfiction text.
• Teach “close” reading. “Close” reading means reading for the purpose of uncovering layers of meaning and allowing for deep comprehension.
• Emphasize writing instruction, particularly argumentative/opinion and information/explanatory writing at all levels.
• Examine the writing samples provided in Appendix C to become familiar with the expected proficiency levels at each grade level.
• Intentionally teach vocabulary in context, particularly general academic and domain-specific vocabulary.
• Emphasize student collaboration and peer feedback for presentations and projects.\
• Incorporate technology into instruction, student learning, and assessment.
• Begin discussion among teachers of all content areas to determine how to help students meet the particular challenges of reading, writing, listening, speaking, and language in their respective fields.

http://www.missourilearningstandards.com/ela/ccss-resources/

11 Tips on Teaching Common Core Critical Vocabulary

Click the link below to read this interesting vocabulary article:

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teaching-ccss-critical-vocabulary-marilee-sprenger

Thanks for sharing this great article, Sarah Knight!

Missouri State Comprehensive Literacy Plan

The Missouri State Comprehensive Literacy Plan was created using current research on literacy development and instruction. A study of best practices in literacy instruction and literacy support for optimal development has resulted in the development of an effective literacy framework comprised of six core components: 

*standards-based curriculum 

*leadership and sustainability 

*instruction and interventions 

*assessment 

*partnerships 

*professional development 

An overview of the components of reading instruction begins on page 30 of this document and covers phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. 

The components of writing instruction are discussed on pages 35-36. 

Reading and Writing Workshop are described beginning on page 36, listing details about dialogic reading (for preschool age children), interactive read aloud, shared reading, guided reading, literature-based discussion groups, and individual conferencing, and sharing. 

More information regarding classroom interventions and RtI can be read on pages 42-45. Appendix C offers "What to look for in the literacy classroom" from Kindergarten-12th grade. 

You can download the entire document HERE.

Great Reader's Workshop Videos from Scholastic and The Teacher Channel

Click on the picture below to view the first video:

Click on the picture below to view the second video: