# data[].attributes.body
Most effective/efficient group size?

# data[].attributes.body
Creating the most influential, appropriate groups for continued progress?

# data[].attributes.headline
Emily Houghton                   Early Intervention Benefits

# data[].attributes.subject
Emily Houghton                   Early Intervention Benefits

# data[].attributes.body
“Results suggest that either kindergarten intervention alone or kindergarten intervention combined with first-grade intervention are both useful vehicles for preventing early and long-term reading difficulties in most at-risk children.” (Vellutino, Scanlon, Small, Fanuele, March 2006)

# data[].attributes.headline
Emily Houghton                 Small Group Intervention for ELL Students

# data[].attributes.subject
Emily Houghton                 Small Group Intervention for ELL Students

# data[].attributes.body
“For ELL students, the secondary level of instruction provides the opportunity for further fine-tuning and supplemental instruction to meet the unique academic needs of the student. When instruction can be more closely focused and progress monitored, student academic outcomes should improve.” (Kamps, Abbott, Greenwood, Arreaga-Mayer, Wills, Longstaff, Culpepper, Walton, 2007)

# data[].attributes.headline
Emily Houghton              Literacy Issues and lasting Effects

# data[].attributes.subject
Emily Houghton              Literacy Issues and lasting Effects

# data[].attributes.body
“Many English language learners (ELLs) struggle with literacy skills, and by the upper elementary grades this problem affects their ability to learn in social studies, science, and other content areas (Francis, Rivera, Lesaux, Kieffer, & Rivera, 2006). “

This article provides sound information and research backed results when referencing the benefits of small group instruction, in this case, with a focus on ELL Students. The article identifies the key components of reading as identified by the National Literacy Panel: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension. Also recognized, are the areas of focus that tend to be of greater struggle for ELL students (fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension) and the lasting impact these struggles can have on a student’s educational advancement, growth and development. Small group interventions for ELL students, parallel those of English speaking students, in that both interventions should be targeted and focus on the specific struggles that the students are experiencing. When creating small groups, it is important to maintain flexibility and keep the groups “readiness level” appropriate; it is critical that students maintain engagement, and that the instruction is targeted towards continued progress and advancement.

# data[].attributes.headline
Emily Houghton             Positive Attributes of Small Group Intervention

# data[].attributes.subject
Emily Houghton             Positive Attributes of Small Group Intervention

# data[].attributes.body
“One way to create effective literacy instruction for English learners in the elementary grades is to provide intensive small-group reading interventions.” (U.S. Department of Education, 2018)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
References

Click the "References" link above to hide these references.

August, D., & Siegel, L. (2006). Literacy instruction for language-minority children in special education settings. In D. August & T. Shanahan (Eds.), Developing literacy in second-language learners: Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth (pp. 523-553). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Cirino, P. T., Vaughn, S., Linan-Thompson, S., Cardenas-Hagan, E., Fletcher, J. M., & Francis, D. J. (2007). One year follow-up outcomes of Spanish and English interventions for English language learners at-risk for reading problems. Manuscript submitted for publication.

Denton, C. A., Anthony, J. L., Parker, R., & Hasbrouck, J. E. (2004). Effects of two tutoring programs on the English reading development of Spanish-English bilingual students. The Elementary School Journal, 104, 289-305.

Franklin, E. A. (1986). Literacy instruction for LES children. Language Arts, 63, 51-60.

Gunn, B., Smolkowski, K., Biglan, A., & Black, C. (2002). Supplemental instruction in decoding skills for Hispanic and non-Hispanic students in early elementary school: A follow-up. The Journal of Special Education, 36, 69-79.

Haager, D., & Windmueller, M. (2001). Early literacy intervention for English language learners at-risk for learning disabilities: Student outcomes in an urban school. Learning Disability Quarterly, 24, 235-250.

Limbos, M., & Geva, E. (2001). Accuracy of teacher assessments of second-language students at risk for reading disability. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 34, 136-151.

