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Use this discussion strategy to help students practice being contributors and listeners in a group conversation.

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Video 6th Grade Small Groups in Social Studies

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Video 6th Grade Small Groups in Social Studies

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEkOSqPcOAs

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https://silo.tips/download/will-expository-text-work-in

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[PDF] Will expository text work in - Free Download PDF

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1 Daniels Expository Harvey Text Daniels in Literature Circles Expository Text in Literature Circles page 7 Will exposit...

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Small Group video using I choose strategy

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Small Group video using I choose strategy

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https://www.edutopia.org/video/small-group-work-i-choose

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When teachers began asking for time to work with students in small groups, Humboldt Elementary found the time for them. In addition to adjusting the schedule, they empowered students by mixing scaffolded supports with a variety of student-friendly elective enrichments.

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When teachers began asking for time to work with students in small groups, Humboldt Elementary found the time for them. In addition to adjusting the schedule, they empowered students by mixing scaffolded supports with a variety of student-friendly elective enrichments.

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Video: Carousel Use Strategy Small Group

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Video: Carousel Use Strategy Small Group

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtGlhXJsZ6c

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Carousel Use in the Middle School ELA Classroom

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https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/organizing-small-groups-do-you-know-all-options/

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Skip to main content

What?

Fishbowl is a strategy for organizing medium- to large-group discussions. Students are separated into an inner and outer circle. In the inner circle, or fishbowl, students have a discussion; students in the outer circle listen to the discussion and take notes.

After reading

Fishbowl is an engaging and student-centered strategy that builds comprehension of complex texts while developing group discussion skills. In the inner circle-or "fishbowl"-students practice responding to multiple viewpoints. Observations from students in the outer circle provide insight into what makes for effective small-group discussions. Research supports the use of fishbowls as a particularly effective way to engage students with a range of abilities and in multiple settings.

1. Choose a central text. The text can be read independently before class or with the class in the Close and Critical Reading phase.

2. Begin by selecting four or five students to join the fishbowl group. Only students in the fishbowl are allowed to talk.

3. Instruct the outer circle to remain quiet, observe and take notes on the content and process of the inner circle's discussion.

4. The first few times, play the role of the facilitator yourself. Once the process is familiar, select a student facilitator. The facilitator does not participate in the discussion, but poses questions along the way to prompt deeper discussion and to make sure everyone inside the fishbowl has a chance to talk.

5. Identify the focus of the discussion and provide text-dependent questions for students to answer during the fishbowl discussion.

6. Allow the conversation to progress where students take it. Rotate students in and out of the fishbowl throughout the course of the discussion. Set up a procedure ahead of time so students know to expect this rotation. Allow the fishbowl discussion to continue for at least 15-20 minutes.

7. After all students have rotated through the fishbowl, divide the class into small groups and invite students to debrief. Students can use their observations from the outer circle to highlight strengths of the discussion and make suggestions for ways to engage each other more meaningfully. These discussion starters can facilitate the conversations:

What did you observe during the discussion of the text?

What is one thing you heard that you agree with?

What is one thing you heard that you disagree with?

How did you feel while on the outside of the fishbowl?

How did you feel while on the inside of the fishbowl?

8. Wrap up the process with a full class discussion about the discussion. Pose a final question and give everyone an opportunity to respond by turning and talking with a partner or doing a quick write: What is one thing you have learned from the fishbowl process about discussing texts?

English language learners

Fishbowl is appropriate for intermediate English language learners (level three or above). The strategy engages students in a low-stakes activity with high verbal communication structure. English language learners may need extended practice identifying the characteristics of meaningful text discussions. Adding these specific questions to the guiding questions will help scaffold their experience:

Observer question: What helped you understand the information that was being shared (non-verbals, contexts clues, etc.)?

Fishbowl questions: How did you feel knowing that peers were listening intently to what you were saying? What do you wish you could have said more clearly/what point do you wish you could have made?

