The best time to differentiate your phonics and reading instruction is during your small group lesson. This is when you can adapt what your students are learning to the very specific needs of your individual students. However, I hated when I would constantly get interrupted by students in other groups. Here's how I used a guided reading warm-up activity to help manage those small group lesson interruptions and get the most out of my differentiated instruction.
What is a small group lesson?
A guided reading small group lesson is a short 10-20 minute mini-lesson that you do with a small group of students. During our center rotations, students would rotate into this lesson at my “teacher table”.
You can read more about how I structure my small group lesson here.
Let your students know you are “in session”
Students sometimes need a visual to help them understand that this is not the time for questions. You can use some kind of sign once you are in the middle of a small group lesson. Previously, I put on a crown during the lesson, but I always forgot to either put it on or take it off.
I found this lightbox a few years ago on Amazon, and added the “Stop. Ask 3, then Me” to remind my students that they can find the answer they need with someone else. If they did not understand what to do, or weren't sure what a picture was in their picture sort, or couldn't find part of the center, they were allowed to ask 3 other students. If all 3 did not know the answer, then they were allowed to ask me. Usually, if this was the case, it was my fault for not correctly explaining the center or forgetting part of the center.
This alone saved me so much hassle of answering the same question more than once and stopping most of my small group lesson interruptions. However, I had another tool that I used to help stop interruptions.
How to use a “warm-up” to help your centers management
When my students first sat down at my teacher table for their guided reading small group lesson, they had a short “warm-up” activity. The purpose of this activity was for my students to be working on something the minute they sat down to get the most out of this time. During this warm-up, I did a quick lap around my classroom, checking on each center group. I taught my students how to work independently during centers, but I would still make sure they knew exactly what to do during each center, had everything they needed, and were ready to go. This typically took about a minute or two depending on if they had any questions. I wanted to make sure that my students at my teacher table had my full attention once I sat down and there were no or minimal interruptions.
Once I was done with my lap around the classroom, I sat down at my group and checked their work. I would ask them a question, have them each blend a word, etc as part of their “warm-up”. I explained that this was their time to “warm-up” their brains and now it was time to learn. Here are some ideas that you can use for your guided reading small group warm-up.
Ideas for a guided reading small group warm-up
When you are choosing a small group warm-up activity, you want to make sure your students can do it independently. Either you did it as a whole group a few times or had it as a small group activity previously. You want them to be able to sit down and start practicing without any instructions.
Roll and Read
This was always the easiest warm-up activity because my students loved it and could do it independently. I put a roll and read page in a sheet protector and left a dice and dry erase marker. Students took turns rolling the dice and reading a word under that number. When I sat down, I would continue the activity so I could hear each student blend a word.
Find the editable roll and read sheets in my Teachers Pay Teachers store here:
Editable Roll and Read Templates
Picture or Word Sort
For this warm-up activity, I placed a few picture or word sort headings on the table. Usually, I would just have 2-3 to make it easier for my students to do independently. In front of each chair would be about 2-3 cards face down. Students took turns to flip a card over, either identify the sound or read the word, and sort it into the correct category. Once I sat down, I would have my students finish the cards in front of them or give them each one new card so I could see how each student sorted the cards.
These picture and word sorts are found in any of the Phonics Centers packs here:
Clip Cards
For this activity, I just took some clip cards and had them waiting on the table. I had a few cards and clothespins so that they could work together to complete the clip cards. Once I was at the table, I quickly checked their work and started the lesson.
These clip cards are found in any of the Phonics Centers packs here:
Exit Ticket
Once a week, I liked to start our small group lesson with an exit ticket. At the beginning of the year, you will need to do this together. Until they can do it independently, I would wait to have them do it as their small group warm-up. For this activity, they would each have an exit ticket in front of them. They would complete it while I was walking around the room. Once I was back, we checked them together so that I could see how my students were doing with that specific skill.
These exit tickets are found in any of the Phonics Units here:
Whiteboards or Magnet Letters
If we were practicing spelling, I liked using these spelling mats with magnet letters at each student's spot. Each student would have 2-3 spelling mats in front of them. Once they sat down, they would spell the words using magnet letters and a dry erase marker. To check their work, I would just look at the words they spelled quickly, and if any needed correction, we would work on that one first. You could also do this same activity with picture cards and whiteboards.
You can find these Phonics Spelling Mats here:
I hope this post helps stop those small group lesson interruptions! What guided reading small group warm-up will you try in your classroom?
[…] Small Group Warm-Up– Before I sat down with my students, I liked to do a quick walk through around the other centers. The warm-up was an activity that they could do independently while the students at my small group waited. You can read more about how I did I used this strategy in this blog post here. […]