Quiroga, T., Lemos-Britton, Z., Mostafapour, E., Abbott, R. D., & Berninger, V. W. (2002). Phonological awareness and beginning reading in Spanish-speaking ESL first graders: Research into practice. Journal of School Psychology, 40, 85-111.

Shanahan, T., & Beck, I. L. (2006). Effective literacy teaching for English-language learners. In D. August & T. Shanahan (Eds.), Developing literacy in second-language learners: Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth (pp. 415-488). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Vaughn, S., Cirino, P. T., Linan-Thompson, S., Mathes, P. G., Carlson, C. D., Cardenas-Hagan, E., et al. (2006). Effectiveness of a Spanish intervention and an English intervention for English language learners at risk for reading problems. American Educational Research Journal, 43, 449-487.

Vaughn, S., Linan-Thompson, S., & Hickman-Davis, P. (2003). Response to treatment as a means for identifying students with reading/learning disabilities. Exceptional Children, 69, 391-410.

Vaughn, S., Mathes, P., Linan-Thompson, S., Cirino, P., Carlson, C., Pollard-Durodola, S., et al. (2006). Effectiveness of an English intervention for first-grade English language learners at risk for reading problems. Elementary School Journal, 107, 153-180.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Best Practice for ELLs: Small-Group Interventions

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Click the "References" link above to hide these references. August, D., & Siegel, L. (2006). Literacy instruction for language-minority children in special education settings. In D. August & T. Shanahan (Eds.), Developing literacy in second-language learners: Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth (pp. 523-553).

# data[].attributes.headline
Emily Houghton       Importance of Literacy

# data[].attributes.subject
Emily Houghton       Importance of Literacy

# data[].attributes.body
“The specific skills students need to learn to become good readers and perform adequately on assessments are well established. These skills include phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency (National Reading Panel, 2000).”

# data[].attributes.headline
Emily Houghton                  Small Group Intervention Focus

# data[].attributes.subject
Emily Houghton                  Small Group Intervention Focus

# data[].attributes.body
“One-on-one or small group instruction also provides intensity as students have more opportunities to practice and respond.” (What Works Clearinghouse, 2018)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
One way to help educators identify students in need of intervention and implement evidence-based interventions to promote their reading achievement is a framework called "Response To Intervention."

The Education Department's Institute of Education Sciences convened a panel to look at the best available evidence and expertise and formulate specific and coherent evidence-based recommendations to use Response To Intervention (RTI) to help primary grade students overcome reading struggles. The panel made five practice recommendations.

The fifth recommendation is to:

Tier 3

Instruction should be intensified by focusing on fewer high priority reading skills during lessons and scheduling multiple and extended instructional sessions. One-on-one or small group instruction also provides intensity as students have more opportunities to practice and respond. One-on-one instruction includes giving students feedback based on their individual responses, teaching students to mastery based on individual learning progress, and planning instruction with materials and an instructional sequence that meets individual student needs.

There is no reason to believe that a tier 3 program should consist primarily of one-on-one instruction - though such instruction should be part of a student's daily program. Student progress should be monitored regularly using progress monitoring measures to assess whether the program is on course and to determine whether a team of professionals needs to refine the instructional program to enhance achievement growth.

How to carry out this recommendation

1. Implement concentrated instruction that is focused on a small but targeted set of reading skills.

Focusing on a small set of reading or reading-related skills is essential to tier 3 in kindergarten through grade 2 because having too many instructional objectives for struggling readers makes it more difficult to learn the skills well enough for proficient reading (Blumsack, 1996; Foorman et al., 1998; Gillon, 2000). In the opinion of the panel, too many instructional objectives can overwhelm students. Achieving proficiency is also difficult for students when instruction is scattered across different aspects of reading.

Diagnostic assessments can help determine why a reading problem is occurring and which reading skills or performance deficits need to be addressed to improve reading performance. Specifically, educators can ask: what aspects of reading are blocking the student from achieving reading proficiency? When these obstacles are determined, high priority skills are identified as the focus of tier 3 instruction. For example, the panel believes that if a student is struggling with decoding, it does not make sense to use tier 3 instructional time for summary writing, comprehension monitoring instruction, or clarification strategies because the primary reading obstacle for the student is sounding out and reading words accurately. Here, decoding is considered a high priority skill because it underlies the student's overall reading difficulty.