Connection to anti-bias education

Fishbowl can be used to explore the ideas of membership, identity, belonging and shared experiences. The structure lends itself well to discussions of complex texts and to challenging topics of cross-cultural significance. By providing all students both a speaking and listening role and a stake in the discussion, fishbowl can help build an inclusive and supportive learning environment. The observation aspect of the activity allows students to identify appropriate ways to participate in discussions. If used on a consistent basis, fishbowl discussions can establish boundaries and norms critical to anti-bias communication.

Sample fishbowl guiding questions:
To the observers:
Was it difficult to not respond to the fishbowl students' comments? Why or why not? If so, what kinds of comments did you want to respond to?

Did you hear anything from the fishbowl that surprised you?

What helped you understand the information that was being shared (non-verbal indicators, contexts clues, etc.)?

To the fishbowl students:

How did it feel to share your feelings about the text knowing that your peers were listening closely?

Do you usually have opportunities to share your perspectives on _______?

What do you wish you could have said more clearly/what point do you wish you could have made?

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Fishbowl is a strategy for organizing medium- to large-group discussions. Students are separated into an inner and outer circle. In the inner circle, or fishbowl, students have a discussion; students in the outer circle listen to the discussion and take notes.

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https://www.literacysolutions.com.au/blog/2021/08/17/literature-circles-webinar-video-12-august/

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Literature Circles: Webinar Video - Literacy Blog: Literacy Solutions

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Literature Circles webinar
Our recent free webinar, ‘Introduction to Literature Circles’, examines this powerful reading approach in which small discussion groups are comprised of students all choosing to read the same work of fiction.
Student discussions are guided by role cards or prompts which su…

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Literature Circles: Webinar Video

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Video Teaching Strategies to Introduce a literature circle

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Video Teaching Strategies to Introduce a literature circle

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khrmftWESQw

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Teaching Strategies for Introducing Literature Circles to a 4th Grade Class

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Bringing Literature Circles to Textbook Reading Across the Curriculum

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Bringing Literature Circles to Textbook Reading Across the Curriculum

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http://middlesecondarytoolkit.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/38544111/Text-Masters.pdf

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 Edutopia Article about Literature Circles

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 Edutopia Article about Literature Circles

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https://www.edutopia.org/blog/literature-circles-how-to-and-reasons-why-elena-aguilar

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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Fishbowl Conversation is great for keeping a focused conversation when you have a large group of people. At any time, only a few people have a conversation (the fish in the fishbowl). The remaining people are listeners (the ones watching the fishbowl). The caveat is that the listeners can join the discussion at any moment.
Running the activity:

1. Place five chairs in an open area facing each other. The chairs should be in the middle of the room, or around a round table.

2. Instruct participants on the fishbowl rules:
"Four people should sit on the chairs. They will start the conversation. One chair is to be kept empty all the time. It is available for whoever wants to join the conversation. When someone sits on the empty chair, someone else (typically the one either sitting longer or less involved in the current conversation) has to leave, vacating one chair. The other participants who are not sitting on the fishbowl chairs cannot get involved in the conversation. They are listeners. If they are to speak, they first have to sit on the empty chair."

3. Select a topic for the fishbowl conversation and get started.

4. Switch topics whenever appropriate. It can be time-boxed or changed whenever the conversation runs out.

We have seen this activity being used in conferences and large group conversations. We find it especially useful for very large group conversations, with pre-selected topics.

Remote-team advice: This activity works well for remote teams. Use a remote board of your choice. Write the name of each participant on a sticky note and define the fishbowl area. The sticky notes in that area represent the talking fish in the fishbowl and should be moved accordingly as people enter and leave the conversation.

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Fishbowl Conversation is great for keeping a focused conversation when you have a large group of people. At any time, only a few people have a conversation (the fish in the fishbowl). The remaining people are listeners (the ones watching the fishbowl). The caveat is that the listeners can join the discussion at any moment.

