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Science of reading is NOT...

Science of reading is...

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PAUSE: What are the differences between guided reading groups vs. small groups instructions?

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PAUSE: What are the differences between guided reading groups vs. small groups instructions?

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The National Reading Panel, using decades of research has identified five critical areas of reading instruction: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary and Comprehension.

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Study the "Grade 4 Guided Reading Case Study."

As you study, jot down:

What reading pillars are addressed?

How do rotations happens?

Other noticings? Questions?

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PLANNING TEMPLATE Grade 4 Guided Reading Case Study

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*Need ideas of activities for reading groups? 

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*Need ideas of activities for reading groups? 

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Activities Helper - Reading Groups based on the Reading Pillars

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Use the template provided on the Padlet, which also outlines the steps to plan a reading group

Take a few minutes to plan out a rotation for your next guided reading group.

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Reflect: I used to think the Science of Reading was____, but now I know ____.

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Serravallo's Small Group Instruction Tips

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Serravallo's Small Group Instruction Tips

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We all know small group reading instruction is an essential, research-supported practice since every classroom has unique learners with different needs. When executed well, small groups provide opportunities for individualized instruction, collaborative learning, concentrated assessment, scaffolded practice, and a high level of engagement.

And yet, as I work with teachers across the country, I often hear that there are real obstacles to making small group instruction happen regularly. Sometimes it's because the curriculum or core program they use concentrates on whole class lessons, other times it's because they are short on time in an already-crowded day, and still other times it's about feeling unsure that taking time to focus attention on just a few students is really worth the time away from the rest of the class.

Small group time is not only essential but can also be rewarding for students and teachers. Here are five tips to help you and your students get the most out of your small group time.
1. Focus the purpose. Every great lesson has a clearly defined purpose. With small groups, you'll be carefully matching the purpose of the lesson to the needs of the readers in the group: you may choose to re-teach, pre-teach, or give additional guided practice time with something from your curriculum, or use small group time to work on skills you identified from your assessments that are outside the scope of your current unit or module. A focused purpose helps students quickly concentrate, whether you'll work on phonics, determining importance, phrasing and pacing, exploring character motivation, or something else. Share the learning objective with students and let them know how they can measure their success.

2. Use a familiar structure. When you use a small set of evidence-based, highly effective lesson structures for your small groups, students quickly become accustomed to the routines and understand what is required of them. This allows you and your students to focus on what is being taught rather than how it is being taught. Familiarity with the process also reduces cognitive load, freeing student memory up to concentrate on the new skills, strategies or content they are learning. As a bonus: these familiar structures simplify and streamline your planning, keep you well-paced as you teach the lesson, and can be used across the day in any subject.

3. Select the right text(s). You'll want to match the text(s) to the reading purpose. If you are working with a group of third graders on expressive reading, you'll want to choose a text that allows for a range of emotion. If you are working with several fifth graders on how to synthesize information across an expository text, you may want a short text that offers a variety of text features such as headers, illustrations, or insets. And remember, you don't always have to go looking for new material, your curriculum, textbook, or read-aloud book may have the perfect passage.

4. Mix it up. Small groups are a great way to motivate and engage students. Moving fluidly between different types of explicit instruction--demonstration, shared practice, asking questions, prompting and feedback-helps guide students toward independence. Small groups also provide plenty of opportunity for students to share ideas and learn from each other. Research shows that students benefit from peer-to-peer learning-they increase their confidence, gain new insights, get inspired and further their understanding.

5. Be responsive. No matter how carefully you plan your small group lessons and how well you anticipate students' reactions, there is only so much you can plan for. If there is one thing you can always count on, it's that students will surprise you. Sometimes a demonstration doesn't produce the results you anticipated, and you'll need to offer another example on the fly. Or students answer questions differently than expected, and you'll need to rephrase and adjust. Or students need more time to master a particular strategy, and you may need to postpone the latter part of the lesson. Making decisions on the fly in response to the students in front of you is part of the art of teaching that produces the greatest opportunity for student learning.

We all know small group reading instruction is an essential, research-supported practice since every classroom has unique learners with different needs. When executed well, small groups provide opportunities for individualized instruction, collaborative learning, concentrated assessment, scaffolded practice, and a high level of engagement.

And yet, as I work with teachers across the country, I often hear that there are real obstacles to making small group instruction happen regularly. Sometimes it's because the curriculum or core program they use concentrates on whole class lessons, other times it's because they are short on time in an already-crowded day, and still other times it's about feeling unsure that taking time to focus attention on just a few students is really worth the time away from the rest of the class.