Additionally, the panel believes that there should be depth in modeling and practice with feedback in tier 3 instruction - perhaps requiring limited breadth. Such focus provides opportunities to review, practice, and reinforce newly learned proficiencies so that students can demonstrate sustained and consistent levels of proficiency across lessons. Often a sustained 90 percent or higher criterion of correct responses on taught material is considered mastery. Tier 3 instruction often focuses on phonemic awareness and decoding, especially for younger students or those with very limited reading proficiency. However, comprehension and vocabulary are also critical (National Reading Panel (NRP), 2000).

For a student receiving tier 3 instruction, several sessions each week might focus on phonemic awareness and decoding in depth. The other sessions might focus on comprehension and vocabulary in depth. To date, there are no clear-cut empirical guidelines to determine how to balance competing demands for instructional time.

2. Adjust the overall lesson pace.

To provide greater focus to tier 3 instruction, teachers can adjust the overall lesson pace so that it is slow and deliberate (that is, more intensive). Teachers implementing tier 3 instruction can focus the pace of lessons by focusing on a single component of a lesson. For example, teachers might focus only on introducing the new skill rather than implementing a full lesson that includes introduction, extended practice, and application. Subsequent tier 3 instruction might review the new skills (with modified or shortened instruction from the lesson's introduction) and practice the new skills. Instructional pace is slowed and focused by implementing a series of lessons concentrating only on a variety of review and practice activities. Rather than practicing how to identify the main idea in one lesson, several lessons would practice identifying the main idea.

3. Schedule multiple and extended instructional sessions daily.

While research does not suggest a specific number of intervention sessions or duration of instructional intervention (such as weeks, months, or years) for tier 3, studies do suggest that students needing tier 3 intervention require more reading instructional time than their peers without reading difficulties. On average, students participating in tier 3 interventions receive an additional 75 minutes of instruction per week. Additional instructional time ranges from about 45 minutes per week (Blumsack, 1996) to 120 minutes per week (Gillon, 2000).

In the opinion of the panel, schools could provide an additional 30 minutes of instruction by creating a "double dose" of reading time for struggling readers. Rather than more of the same, a double dose of instruction means a teacher might introduce skills during the first session and then re-teach with added practice during the second.

Duration, or extended implementation of tier 3 intervention, also intensifies instruction. Further research is required to examine the total hours of instruction needed and relative impact of tier 3 duration.

4. Include opportunities for extensive practice and high quality feedback with one-on-one instruction.

To become proficient in the application of newly acquired skills and strategies, students with the most intensive instructional needs will need multiple opportunities to practice with immediate high-quality feedback. According to panel opinion, tier 3 students might require 10 or 30 times as many practice opportunities as their peers. An example considered by the panel includes the use of technology for aspects of the reading program. Technology can be a good means for students to receive the practice they need, such as practice in letter sound recognition (Barker and Torgesen, 1995; Chambless and Chambless, 1994; NRP, 2000).

One-on-one instruction is an effective way to maximize practice during tier 3 instruction. If scheduling one-on-one instructional sessions is not possible, the panel suggests students be organized in small groups of homogenous reading needs. One-on-one or small-group instruction provides the greatest opportunity for continuous and active learning. For example, in whole-class instruction, individual students have few opportunities to respond, practice, and interact with the teacher.

Meanwhile in one-on-one instruction, a student has many occasions to respond and practice. When working with small groups, educators can increase opportunities to respond and practice by encouraging unison group responses.

With one-on-one and small-group instruction, teachers can also provide immediate and individualized feedback (Blumsack, 1996; Gillon, 2000; McMaster et al., 2005; O'Connor and Jenkins, 1995). A key feature of instructional feedback is error correction. By correcting student errors when they are first made, it is much less likely that errors will become internalized and therefore repeated. For example, if a student incorrectly segmented a word, the teacher could model the accurate response, give the student another opportunity to segment the word, and return to the missed word later in the lesson to reinforce the correct application of the skill. This type of ongoing, guided practice provides students with the support and feedback they need to become fluent with critical reading skills and strategies.