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Generic Fishbowl Activity for the Science Classroom

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August 2004 Annie Chien annie@mschien.com or visit www.mschien.com Generic Fishbowl Activity for the Science Classroom This activity was originally designed by Allison Godshall and the staff at the School of the Future.

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Template and Role Sheets for Literature Circles

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Template and Role Sheets for Literature Circles

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https://www.brentcoley.com/literature-circles.html

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Literature Circles is an exciting reading program that allows students to take control of their own learning. In this program, the class is divided into reading groups, with each group consisting of...

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https://www.ipadlitcircles.com/uploads/1/0/6/6/10664962/lit_circles.role_sheets.pdf

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Edutopia: Strategies for improving small group instruction

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Edutopia: Strategies for improving small group instruction

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Differentiated Instruction

Tips for giving direct instruction to small groups, whether students are in the classroom or learning at home.

Michele D'Ottavio / Alamy Stock Photo

Providing instruction to small groups of students is a tried-and-true way to differentiate and support students. Even in distance learning, it's important to know where students are in their learning, and working with them in small groups is one way to see that. So how do we plan small group instruction to maximize learning? We know we need to use data-whether from observations or a quiz or other formative assessment-to inform these groupings. We also know these groupings are dynamic and should change based on timely data and feedback we gather.

While small group instruction is nothing new, it's important to examine how we engage in it and consider new ideas for implementing it. We need to ensure that we provide small group instruction that leverages students' funds of knowledge rather than using a deficit approach. We should also guide students to look to each other for help rather than relying on the teacher as the sole source of learning.

Improving Small Group Instruction

Use small group time to listen and learn: When teachers set students up for small group instruction, they don't have to jump right into teaching-they can instead use some time to learn more about their students and what they know. This can be challenging, as we often feel pressure to provide direct instruction quickly. But while gathering information isn't instruction per se, it is part of the instructional process because it helps teachers improve their teaching and students' learning.

A teacher might create an activity for students to engage in and then observe what they do, asking probing questions to learn how they're engaging in the task. This can in turn lead to better planning and instruction. It's also an opportunity to assess and clearly identify what students have already learned. In a virtual, synchronous session, a teacher could put them into a breakout room or do this in the main room.

For example, a teacher working online gave students a math task on order of operations after giving direct instruction. She then put students into breakout rooms and visited each group to observe and look for patterns and errors. And an early elementary teacher who wanted to learn how students were learning about the concept of community and collaboration gave students choice in the activity and grouped them accordingly. She then observed, and in some cases videotaped the learning to see how students were able to learn and what strengths and ideas students brought to demonstrate their learning.

Offer rather than order: Students should not simply be told that they will be receiving small group instruction; instead, the teacher should collaborate with students to leverage them as agents in their learning. Using effective self-assessment practices and reflective metacognitive strategies, students can take ownership in determining whether they need small group support.

I've seen an example of this working out well in a sixth-grade English lesson. Students had just finished looking at feedback on drafts of their argumentative paragraphs. The teacher announced that he would be offering a mini-lesson on evidence at the center table, and that any student could sign up for 15-minute lessons. Some students chose not to sign up and instead continued work on their next paragraph, while the ones who felt they could benefit from the lesson came to learn from the teacher. Sometimes students don't make the right choice, and those occasions can be teachable moments to help a student reflect.

In distance learning, a teacher can use office hours as a structure, or give a schedule of virtual sessions based on different topics during a single day. These lessons might be 30 to 45 minutes long, with breaks in between, and students can choose the one they need.

Extension of learning: In our efforts to support our struggling learners, it's easy to not pay attention to those learners who are excelling. In addition to offering small group instruction for gaps in learning, consider offering challenges to students. Students need to see small group instruction as a dynamic space of learning that works both for addressing gaps and for pushing their thinking. This can help erase issues of labeling and stigmatizing students-small group instruction is appropriate for every student.

Choice in method: Remember that students can receive small group instruction in many ways. Direct instruction from the teacher is needed at times, but providing centers and other options to learn can help create more engaging lessons.

