How to Plan the Perfect Reading Group

My day is made up of reading groups with students who are in kindergarten all the way up to 5th grade.  Although their needs are very different (kindergarteners we may be working on letter sounds, while 5th graders are tackling multisyllabic words), one thing is the same - our daily routine.  My students love the way and learn it quickly!  Here is a glimpse into the 6 essential components that make up every reading group:

Getting Started

To effectively group students, we use a common-word reading assessment.  Based on this information, we determine the skill of each group.

Step 1: Warm Up

Our warm-up is usually 1-2 minutes long and involves phonological awareness.  Phonological awareness is such a crucial component of learning to read.  We use a variety of 1-minute activities from David Kilpatrick’s book, Equipped for Reading Success.

Step 2: Sound Review

This part of our routine is like warm-up 2.0.  We quickly review the skill that we are focusing on, mixed in with our previous skill.  Sometimes we do our review digitally, and sometimes we do it with paper and pointers.

Step 3: Chaining

Chaining is a sequence of words that can be built by changing one sound at a time.

For example: at → cat → cot → hot → hat → pat → pan → an

One of the great things about chaining is that you can use various materials like magnetic letters, whiteboards, and more!

Our chaining will follow the specific skill we are working on (ex., short a, digraphs, silent e words).  There are three ways to change the word: change a sound, add a sound, and delete a sound.

Step 4: Word Reading

These words are made up of the type of vowel pattern that we work on, but they can also include a spiral review of past skills!  Much like step 2, sometimes we do our word reading digitally, sometimes with flashcards.

Step 5: Dictation

Once we have finished word reading, we move on to dictation (encoding practice)! We use the skills that we have practiced in steps 1-4 and apply them to writing.  I say the words in no particular order, and the students write them!  Sometimes we sort based on the vowel; other times, we use sound boxes.

Students are typically asked to write 4-6 words and a sentence.

Step 6: Reading in Context

This is where we put all the skills in steps 1-4 to the test!  Finding a decodable text that incorporates the skills you have been working on is essential.  I mainly use readers from Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) and SPIRE Readers.  The CKLA materials are free!

Are you ready to use these 6 steps in your reading groups?

• Click here for a bonus lesson planning template incorporating these 6 steps.
• Click here for premade phonics lessons (K-3) using these 6 steps.
• Click here for premade syllable type lessons (3-5) using these 6 steps.

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