5. Plan and individualize tier 3 instruction using input from a school-based RTI team.

In the opinion of the panel, tier 3 instructional planning requires an increased level of detail because of the individualized nature of the instruction and particular student reading needs. Students with intensive reading needs require substantial supports during the initial stages of learning.

As students progress in their understanding and knowledge, these supports are gradually withdrawn so that students can begin to apply skills and strategies independently (Blumsack, 1996; Foorman et al., 1998; Gillon, 2000; O'Connor and Jenkins, 1995). For students with learning disabilities, instruction that is carefully scaffolded is essential to successful learning (Swanson, Hoskyn, and Lee, 1999). Teachers should introduce concepts and skills beginning with easier tasks and progressing to more difficult tasks (Blumsack, 1996; Foorman et al., 1998; Gillon, 2000; McMaster et al., 2005; O'Connor and Jenkins, 1995).

When teaching oral segmenting, for example, it is easier for students to isolate the first sound than to completely segment the word. Material supports also play a role in individualizing student learning. Graphic organizers, procedural facilitators (like color-coded question cards representing questions to ask before, during, and after reading), and concrete manipulatives are all visual prompts or reminders that provide support to struggling readers as they internalize skills and strategies. For example, a story map can be used to teach students how to identify a story's critical components.

As students become more adept at applying segmentation skills or using a story map to aid retelling, these material prompts are progressively faded out. Teachers can optimize limited instructional time and instruction by teaching skills or strategies that reinforce each other. For example, emerging research suggests that teaching spelling promotes reading for struggling readers (O'Connor and Jenkins, 1995).

Students see spellings as maps of phonemic content rather than an arbitrary sequence of letters. Practice in using the alphabetic strategy to spell words seems to transfer to reading words.

6. Ensure that tier 3 students master a reading skill or strategy before moving on.

Emerging research on tier 3 instruction focuses on individualizing instruction by teaching students to mastery. Before a student moves to the next lesson, skill, or activity, they must demonstrate that a reading skill or strategy is mastered. When teaching a series of phonemic awareness activities (Gillon, 2000). Teachers should discontinue activities when a student reaches 100 percent accuracy on all of the items in the activity. Teachers can keep notes or records about how students perform on different reading tasks. For example, a teacher could record the exact words that a student practices reading, the student's word reading accuracy, and the number of times it takes for students to practice a word before reading it accurately (O'Connor and Jenkins, 1995).

Roadblocks and suggested approaches

Roadblock 5.1. The distinction between tier 2 and tier 3 instructional interventions can often be blurry.

Suggested Approach. Teachers should not be too concerned about tier 2 and tier 3 differences; the tiers are merely a way to continually vary resources to match the nature and intensity of instructional need. Remember that at present, distinctions between tier 2 and tier 3 are not clear or well documented. The terms are conveniences for school personnel.

Many tier 3 students will also have tier 1 and tier 2 instruction as part of their reading program. A student receiving tier 3 instruction focused on decoding and fluency might also participate in a tier 2 heterogeneous group focused on vocabulary and comprehension.

One limitation with individualized, one-on-one tier 3 instruction is that there are few opportunities for students to engage in comprehension building discourse. Increasing comprehension through discourse requires different levels of student language, vocabulary, and comprehension skills. Small, heterogeneous groups are optimal for building student language and vocabulary because students have opportunities to hear different language examples, new vocabulary words, and content that helps connect understanding. Discourse-based vocabulary and comprehension activities are often included in tier 2 interventions.

Roadblock 5.2. Because most tier 3 students have problems with decoding and fluently reading connected text, some may have tier 3 interventions that only highlight these areas.

Suggested Approach. Targeting important comprehension proficiencies (summarizing, use of story grammar elements, vocabulary development, listening comprehension development) need to be part of any solid tier 3 intervention.

Roadblock 5.3. School and staff resources are often too limited to support individualized instruction for tier 3 students.