Small group time is not only essential but can also be rewarding for students and teachers. Here are five tips to help you and your students get the most out of your small group time.
1. Focus the purpose. Every great lesson has a clearly defined purpose. With small groups, you'll be carefully matching the purpose of the lesson to the needs of the readers in the group: you may choose to re-teach, pre-teach, or give additional guided practice time with something from your curriculum, or use small group time to work on skills you identified from your assessments that are outside the scope of your current unit or module. A focused purpose helps students quickly concentrate, whether you'll work on phonics, determining importance, phrasing and pacing, exploring character motivation, or something else. Share the learning objective with students and let them know how they can measure their success.

2. Use a familiar structure. When you use a small set of evidence-based, highly effective lesson structures for your small groups, students quickly become accustomed to the routines and understand what is required of them. This allows you and your students to focus on what is being taught rather than how it is being taught. Familiarity with the process also reduces cognitive load, freeing student memory up to concentrate on the new skills, strategies or content they are learning. As a bonus: these familiar structures simplify and streamline your planning, keep you well-paced as you teach the lesson, and can be used across the day in any subject.

3. Select the right text(s). You'll want to match the text(s) to the reading purpose. If you are working with a group of third graders on expressive reading, you'll want to choose a text that allows for a range of emotion. If you are working with several fifth graders on how to synthesize information across an expository text, you may want a short text that offers a variety of text features such as headers, illustrations, or insets. And remember, you don't always have to go looking for new material, your curriculum, textbook, or read-aloud book may have the perfect passage.

4. Mix it up. Small groups are a great way to motivate and engage students. Moving fluidly between different types of explicit instruction--demonstration, shared practice, asking questions, prompting and feedback-helps guide students toward independence. Small groups also provide plenty of opportunity for students to share ideas and learn from each other. Research shows that students benefit from peer-to-peer learning-they increase their confidence, gain new insights, get inspired and further their understanding.

5. Be responsive. No matter how carefully you plan your small group lessons and how well you anticipate students' reactions, there is only so much you can plan for. If there is one thing you can always count on, it's that students will surprise you. Sometimes a demonstration doesn't produce the results you anticipated, and you'll need to offer another example on the fly. Or students answer questions differently than expected, and you'll need to rephrase and adjust. Or students need more time to master a particular strategy, and you may need to postpone the latter part of the lesson. Making decisions on the fly in response to the students in front of you is part of the art of teaching that produces the greatest opportunity for student learning.

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5 Tips for Successful Small Group Instruction - Jennifer Serravallo Author & Consulting

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We all know small group reading instruction is an essential, research-supported practice since every classroom has unique learners with different needs. When executed well, small groups provide opportunities for individualized instruction, collaborative learning, concentrated assessment, scaffolded practice, and a high level of engagement.

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1.What confirmed your thinking?

2.What challenged your thinking?

3.Which reading pillar(s) do you currently feel most confident teaching, and which pillar(s) do you see as an area for continued growth?

4.What questions do you have?

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Jot down:

What are common assessment practices you use to evaluate your student's reading development in guided reading groups?

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Make a list of all the different challenges you have encountered during your reading instruction.

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Rank these challenges
from 1-4.

1 - least challenging

4 - most challenging

What solution(s) could
help with the most
significant challenges
in your school?

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Aouad, J. and Savage, R. (2009). The component structure of preliteracy skills: Further evidence for the simple view of reading. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 24 (2), 183-200.

Catts, H., Adlof, S., and Weismer, S. (2006). Language deficits in poor comprehenders: A case for the simple view of reading. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 49, 278-293.

Gough, P., Hoover, W., and Patterson, C. (1996). Some observations on a simple view of reading. In C. Cornoldi and J. Oakhill (eds.), Reading comprehension difficulties: Processes and intervention (pp. 1-13). Mahway, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

*Gough, P. and Tunmer, W. (1986). Decoding, reading, and reading disability. Remedial and Special Education, 7, 6-10.

Hoover, W. and Gough, P. (1990). The simple view of reading. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 2, 127-160.

*Kamhi, A. (2007). Knowledge deficits: the true crisis in education. ASHA Leader, 12 (7), 28-29.

*These articles are short and easy to read.

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The Simple View of Reading is a formula demonstrating the widely accepted view that reading has two basic components: word recognition (decoding) and language comprehension. Research studies show that a student's reading comprehension score can be predicted if decoding skills and language comprehension abilities are known.

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Feel free to leave your question(s), and I will get back to you!

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Feel free to leave your question(s), and I will get back to you!

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SLIDESHOW Science of Reading (Redefining Reading Groups)