In a high school math classroom, I saw a teacher offer not only a mini-lesson at the front of the room but also a recorded lesson on the computer. And a teacher in a pre-K classroom offered variations on the same topic that students could pick from: One station was watching a video, another was doing a hands-on activity, and another was listening to the teacher read a story.

In distance learning, the teacher might create a schedule of small group instruction sessions on a topic, using different tasks or methods in each session. One activity might be watching and discussing a video, while another might be a performance task or challenge.

Student-driven lessons: In a similar vein, teachers can offer choice by asking students to provide lessons. As a teacher, it can be funny to experience a situation where students really understand an idea when a peer explains it after they were unable to get it from the teacher. But our students have amazing skills and funds of knowledge that can be leveraged, and students do love learning from their peers. Consider drawing on students and having them offer their expertise to other students in smaller groups. Teachers can work with students to offer these mini-lessons in synchronous sessions online, or ask students to record them to share later.

Ultimately, small group instruction, like instruction in general, is reciprocal-a two-way street: "What can I help my students learn?" and "What can I learn from my students?" In our rush to help students, we may miss the opportunity to learn from them to do our jobs as teachers in an even more effective way. In addition to addressing gaps in learning, it's about looking for opportunities to empower students to take agency in their learning and celebrate their funds of knowledge.

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Strategies for Improving Small Group Instruction

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Tips for giving direct instruction to small groups, whether students are in the classroom or learning at home.

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https://www.corelearn.com/small-group-instruction-blog/

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Teacher Professional Learning | Literacy, Math | MTSS

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Small Group Instruction: How to Make it Effective

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Small group instruction and cooperative learning have a significant impact on student achievement and this piece describes why.

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How to organize Small Group Math Workshop

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How to organize Small Group Math Workshop

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https://www.thecoreinspiration.com/how-to-organize-small-groups-for-m-a-t-h-workshop/

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How To Organize Small Groups for Math Workshop

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Arrange your students into these groups based on their level of understanding while trying your best to maintain a fairly balanced number of students in each group. This is where group creation becomes an art, not a science. If your groups are unbalanced, move beyond looked solely at the assessment data, and begin to consider student work habits.

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https://chalkandapples.com/how-to-schedule-small-groups/

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Scheduling is always one of the hardest parts of getting small groups and centers up and running. Whether it's speech, an intervention, gifted classes, or special education services, as important as all of these pull out programs are, they do make it tough to find a time to meet with all of your students. Don't stress! I've got a step-by-step system to share with you! I'm sharing the simple system that I use to sort my students into groups & schedule my guided reading or meet with teacher time.

Although there are some cut and dry rules in this step-by-step process, keep in mind that you know your students best. If something I suggest doesn't seem like it would work for your class, change it up!

1. Assess your students

While heterogeneous groups are best for many activities in the classroom, I prefer to use homogeneous grouping for reading centers because that's what I want for the small groups I teach. This allows me to target specific skills and student needs during my guided reading time.

Use whatever assessments you have available to you (Guided Reading/Lexile/AR levels, baseline or benchmark tests, etc.) to assess each of your students. Based on this data, place each student into one of the following groups: significantly above grade level, above grade level, on grade level, below grade level, significantly below grade level.

Avoid the temptation to start adjusting these groups right now. Depending on your class makeup, you may have a large cluster of students in any one of these groups. You will almost certainly have students in a group who do not work well together. Don't worry about that just yet. For now, just get them into groups based on your assessments.

2. Set up your rotation schedule

First, you'll need to decide how many groups to have. Ideally, you want 3-6 students per group, with your lowest groups having a lower number of students. You should aim for 4-5 total groups, no more than 6, so that you are able to meet with everyone several times per week.

Once you've done that, decide how many groups you can see each day. In the upper elementary grades, I prefer meeting for 20 minutes with each group because our texts are longer. In lower grades, you might want to meet for 10 or 15 minutes instead, which would allow you to meet with more groups. If you have 1 hour for centers & small groups, you could do three 20-minute groups or four 15-minute groups.