Suggested Approach. Consider creative alternatives for school and staff resources. For example, use community resources, such as parent or senior citizen volunteers, to help reinforce tier 3 instruction. While an experienced teacher or interventionist should teach new skills, volunteers can help reinforce and practice reading in focused one-on-one sessions. Community tutoring programs are also options. Technology is another resource to consider, and remember many individualized instruction activities work well with small, homogeneous group instruction.

Roadblock 5.4. Schools tend to give the least experienced teachers the toughest-to-teach students.

Suggested Approach. Reevaluate school schedules to ensure that the more experienced teachers or specialists are teaching tier 3 instruction. This may require some professional development and ongoing mentoring even for skilled veteran teachers.

Many teachers do not have the training to teach students with intensive reading difficulties. Given the importance of carefully planning and individualizing instruction, scaffolding skill introduction, enhancing one reading skill or strategy with another (such as adding spelling to reading instruction), structuring multiple practice opportunities, and providing high quality feedback with consistent error corrections, professional development plans and ongoing mentoring should focus on the details of instructional design and planning.

Roadblock 5.5. Adding multiple and extended instructional sessions to a daily schedule can be overwhelming for some students and a challenge for schools in terms of scheduling.

Suggested Approach. If a student requires an additional hour of instruction per day, teachers should consider breaking that hour into smaller instructional sessions or using several short activities to help maintain student motivation and engagement (Gillon, 2000). One session could focus on decoding, and the follow-up on comprehension and vocabulary. The morning session could introduce new word reading skills, and the afternoon session practice and review. Early reading provides critical foundational skills; such skills and strategies need to be proficient before students enter the upper elementary grades. Thus, if critical decisions need to be made about adding tier 3 instruction to a student's reading program, using time typically allocated to social studies or science may be necessary. Other less intrusive scheduling options include providing tier 3 instruction to struggling readers while other students are participating in center activities, independent projects, or the tier 1 "add-on" enrichment activities. Tier 3 instruction could also be provided during whole-class spelling instruction.

Roadblock 5.6. Some students who require tier 3 instruction do not catch-up despite intensive, one-on-one instruction.

Suggested Approach. Remind school staff that a school's goal is to help each student reach proficient reading levels if at all possible. Obtaining significant progress toward reading proficiency should be the primary goal. Emphasize that the teaching process should involve more than merely providing students with an opportunity to demonstrate the reading skills that they already know. It must involve the integration of new knowledge with previously learned knowledge.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Best Practice for RTI: Small Group Instruction for Students Making Minimal Progress (Tier 3)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
After reviewing the research, the What Works Clearninghouse recommends that in tier 3 of Response To Intervention, schools provide provide intensive instruction on a daily basis that promotes the development of the various components of reading proficiency to students who show minimal progress after reasonable time.

# data[].attributes.headline
Emily Houghton       Intervention Achievements 

# data[].attributes.subject
Emily Houghton       Intervention Achievements 

# data[].attributes.body
“Intervention can produce sustained improvement in student achievement—especially if the groups focus on explicit, interactive instruction in the core areas of literacy.” (Huebner, April 2009)

# data[].attributes.headline
Emily Houghton                  Small Group Intervention Activities

# data[].attributes.subject
Emily Houghton                  Small Group Intervention Activities

# data[].attributes.body
Activities need to be engaging, purposeful, and thoughtful and remain focused on literacy growth and development.

# data[].attributes.headline
Emily Houghton                 Small Group Intervention Focus/Targeted Instruction

# data[].attributes.subject
Emily Houghton                 Small Group Intervention Focus/Targeted Instruction

# data[].attributes.body
"Research shows that beginning readers benefit most from being taught explicit skills during intensive small group instruction." (Wilson, Nabors, Berg, Simpson, Timme, 2012)

# data[].attributes.headline
Emily Houghton              “Getting to 100% requires going through the bottom 20%.”

# data[].attributes.subject
Emily Houghton              “Getting to 100% requires going through the bottom 20%.”

# data[].attributes.body
(Joseph K. Torgesen, October 2005)

This article provides useful insights surrounding the current state of literacy, programs to assist struggling readers, and the benefit of such programs to both students and teachers alike. One of the key takeaways from the article is the necessity, and obligation, of the educator to recognize the needs of all students, just some students; failing to do so will inevitable leave some students behind, setting them up for future intensive, targeted instruction to fill the void. One quote that I particularly enjoyed as mentioned by Torgesen, is that “Getting to 100% requires going through the bottom 20%” (pg.1, 2005). This quote reinforces recognizing the needs of all students.

