Kayla Cook, a first grade teacher at Griggs Road Elementary School in Clover School District, describes how she uses small group instruction to personalize instruction and meet the needs of all of the learners in the classroom.
I always start introducing small group procedures the second week of school and we start off using small groups right off the bat! I believe the secret to running small groups successfully in your classroom is the work you are assigning the students who should be working independently. It is vital to be sure this work is personalized, engaging, and meaningful to the content and that particular student’s learning goals. We cannot just assign busy work or work they cannot successfully complete on their own. If this happens, students will be disengaged in their work, and then management issues will arise. The students working independently should be learning just as much as the students in the small groups with the teacher.
Reading is one of the easier ones to start with since guided reading leads right in to small groups! My students are put into groups for reading based on reading levels. My reading block starts off with a 20 minute whole group shared reading lesson. In this lesson, we focus on vocabulary and comprehension strategies. The students will then practice these comprehension strategies in their guided reading lessons using books on their levels. I meet with four groups per day while the rest of my students are working on personalized sight word practice in which they have their own list of words they are working on. The students also get to pick from a variety of ways to practice these words each day. When students are able to choose their activities, they take so much more ownership over their learning. I also have students who are independently reading books they have chosen from our class library, working on writing prompts of their choice, or spending time on their iReady app on their iPads.
Unit Three
This image shows two ribbons that students use to record their pretest score and post test score in a math unit. In this image, Unit Three's learning targets are shown.
- I can add in any order!
- I can add three numbers together to solve problems!
- I can determine equal or not equal equations!
Then at the bottom, students fill in the number of points they grew from the pre-test to the post-test in the sentence: I grew (blank) points!
Math is my favorite subject to teach! I start each new unit by giving my students a pretest. I grade these and give them back to the students to look over and record in their data notebooks. Using the pretest data, students are then placed on one of three leveled pathways, which I run on three different colors of paper. Students are also placed into small groups using the pretest data as well. Each day, my math block starts with a quick whole group lesson, reviewing what was taught the day before. This is usually the most anticipated part of the day. The students can’t wait to return from lunch to see what we are doing for math! After the quick whole group lesson, I then start my small group teaching. Any introduction of new content happens in small groups. This allows me to deliver new instruction on different levels for each group based on their prior knowledge of the skill. While I am working with my small groups, students are working interpedently on their math pathways. My team also develops a choice board for each unit. As students finish their pathways, they then move on to their choice boards to practice the skill they have learned. While the pathways focus on different levels of learners, the choice board focus on different styles of learning. It has different kinds of activities varying from partner games, scavenger hunts, YouTube videos, online games, and more. The pathways and choice boards are designed so the students have time to work through their pathway and work on things from the choice board by the time the unit is over. When the unit if over, the posttest is given and students are able to see their growth from their pretests.
For phonics, we developed 36 different pathways, one for each phonics skill we would like to teach in first grade. The students are given a phonics test at the start of the school year to place them where they are in their phonics progression. So, some students may start on the first pathway, while some students may start on the 9th pathway. Small groups are pulled based on what phonics skill they are working on. This allows my higher students to keep moving and allows remediation time for my lower students.
I Can Statements for Phonics Pathways
This recording sheet shows "I Can" statements for phonics pathways.
- I can identify all 26 letters.
- I can identify all 26 letter sounds.
- I can read and spell short -a words.
- I can read and spell short -e words.
- I can read and spell short -i words.
- I can read and spell short -o words.
- I can read and spell short -u words.
- I can read and spell short mixed vowel words.
- I can read and spell silent -e words.
- I can read and spell th-, sh, and wh- words.
- I can read and spell ch-, ph-, and tch words.
Each "I Can" statement is matched with a cartoon character. That cartoon character is the main character of the learning pathway the student will need to complete to show mastery of that "I Can" statement. For example, if students need to work on the "I Can" statement "I can read and spell short -o words," students will need to select and complete the activities on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pathway. Once that pathway's activities are completed, the student would place a checkmark in the box next to that "I Can" statement on this recording sheet.
Interested in learning more from Kayla? Email her at Kayla.Cook@clover.k12.sc.us!