Create a chart with these rotation times, and note within each time slot and day if any students (or groups of students) are out of your classroom at that time.

3. Make your groups

Return to your assessment data list. Use this assessment data along with your professional judgment to adjust the groups so that they will work for your students. It may be time to break some "rules" in the name of what's best for your students.

It is ok for your groups not to be equally sized. Remember, it's best to keep your lowest groups smaller in size if possible so that those students get extra attention.

It's ok to move a student to a group higher or lower than their assessment data indicates once you've gotten to know them. You know your students' abilities better than any test data.

Sometimes you have to split students up based on personalities, and that's ok too.

Name your groups any way you want during this phase, but be sure by the time students see their group names, you've removed any correlation to their levels.

4. Decide how many times to see each group

Find your total number of small group slots for the week. If you're meeting every day, here's the breakdown:

3 rotations/day = 15 slots

4 rotations/day = 20 slots

5 rotations/day = 25 slots

Divide the number of slots between your groups based on need. Remember, you should meet most often with your lowest group. I recommend meeting with groups significantly below grade level every day, if possible. Meet with your above level groups at least three times per week. Here's an example of how it could work if you are seeing 3 groups per day with 4 total groups:

Significantly Below Level: 5 days/week

Below Level: 4 days/week

On Level: 3 days/week

Above Level: 3 days/week

5. Plug groups into slots

Do this on the computer or in pencil, trust me! You will be making changes before it's all over. Starting with the group with the most restrictive schedule, place your students into your rotation schedule

In this example, I had a group of students getting a reading intervention that started at 9:40 every day, so I started by putting their group in an earlier slot. My gifted students (who were all in the above level group) were out of the classroom every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for most of our center/small group time, so I penciled their group in on Tuesday & Thursday slots.

Continue working through your groups in this way until you've scheduled everyone. Know that you will likely need to erase and make some changes as you go, but by starting with the most restrictive schedules, you should be able to minimize this.

Get the FREE Scheduling Workbook

If you'd like the printable organizers pictured in this post, just let me know below. I'll send the whole scheduling workbook right to your inbox!

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How to schedule small groups without losing your mind! - Chalk & Apples

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Scheduling is always one of the hardest parts of getting small groups and centers up and running. Whether it's speech, an intervention, gifted classes, or special education services, as important as all of these pull out programs are, they do make it tough to find a time to meet with all of your students.

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Easy Way to make literature circles work in Middle School

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Easy Way to make literature circles work in Middle School

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https://justaddstudents.com/literature-circle-lesson-plans/

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Ready to write literature circle lesson plans? This post will guide you through everything you need to know to get started!

Whether you call them literature circles or book clubs, this type of reading instruction is a powerful and engaging way to improve reading.

Let's jump in!

What are Literature Circles?

A literature circle (or book club) provides a way for students to dig into books that are at their reading and interest level. They do this by:

Why should you use them?

1.Book clubs are FUN! Students get to sit in a small group and TALK! What middle schooler doesn't love that??

2. They provide variety. Keeping your class interesting, different, and changing helps keep interest in your class.

3. When you set up book clubs, you are making sure that the right books are getting to the right readers.

4. Students are reading with their classmates - we know the value of working together.

5. They are short. You can determine how long you want them to last and what you want students to read. This keeps them interesting!

Setting up groups

You can set up your literature circles in a wide variety of ways. Here are a few:

Students are grouped according to their reading level. Each group reads a book that is appropriate for that level.

Students choose from a list of books. They are then grouped according to the title.

Each group reads a different title in a particular genre. For example, the whole class can be reading a dystopia novel, but each group has a different title.

Groups of students choose what books they want to read.

You can choose which way you want to select books and group students. You can even randomly group students.

The key to grouping students is to make sure they are reading a text that is within their ability. It's okay if it's a little challenging. But not overwhelming.