In any classroom, differentiation is critical, especially when dealing with literacy. The article places a premium on the fact that instructional strategies and tactics, need to appropriately match the student diversity, and their individual readiness levels, or students will be left behind. Students need to be afforded the opportunity to demonstrate continued learning, understanding, and improvement; with as much as 60% of students requiring additional instruction, this cannot be left to the teacher alone, hence the importance of interventions.

The article focuses on three primary intervention programs: Small Group Instruction, Work Outside the Regular Reading Block, and Intervention Classrooms. My research topic aligns with all three, but the focus will be on Small Group Instruction, recognized in the article as the most efficient means to targeted instruction amongst small groups of students, preferable with no more than 3-5 students (Pg. 3-4, 2005).

# data[].attributes.headline
Emily Houghton                      ELL Students and the Benefits of Small Group Intervention

# data[].attributes.subject
Emily Houghton                      ELL Students and the Benefits of Small Group Intervention

# data[].attributes.body
“One targeted approach to helping struggling ELLs is daily small-group instruction for students with similar needs.” (Huebner, April 2009)

# data[].attributes.headline
Emily Houghton                  Small Group Intervention

# data[].attributes.subject
Emily Houghton                  Small Group Intervention

# data[].attributes.body
More targeted, specialized, direct, and monitored instruction and interaction.

# data[].attributes.body
Log or reference of strategies and skills used to target concentrated areas of reading and writing through instruction.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
How do you plan for your small group instruction? Do you follow a program where all students receive the same strategies, or do you customize the interventions you teach to meet the needs of your students?

As a Literacy Specialist, my students are placed into flexible, target-specific reading groups based on multiple assessments at the beginning of the year. Our pull-out program is very flexible, so targets and groups often change as students make progress and meet their goals. We do not have a formal reading program for every group, so it's up to each interventionist to determine targets, goals, and interventions. Similar to classroom teachers who use "strategy groups" for guided reading, we provide interventions that focus on specific targets (i.e., decoding, fluency, comprehension, etc.).

To plan for these groups, our Reading team typically designs a custom intervention program for each of our groups using various research-based strategies we know to be effective. This ensures that each student is receiving target-specific, individualized instruction to meet their needs. For my own groups, I choose these interventions from a growing collection of tools and strategies in my "literacy toolbox." I usually review the same core strategies, but then the interventions for the following months are determined based on student progress and achievement.

What is an Intervention Menu?

An "intervention menu" is essentially a written inventory of strategies and skills teachers can use to target specific areas of reading and writing in their instruction.

My intervention menu is an evolving digital document that lists many different tools, skills, and strategies I've collected over the years. I store it on Google Drive as a live document and update it each year with strategies I find to be effective and that I use the most. Keep in mind, my intervention menu may look very different from your intervention menu! My menu reflects the grade-levels I teach (grades 2-5) and the resources I have available in my school. It also reflects interventions I've designed for my students to use. (NOTE: There are MANY reading strategies and skills not listed on this menu. It is not an all-inclusive list, by any means!)

3 Ways to Intervention Menus

Intervention menus are perfect for interventionists AND classroom teachers interested in planning or recording small group intervention strategies. There are many uses for an intervention menu, whether you're working with students 1:1 or in small groups, and it can easily be modified to meet your needs.

Group Planning

I often use this product at the beginning of the school year to plan out my instruction. With student goals and targets in mind, I select a few strategies that I want to start with. To make it more visual, I highlight these beginning of the year strategies on my intervention menu and then use it as a checklist to help guide my lessons.

