# Scheduling Small-Group Literacy Instruction for Middle-School Students

Heres 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).

### Schedule Breakdown

| Time        | Monday                                        | Tuesday                                       | Wednesday                                  | Thursday                                   | Friday                                     |
|-------------|----------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
| 10-minuts  | Whole-group instruction: vocabulary strategy  | Whole-group instruction: vocabulary strategy  | Whole-group instruction: comprehension strategy | Whole-group instruction: review comprehension strategy | Whole-group instruction: review instruction: comprehension or vocabulary |
|             | Grouping and focus: teacher led comprehension | Grouping and focus: n/a                      | Grouping and focus: teacher led guided practice | Grouping and focus: n/a                     | Grouping and focus: n/a                    |
|             | Group 3 with teacher: decoding               | Group 1 with teacher: decoding              | Group 2 with teacher: multisyllable word reading | Group 3 with teacher: decoding            | Group 1 with teacher: decoding             |
|             | Grouping and focus: teacher led and word recognition | Grouping and focus: independent practice (pairs)| Group 2 with teacher: fluency                | Groups 1 and 2 partner reading (pairs): fluency | Group 2 with teacher: multisyllable word reading |
|             | Group 1 and 2 independent practice (pairs): comprehension | Group 3 with teacher: decoding and word recognition | Groups 1 and 3 independent practice (pairs): vocabulary | Groups 2 and 3 partner reading (pairs): vocabulary | Groups 1 and 3 independent practice (pairs): vocabulary |
|             |                                              | Group 3 with teacher: Guided practice: vocabulary |                                              | Group 3 with teacher: decoding and word recognition | Group 1 with teacher: vocabulary and comprehension |

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.