Tips for setting up groups

Decide if your groups will be arranged by title choice or student reading ability.

The max number of students in a group should be four. Any more than that and you'll have students who disengage and let the others do the talking and the work.

Create a document that shows all your groups and what they are reading. This will help when you run multiple groups and when you repeat groups throughout the year.

Keep mixing. This is why a document like the one listed above will be helpful. Make sure that the same students aren't always in the same groups.

Getting Students to buy in

Students will generally be interested and excited by literature circles if they have some choice and options for what they are reading.

Get students excited about what they're reading by setting up a "book tasting" or provide quick previews of what each title is about. You want to make the books as enticing and interesting as possible (after all, you're not picking boring books, are you??)

Make this different. Book clubs offer a different way to arrange your classroom. If you already have students sitting at tables, you can mix it up by providing some decorations, table place cards, or even snacks.

What should they read?

Determine what your students will be reading by either their ability level or their interests.

Here's the hard part: you should pick books that you've already read. If you haven't read the book, you'll have trouble helping students respond to reading questions. You also want to be able to tell if students have read the book - if you aren't familiar with the text, that is going to be difficult.

If you want some suggestions for titles, you can read through these lists:

If you are going to present several books and students will be choosing what they want to read, be sure to have them rank order at least three books. That will provide you with some flexibility.

How to divide the reading

Decide how long you want your students to read the book. You can determine this by looking at your readers. Struggling readers will take longer to move through a text, so you will want to provide more time.

I generally set three or four weeks for students to complete the reading.

I have students sit down with a reading calendar (make one as an opt in) or their planner and divide the book into weeks. So, if I want the book clubs to last four weeks, they divide the book into fourths. Do not allow them to stop in the middle of a chapter!

Next, have students divide the weeks into the days you are planning them to meet. So, they will mark on their calendar what pages (or chapters) they should have read by the meeting days.

It's a good idea for you to review each groups' reading calendar. You want to make sure they have enough time to finish the book, but you also want to make sure that they will be challenged and have enough reading to do.

When will students read?

Determine when and where your students will complete their reading. You'll have some students to read the entire book the first week (or first night!!), but you also will want to provide support to your struggling readers.

You can build in reading days or even reading time into your class schedule. If you give homework, "read your book for book club" can be a standard homework assignment.

What are you teaching?

You've got your groups, the students have their books, now what?

Time to set up your literature circle lesson plans!

I love using mini lessons with literature circles. In the past, I assigned student roles - you may be familiar with them. One student is vocabulary collector, someone else is a summarizer, etc.

My experience has been that these roles aren't very effective in teaching reading skills.

I want my students to dig into the text - so I do that by using mini lessons.

Mini lessons can include:

They can also include:

summarizing

determining the main idea

finding details, sensory language, and description

making inferences

predicting

visualizing

determining sequence

drawing conclusions

applying background knowledge

questioning

self-monitoring reading comprehension

identifying vocabulary

finding mentor sentences

Generally, I ask students to summarize each "chunk" of their reading for the group meetings. Students can share and add to their summaries when they discuss the reading.

Then, I have a mini lesson and ask students to perform a task that aligns with the mini lesson. For example:

The mini lesson: Defining and describing the protagonist.

The student task: Determine who the protagonist is. What do you know about this person? Create a list that includes a physical description, what the character says and does that helps you understand him or her. Challenge: What do you learn about the character from what others say?

By following this pattern, you can move through literary analysis as well as strengthen reading skills.

Plus, by adding variety to the tasks, the book clubs remain interesting and fresh.

You do not have to teach all the things!

If you are planning to have more than one book club in a year, you can divide your mini lessons up.

Don't feel like to you to teach every, single mini lesson for the book. That will lead to bored students and a bored teacher!

How often should groups meet?

Again, there is a lot of flexibility around setting up meetings. Meeting every day means that your students will have to keep up with daily reading, or students will be working with the same text through the week. There isn't anything wrong with that as long as your students don't get bored.