As the year continues, I sit down each month a look at my intervention menu to decide where I want to go with my instruction. Of course, the scope & sequence of the strategies I want to teach may change as I get to the know the students better or their reading needs change, but it really helps me stay organized and intentional with my teaching. The best part is, I don't have to dig into my file cabinet of resources or sift through mental list of interventions to decide which strategies to start with. I can just look at my menu and form a plan!

To give you an idea of how I use my intervention menu for planning... there are common strategies I always review with my upper grade readers before diving into their specific reading needs. After a long summer, a review of what's already in our literacy toolboxes is a must. Plus, it gives me an opportunity to assess which students aren't applying these previously learned strategies automatically and may need extra support.

For example, with my fourth grade comprehension groups, I typically start with a review of monitoring our reading using the "Big 3" questions and Click/Clunk self-monitoring strategy. We discuss fix-up strategies, and I model how to chunk our reading so we can stop and check our understanding. For me, these are "must have" strategies that we build upon throughout the year. If they don't have these strategies mastered, I will spend some time reviewing and practicing.

Intervention Recording

Another way I use an intervention menu is for tracking the interventions the students are learning. This is helpful to me in many ways. Not only can I use it as a record of instruction, but I can refer to it for parent conferences, data discussion days, and collaboration with the students' classroom teachers. It's especially helpful for committee meetings, like if a child is brought to a child study or is referred for special education services.

For tracking my interventions, I typically use a different color for recording interventions taught each trimester. You can use the same form as your planning form, or use a different one. I tend to use the same one so I'm not highlighting strategies twice and making more work for myself. It provides me with an "at a glance" inventory of what's in their literacy toolbox for the year.

Throughout the year, this menu is kept in my data binder and at the end of the year, I file it in my students' reading folders. What's really nice is that other members of my Reading team are starting to use an intervention menu, too, so when I receive one of their students from the previous year, I know what strategies the student should already have in his/her Literacy Toolbox. It provides me with a starting point for instruction and allows me to develop a list of strategies to review and teach for the year.

Student Goal Setting

A final way I use the intervention menu is for student goal setting. Within my targeted groups, I like to set specific goals that each individual student can work toward. I use the intervention menu to choose strategies and interventions that will help them achieve their goals by the end of the year. I record student goals on a goal sheet and use informal progress monitoring to keep track of student progress toward his/her individual goal. Students can even record each strategy they learn on their own recording sheets, giving them ownership over their learning.

Creating Your Own Intervention Menu

You can easily create your own intervention menu using any word-processing program. If you want to fit it on one page, I would recommend creating a multi-column chart and organizing it by reading focus area. You can choose between bullets or checkboxes to list the interventions you have in your own literacy toolbox. You can print it out or use it digitally, depending on how you plan or organize your small group reading instruction.

Want to see a sample menu? Check out a sample intervention menu that I use HERE (this does not include any of the free forms below - you'll need to subscribe to access those!).

(NOTE: The editable version is a Google Doc but you can download it as a Microsoft Word document. You may remove/add interventions that fit your needs. Formatting may be altered when you convert to .)

Additional Resources

Looking for additional resources? Check out the Intervention Planning & Recording Forms in my store! These are great for those of you who don't wish to use an intervention menu but still need a way to track interventions or jot down intervention plans for your groups. There are two versions of every page, "student" and "small group," so that you can use what works best for you!

Want a FREE sample? Become a subscriber to MsJordanReads Literacy Resources using the form below, and I will send you a sample of small group planning and tracking forms to try out!
- Happy Teaching!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
3 Ways to Use Intervention Menus for Small Group Reading - MsJordanReads

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
How do you plan for your small group instruction? Do you follow a program where all students receive the same strategies, or do you customize the interventions you teach to meet the needs of your students? As a Literacy Specialist, my students are placed into flexible, target-specific reading groups based on multiple assessments at the ...

# data[].attributes.headline
Emily Houghton              Teacher Capabilities

# data[].attributes.subject
Emily Houghton              Teacher Capabilities

# data[].attributes.body
Small group intervention allows for scaffolding and differentiation.