Reading Small Groups: Are You using These 3 Types?

Reading small groups are an important part of every reading workshop.

If you are an upper elementary reading teacher then you want to make sure that you are making time for these three types of reading small group lessons during your reading block.

3 Types of Reading Small Groups for Upper Elementary

Guided Reading Lessons

• Nuts and Bolts of Guided Reading
  • Guided reading groups should have between 5-6 students
  • Students are grouped according to reading level
  • Guided reading groups typically remain the same for an extended period of time, but should change throughout the year. Not every student will grow at the same rate and as you assess your students reading levels, your guided reading groups should change.
  • Your guided reading lessons should be around 15-20 minutes and ideally you would see students 2-3 times a week depending on their reading levels.
    
• How should I structure my guided reading lessons?
  • In upper elementary the focus of your guided reading lessons should be on reading comprehension. I like to use the following frame work for my guided reading lessons.
    • Introduction (1-2 minutes) – Have students preview the book as a group
    • Read & Respond (10-15 minutes) – Give students a chunk of time to independently read the text.
    • Coaching – While students are reading you want to check in with each student to provide individual coaching. Keep in mind that once your students can fluently read a text you don’t have to listen to them read orally. You know they are already fluent readers. Instead you want to check in and ask them about their comprehension and thinking about the text. The focus of your coaching should be on comprehension.
    • Teach & Talk – After all students have read a portion of the text you want to provide one clear teaching point and discuss it with the students in the group.
    • Respond to the Text – It might take you 2-3 lessons to get through the entire guided reading text and that is OK. But you definitely want to take time to teach students to respond to the text in writing. Part of your guided reading lesson should involve teaching students how to write about their reading.
      
• Why is it important?
  • Guided reading is important because it is one of your main opportunities to differentiate your instruction and provide support to students based on their reading levels. During your guided reading group you can make sure your students are appropriately challenged and are getting instruction to help them grow as readers regardless of the grade they are in.
    
• My #1 Tip:
  • Minimize your talking. It can be so tempting to be the one doing all the talking during your guided reading lesson. But if you are the one doing the talking that just means you are the one doing all the work. Try to limit your talking and give your students more time to talk. Even when it comes to things like previewing the text or expanding on the teaching point. Both of those things can be done by your students. Let them be the ones who are doing most of the talking and thinking during the guided reading lesson. You are simply there to be a guide.

Reading Strategy Groups

• Nuts and Bolts of Strategy Groups
  • Reading strategy groups can have anywhere from 2-8 students.
  • Strategy groups are formed when students share the same instructional need – your strategy groups aren’t dependent upon reading level. You can have a level N student and a level Q student who both need help making inferences.
  • Strategy groups should be short and can last anywhere from 7-10 minutes. Typically your strategy groups will change on a daily basis depending on what skills or strategies your students need additional support with.
    
• How should I structure my strategy group lessons?
  • I like to think of the 4 Ts when I’m teaching a strategy group
    • Target your reading strategy – let students know the exact reading strategy you are focusing on during your lesson
    • Teach the strategy – Spend 1-2 minutes teaching students the strategy. Remember that in most strategy groups you are reviewing something that has been previously taught. The goal is reinforcement. Students should never be hearing something for the first time in a strategy group. Try and use something like an anchor chart, strategy card, sentence stem, or graphic organizer to make your teaching really clear and concise.
    • Tackle the strategy – This is the students chance to finally tackle the strategy and apply it to their independent reading text. During this part of the lesson you are there to offer support and guidance if the students need it.
    • Transfer – Prepare the students to apply this strategy to their independent reading. Make sure they are crystal clear on how to independently use the strategy next time they sit down to read.
      
• Why are strategy groups important?
  • Strategy groups give you an opportunity to reinforce skills and strategies you have taught during your whole group mini-lessons or even during guided reading lessons. Keep in mind that not every student will achieve mastery the first time you teach something. Regularly holding strategy group lessons gives you a chance to support students who might need a little more support and exposure on their path to mastery.
    
• My #1 Tip:
  • Let your students decide if they need to join a specific strategy group lesson. Keep in mind that as the teacher you can always invite or require your students to attend a strategy group lesson, but you also want to give any student the option of joining. When you give students a choice to join in your strategy group lesson you are letting them know that you trust them to make choices that will enhance their reading lives.

    I would try and decide on what strategy group lessons I would be offering that week. I would put a schedule up on the board and lets students sign up for the lessons that I would be offering. Another thing that I would try and do would be to make an announcement right before I would hold a strategy group. “I’m going to be doing a strategy lesson on _________ in five minutes. If you think you want a little more practice, feel free to come and join me on the carpet.”

Student Led Book Clubs

• The Nuts and Bolts of Book Clubs:
  • There are SOOOOOO many ways you can run book clubs in your classroom. They can be super informal or extremely structured and formal. The most important thing is that you make them available to ALL students.
  • Typically speaking book clubs should be small groups between 4-6 students
  • Students are grouped based off of having a shared experience with the same book. You can assign books to groups or you can provide options of book titles and let students pick their own book clubs.
  • It’s important that you pace your book clubs accordingly. You don’t want your book clubs to last all year. You want students to be able to get through a book in about a month…. the longer the book the more frequently students have to meet to discuss it.
  • Some teachers like to provide specific roles for each student in a book club. This can be helpful when getting your book clubs started but it is definitely not a requirement for a successful book club.
    
• How should I structure my book clubs?
  • Book clubs should be student led when possible. This means that teachers should take a back seat and let students run the groups. But before you let your students run with a book club while you sit back on the sidelines, make sure that you have taught them how to talk with each other about a book and have clearly communicated your expectations regarding your book club.
  • Here are few things to consider when setting up your book clubs.
    • How long will each book club last?
    • How frequent will they meet?
    • How much work will students have to do to prepare ahead of time?
    • How are students expected to communicate with each other and do they have norms in place for when they don’t agree?
      
• Why are book clubs important?
  • Students LOVE book clubs. It makes them feel like they are all grown up and independent. Plus they are fun. Book clubs should be run by students and when possible, teachers should be hands off. This is your students time to develop some independence when it comes to reading. They get to interact with their peers and share their opinions and ideas about a book without the pressure of having to always come up with “the right answer.”
    
• My #1 Tip:
  • When you are getting ready to introduce book clubs, plan to do it as a whole group. So often teachers will launch and introduce book clubs one at a time. This method can take forever and students can get really impatient if they have to wait months before they get to be in a book club.
    
    To help with this process, use your class read aloud as a way to teach and train your students how to run a book club.
    • Create book club groups of 4-6 students – I wouldn’t make them any larger than that.
    • Have students sit with their group while you are reading aloud the text.
    • Since every student is hearing the read aloud, you can focus on teaching them how to talk with each other and respond in writing about the text.
    • You can do whole group mini-lessons on how to talk with each other, how to ask meaningful questions, how to make sure everyone participates and anything else you think is important.

So, now you know the three types of reading small group lessons you should be implementing in your upper elementary classroom. Which ones have you already been doing? Which ones are you excited to start trying?

Happy Teaching!

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