It's helpful, though, to have "work days" or "reading days" that allow for flexibility and schedule changes.

Also, remember that literature circles do not have to meet for the entire class period. You can teach your mini lesson (10 minutes) and then have them complete their task (10 - 15 minutes). Wrap up and move on to other lessons you need to work on (writing, vocabulary, etc.). This also helps prevent boredom and keeps students on task.

How do I assess their work?

If students have a group task to complete as a result of your mini lessons, then you can use that as a formative assessment. You can ask students to complete an activity as a group and then independently.

If you decide to require a summary for each reading section, you can assess that.

You can ask students to complete a summative assessment or project as a group, or you can use their work throughout the book club meeting as an assessment.

Use a folder that students can use to build their literature circle workbook, notes, and summaries. Then, you can use that folder as an assessment as well.

Be sure to collect and assess work often! Students can get behind quickly or their work with be superficial if they don't feel it is valued or important.

What could go wrong and how to fix it

What if students aren't prepared? There are several ways you can deal with this.

1.Why didn't the student finish the reading? Is it too difficult, too long? Was there enough time to complete the reading? Does the student need additional help in completing the reading?

Try to understand the "why" first.

2. Students who aren't prepared to discuss the reading passage can go to the library or another place in the classroom to read. Often students are motivated by not wanting to miss out.

Groups aren't working together or one person is doing all the work. Sometimes you can address this by simply pulling up a chair to the group and listening in on what is going on. If this is a persistent problem, you can assign numbers to each person in the group (1, 2, 3, 4) and then have different people be the leader each meeting or week.

Groups are moving at different rates. You may have one group that finished the mini lesson task quickly and another group that struggles. Use this as an opportunity to determine what those groups need. Perhaps you want to include a "challenge" task for each activity that will push students who need it.

Student work is sub par. This is why I didn't like using the "roles" for literature circles. I felt like students weren't really digging deep and interacting with the text. If student work is falling below standards, try to determine the reason why.

When you provide students with regular feedback, their work usually improves. They'll know what you expect from them.

Pulling up a chair and sitting with a group works wonders in their work output!

Give literature circles a try! They are so worth it! Fun for your students and fun for you!

You can find these resources in my shop!

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Literature Circle Lesson Plans for Middle School - Just Add Students

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Ready to write literature circle lesson plans? This post will guide you through everything you need to know to get started! Whether you call them literature circles or book clubs, this type of reading instruction is a powerful and engaging way to improve reading. Let's jump in!

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K-12 Literacy PDAT
I appreciate small towns because I love how most stores are home-grown owned, and how you are likely to know your neighbors.

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I teach 5th Grade. Small towns are cozy and personal.

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I teach 5th Grade. Small towns are cozy and personal.

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Mrs. Henry

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You get to know your neighbors.

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I am a 5th grade teacher at Steele.
I love small towns, because everyone knows each other. There is usually a peaceful and calm sense to walking down the small town roads (unless its tourist season).

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6th grade ELA - I appreciate that there are no scary freeways and that everything is close by!

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Hello my name is Charles Eaton. I am a long term sub. I have been teaching 3 & 4th grade lately.

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Hello my name is Charles Eaton. I am a long term sub. I have been teaching 3 & 4th grade lately.

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Slower pace

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Henry Barraza-Sewell Fifth Grade -
Small town atmosphere is cozy and everyone knows each other.

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What I appreciate about a small town atmosphere...everyone knows each other, slower pace of living

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3rd/4th GATE
I am not a fan of small towns however, both by parents grew up in small towns and when we go visit family everyone knows who I belong to.

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Marco Cubillas, 6th gr Science, Roskruge

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Marco Cubillas, 6th gr Science, Roskruge

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I've only ever spent an hour or two in the small towns I've visited, so I don't have enough background knowledge!

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Christina Rogers
5th Grade
Small towns are cozy and you get to know your neighbors

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I love small towns because there is a feeling of family and belonging.

