Making the Most of Small Group Instruction {with Aloha to Second}

Small group time is one of my favorite times of the day!  I love this time with my students, and I love being able to dig deeper into their reading skills.  I am going to share some of the things I do to help make my small group time more meaningful!

First of all, I love my small white board stand that I bought from Lakeshore Learning.  I use this daily to help reiterate lessons and skills to my students during small group time.  I use it for reading, writing, and word study.  It is the perfect size to demonstrate on, and there is a pouch on the back that allows me to keep some of my supplies in.

I have colored markers, highlighters, pens, pencils, dry erase markers, post-its, reading glasses, stickers, small group binder, white boards for students, and other materials I use to help teach reading. 

I also have this handy basket that I keep my small group books in, phonics phones, spotters to help track reading/practice skills, slinkies to help stretch sounds, and flashlight pointers to keep track of reading.  

I really enjoy using Reading A-Z to help my students during small group reading time.  The one classroom price is $116 for the year.  You could always try and ask your school to help.  Mine was not able to purchase it, so I bought the subscription for the year.  I think it was totally worth it!  I love the leveled books and the comprehension quizzes that go with each book.  Here is an example of a book and quiz.  Then, my students get to take the books home to keep after we have read it in class together.  They love this!  They add them to their home library.  Sometimes, if they bring the book back signed I will give them a prize. :]  It's a great way to teach them to reread and practice the skills we did in class at home again. 

I also have a conferring notebook where I keep all of my student notes.  It helps me stay organized and on track of how my students are doing.  I made tabs for each student so I could easily find their recording sheet.  I have a section for reading and one for writing.  You can find my conferring sheets here for reading here and writing here!  I hope you find them useful.

I also have my schedule in my notebook to help me stay on track during the week.  I try to meet with each group once, and my lowest group twice.  Then, I often try to leave one day open so I can pull students that I see need more support. This also comes in handy when we don't have school one day. 

Here is a large picture of my small group area.  You can see that I have it right next to my reading focus wall, writing focus wall, and word wall so that I can reference them while we are working.  I want my students to become familiar with the walls so they can refer to them when they need extra support. 

I hope you have enjoyed learning about my small group instruction!  I have loved reading all the Elementary Entourage posts.  Be sure to come back to read more! :]

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