Give them a CHOICE!

So far this school year I have spent a lot of time trying to pick out just the right book for each of my reading groups.  Sometimes my long searches have resulted in less than what I'd hoped for.  I have two little boys who both moved here from different countries just this school year.  They are incredibly eager to learn and enjoy learning new words and having conversations about the new things they are learning here.  Today I decided that I would show them 3 different books at their reading level and let them decide together which book we would read.  They both agreed very quickly that they wanted to read the book about animals.

Before I read a new book with any of my students, my first objective is activate my students' prior knowledge and help them connect to the story.  While doing this, we also take a picture/word walk through the book to preview it and help our thoughts.  Depending on the students and book, you may have to ask questions to get them to share or think.  Other groups may go on forever and ever!  That was the case today with these boys.  I didn't intend for our 20 minute group to be a discussion all about animals without actually reading the book, but before I knew it the boys were hooked on the pictures of bats in the story.

I just happened to have another book (at a much higher level) at the table for another group that has incredible pictures of animals.  The book is called Animals Nobody Loves.  The boys looked through that book completely on their own.  I simply sat and listened to their conversation.  They discovered hyenas and how they are the same animals in The Lion King, and they learned the word poison because some snakes are poisonous.  They talked about how big an octopus brain might be and wondered if a bigger brain means you're smarter.  They repeated words for each other when one of them was saying a word incorrectly.  They told stories of a time when they smelled a skunk.

I was totally amazed at the large amount of rich language these two boys were using with each other.  It was like I wasn't there.  They were helping each other, asking and answering questions, and laughing through it all.  This greatly veered from my original plan, but what they experienced with each other was much more meaningful.  I was reminded that students should be the ones doing most of the talking and discussing in a classroom and that giving your students choices is a very powerful thing!

Follow one 7th and 8th grade English teacher's journey to motivate her students to read:
A New Assignment: Pick Books You Like

How do I schedule small groups?!

Scheduling is a big challenge every school and teacher faces each year.  I had to rethink my instruction this school year when my schedule changed.  It took some getting used to, as well as some trial and error.  Currently, my students are grouped by reading level.  I meet with 5 groups everyday.  This ensures that I meet with every student (I have 25 second grade friends.) 3-5 times/week depending on their needs.  If I am assessing students, I do it during their small group time.

Here is what my schedule looks like.  It may look a little crazy at first, but after using The Daily 5/CAFE I've never been happier with the way things are going!  It took the first 2 months of school just to practice these routines and the transitions before I started meeting with small groups.  The kids are learning in smaller chunks of time and moving around a lot.  This correlates well with a second grader's attention span!

9:00-9:10  Small Group 1
9:10-9:25  Small Group 2
                 *Rest of the class is working independently in a Daily 5 routine
9:25-9:35  Whole group CAFE Focus Lesson
9:35-9:55  Small Group 3
                 *Rest of the class is working independently in a Daily 5 routine
9:55-10:05  Whole group CAFE Focus Lesson
10:05-10:25  Small Group 4
                  *Rest of the class is working independently in a Daily 5 routine
10:25-10:40  Whole Group CAFE Focus Lesson

Later in the day...
1:50-2:10  Small Group 5
                 *Rest of the class is working independently in a Daily 5 routine

Do I really sound like that?

Do you have students in your class who are reading accurately, but struggling to put words and phrases together smoothly, quickly, and with expression?  It's hard for students to hear themselves when they are working so hard on reading words correctly in front of a teacher or classmate.

Let them listen to themselves read!  Use an audio recording device or program to record students as they read a selection.  Then, let them listen to it.  The first few times they will be totally entertained by hearing their own voices.  They'll often say "That's not me!  Do I really sound like that?!"

Now that you've got them engaged, ask them to listen for certain things.  Use a fluency checklist (see below) and let them evaluate their reading.  After they have evaluated it (and they are usually painfully honest!), help them pick one aspect of fluency to work on.  Then let them record again.  Play it back to them and let them compare the two readings.  Depending on the age of your students, you may be able to teach them to do this independently or with a buddy.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

If you want to take it a step further, record a small group performing a Reader's Theater.  Some programs, like GarageBand, allow you to add sound effects!  Not only will students be listening to and evaluating their own reading, but they may learn a thing or two about using technology to become better readers!

You don't have to reinvent the wheel!

Teaching students in small groups adds a large chunk of planning to any teacher's plate.  Keep it simple!  Choose one or two areas to focus on with your students during each group meeting, or even for a whole week.  After all, you may only have that group for 10-20 minutes.  Not only will it help you focus your instruction, but your students will have a clear purpose for reading and becoming better readers.  Whether you meet with students by reading level, interest, or reading strategy, here is a great website with a plethora of instructional techniques to use with students.

Visit fcrr.org!  It's the website for the Florida Center for Reading Research.

Use the "Student Center Activities Search Tool" under the link "Instructional Materials for Teachers."  The search is broken down into 7 areas:
1.  Phonemic Awareness
2.  Phonics
3.  Fluency
4.  Vocabulary
5.  Comprehension
6.  DIBELS
7.  SSS (Florida's State Standards)

Some of my students' favorites are the fluency games!  You can print out directions to the game, as well as all the game materials.  Not only can you use this with students during small groups to build fluency, but they can do it independently!  Once they realize that they can read more smoothly and quickly, let them reread a page in a book a few times they are reading to see if they can read more smoothly and quickly.

There's no shame in "borrowing" ideas from a website or a respected colleague.  Try what works and modify it for your students' needs.