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Drama teacher 6-7-8
Living in Tucson 60+ years
It was a small town back then
It grew A LOT
Knowing the quick ways around town.

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My name is Anthony Sanchez. I teach 8th grade Math and a mixed-grade Guitar class at Hollinger K-8.  2 things I appreciate about small town atmospheres: 1) It seems like everyone is friendly with each other, 2) there is a sense of calmness in the air in small towns.

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You get to know everyone!

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Small towns are great at to know everyone.

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Small towns are great at to know everyone.

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I like small towns because you get to know the people in your community. I love the small local restaurants and businesses as well.

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I teacher reading intervention 3-5 at Cragin. I lived in Prescott for 10 years. I loved that it was friendly, and community events brought out the whole town to celebrate such as the Holiday light parade.

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Small towns everyone knows each other!

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I enjoy seeing the lightbulbs go off in a small group.

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Steve Guerrero, 6th grade science Magee MS.  Small town - great gossip, good credit at the general store.

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Tony Andreassi - Middle School Social Studies

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Tony Andreassi - Middle School Social Studies

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Everyone knows each other in a small town.

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I am from big cities so I don't have much experience in small towns.

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I am from big cities so I don't have much experience in small towns.

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I am Jennifer Raymond from Craigin ES.  This is my 11th year teaching.  I teach 4th grade this year.  I love the small town community and how everyone looks out for each other.

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7th Grade
I am from Moscow. I appreciate the slow pace of Tucson.

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Small towns seem to be more in touch with nature.

Small towns tend to be more friendly.

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Elina Vasquez 7th grade McCorkle. Having been born and raised in Tucson, I feel the best thing about being in a small town are the old families that know eachother. Especially in the Hispanic community. And to listen to my parents, who were also born and raised her talk about Tucson in the 1940's how they grew up.  

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Elina Vasquez 7th grade McCorkle. Having been born and raised in Tucson, I feel the best thing about being in a small town are the old families that know eachother. Especially in the Hispanic community. And to listen to my parents, who were also born and raised her talk about Tucson in the 1940's how they grew up.  

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Fractions
Multiplication
LCM
GCF
Math Stations

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Class Expectations
Math vocab/strategies + examples
Questioning Types
Center Expectations
What do good writers do?
What do good readers do?
Group work expectations
Expectations for different activities: silent reading, partner reading, word work, writing
Different chart for each math topic

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I organize according to grade, the teacher, and reading level. I usually have 4 students per group for reading interventions.

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interactive anchor charts

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Procedures
Expectations
Stations

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Job responsibilities for each student

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Expectations for independent work while teacher is working with G.R.  Student/classroom expectations while teacher is with a small group.

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Expectations for independent work while teacher is working with G.R.  Student/classroom expectations while teacher is with a small group.

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parts of speech
types of sentences
different types hooks
voice levels
RACES - writing strategy
Academic word wall
Compare and contrast
Points of view
and many more!

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Anchor charts include vowels, prefixes suffixes, vowel combinations.

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Include as muc science vocab as possible.

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Include as muc science vocab as possible.

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Procedures
Math Steps
Expectations

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I have it al  over my room for each skilll.

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summarizing
grammar wall
reading strategies
sentence structure

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List the final product FIRST
then list what has to be accomplished each day
ex:
PRESENTATION - Egyptian Stories (WITH RUBRIC)
Monday - Choose topic out of the five. Who in your group is doing what
Tuesday - Write an outline or script or paragraph what your presentation will look  like
Wed and THr - Rehearse Rehearse Rehearse
Fri / Mon - Present

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Expectations during small group instruction
Vocabulary
Class quarterly goals
Step by step examples

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Anchor charts are good for discussing what we already know about a topic. Also, after a scaffolded assignment they are good for students sharing ideas.

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Anchor charts for a fifth grade classroom
Reading- Small Groups
Math- Small Groups
Guidelines
Colorful
Visuals

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DOK questions as they fit per subject