Small group literacy
Scheduling Small-Group Literacy Instruction for Middle-School Students
Here's one example of how you can divide a 50-minute class period and balance whole-group literacy instruction with small-group instruction that meets the needs of students who need more support.
For specific instructional strategies, see Effective Instruction for Middle School Students with Reading Difficulties (www.brookespublishing.com).
Weekly Schedule Overview
| Time Block | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10-minute | Whole-group instruction: | Whole-group instruction: | Whole-group instruction: | Whole-group instruction: | Whole-group instruction: |
| vocabulary strategy | comprehension strategy | review comprehension strategy | review comprehension strategy | review comprehension | |
| Grouping and focus: teacher led | Grouping and focus: teacher led guided | Grouping and focus: teacher led | or vocabulary | ||
| comprehension | practice: comprehension | guided practice: comprehension | |||
| Group 1 with teacher: decoding | Group 2 with teacher: multisyllable | Group 3 with teacher: decoding | |||
| and word recognition | word reading | and word recognition | |||
| Groups 1 and 2 independent practice | Groups 1 and 3 independent practice | Groups 1 and 2 partner reading | |||
| (pairs): comprehension | (pairs): comprehension | (pairs): fluency | |||
| Whole-group instruction and guided | Group 1 with teacher: decoding | Group 2 with teacher: fluency | |||
| practice: vocabulary | and word recognition | Groups 1 and 3 independent | |||
| Group 3 with teacher: | practice (pairs): vocabulary | practice (pairs): vocabulary | |||
| Guided practice: vocabulary | |||||
| Whole-group instruction: review | |||||
| comprehension or vocabulary |
From Effective Instruction for Middle School Students with Reading Difficulties, by Carolyn A. Denton, Ph.D., Sharon Vaughn, Ph.D., Jade Wexler, Ph.D., Deanna Bryan, & Deborah Reed, Ph.D.