Small Group Tips and Tricks...and a FREEBIE!

Hi Friends!  February is rolling along!  This week is super busy and fun in Mrs. Mistler's Class!  We have a Field Trip to our High School tomorrow and Valentines Party on Thursday!  So with that being said, here we go!  First of all, this is the time of year that I start getting a little nertsy(family term...means crazy!) about my students growth.  Ok-I need to clarify, teacher friends you will relate-I am always concerned with student growth, but this time of year... it's getting close to what I call CRUNCH time!   This makes my heart race just thinking about it!  Ok...Mandy...CALM...DOWN!! WHEW!  Wow, ok, now I can proceed with my previous thought! I just completed all of my Parent/Teacher Conferences last week(They went really well!! Yay!!). Anyway, now its time to move forward and keep driving on!  I feel like I am small group crazy kinda teacher.  Anyone else out there?  My students and I have been working hard in small groups and growing everyday.  I recently attended a state mandated training that helped me to remember some key fundamentals about teaching reading.  Now, before I continue, I know that this can be a hairy subject for some teachers.  Teachers have a wonderful gift(being passionate) and sometimes, because of that gift, we get a little sideways on our opinion. I am talking to myself too!  I want to just say how important small group teaching is.  I remember when I first started teaching, how scatter-brained I was.  I really wanted to rock small group time, but a lot of times found myself, wanting to work on word families, but would spend my time with my first group, trying to find the right letter tiles for the word family I was working on. Or, waiting to pick out the book for the current group that I had, until they were sitting in front of me.  I was a young teacher and was just trying to keep my head above water.  OK, I am almost down with my soap box kind of post... Anyway, when it comes to teaching small group reading, here are a few tips:

1. PLAN, PLAN, PLAN-Before you teach your groups.  I cannot tell you how important planning your small groups is.  Now, I know that TIME is not on your side as a teachers, and when I say plan ahead, you are thinking...I know , but I am already a lot of extra time weekly, planning whole group lessons, let alone small group. WHO has the TIME for that?  Well, let me tell you with time and practice, planning for your small group lessons, won't take very long, I PROMISE!  So, with that being said, here is a small group lesson plan template that I use.  Its simple and effective.
                                     
Grab this template for FREE HERE.


Now, I only have time for 3 groups a day, so I meet with my below level group every day, and then I meet with 2 more groups that day.  My schedule does not allow for meeting with all 3 groups in one chunk.  I meet with some of my groups in the morning, and some in the afternoon.  I just meet with my high group ONCE a week.  I meet with them on Fridays.  These students just need practice with higher level text, vocab, comprehension, etc.  It works out best for me to meet with them on Fridays.  Bottom line...you plan your groups to best fit your kids and your schedule. :)


2. Pick out your books BEFORE you teach your small group.  Read through your books that you are planning to teach, before your call your groups.  When you do this, you can be sure to build background, plan critical questions, and comprehension strategies.  Just a quick read through will help so much!  Knowing the story is important for so many reasons.

This is what have used in the past to store my magnetic letters.  I have also used a shoe organizer hung on a door.  I have a tackle box that has all of my letter tiles organized in it. 

3. Prep your materials.
I always make sure to have my whisper phones, pointers, googly eyes, etc. available and ready before I start groups.  Also, if you are planning to work on word building with tiles, magnetic letters, etc, go ahead and group the letters for each student prior to meeting with them.  I keep snack size Ziploc bags in a bookshelf right behind me for that reason.  While planning my groups, I can easily pull letters and place into bags prior to the lesson.

I am planning on posting more tips and tricks later on the month. I feel like I have typed a novel!  Anyway, Happy Teaching!