Small group is a crucial part of our day. It provides a time to do some interventions, challenge students, and reteach concepts that some or all students may not be grasping. I love finding new tools to use with my reading groups that engage my students and I can reuse again and again!
Fluency practice is something we work on each week. I specifically work with my students that need interventions for their words per minute. We use these timers during small group to time ourselves reading word cards or passages for 1 min. The other timers are perfect for having the students practice reading their text individually before being ready to time their reading. They are quiet timers and each student can tell when their time is up without disturbing others!
Grammar can be hard to fit in during each day and some students struggle with certain skills. This flip book reference chart is PERFECT to prop up on the teacher table while we work on things. We use dry erase sentence strips to practice the skill of the week. I have my students write a sentence containing an adjective, proper noun, verb, etc. Then we switch! The students use their marker to identify the word their classmate used and underline it. The flip chart provides a fantastic reference tool for reteaching or students that might be stuck!
It can be tricky to find tools that challenge your higher group of students during small group time. These Show Me the Evidence and Fiction Close Reading Tabs have endless possibilities! The fantastic thing is that they can be used with any text. The pack comes with multiple tabs for more than a couple of students. In our class we use these tabs for book clubs as well as extra practice for any students who may not be understanding different elements of fiction. Anything that my students can use interactivity and with their hands always helps reinforce whatever skill we are working on!
We love these dry erase sleeves for many reasons. The best part? They slip on from the side making them perfect for books and reading passages!! I usually pair these with our Scholastic News magazines.
We can write on the text using our think marks and answer the questions without writing on the actual magazines! Question dice are a great tool for interventions with your students who need extra practice with elements of a story. Simply roll the dice to while doing your guided reading groups to stop and discuss the who, what, why, where, and when of the story. These pocket dice are also a favorite! There are so many question cards you can put in them for your small group discussions.
This non-fiction bulletin board set can be used during small groups too! Instead of hanging it on the wall I use the posters as references for identifying text features during guided reading. They are a great size and allow students to see an example of each text feature.
Alphabet tiles are the perfect tool to practice word lists independently or at the teacher table! These tools help make pulling small groups and reteaching so easy and covenant! Store them next to your teacher table and reuse them again and again!
