1. Enhances Core Reading Selections
Flexible Grouping
Enhances Core Reading Selections

2. What’s the objective?
Grouping students for success depends upon lesson objectives.
Skills based lessons
Comprehension based lessons

3. Considerations Students’ success is contingent upon: Reading level
Skill level
Independence level
Personality types
Creating a safe and comfortable working environment for all

4. Grouping Options
Homogeneous or Heterogeneous-depends on your objective
Whole group
Small group
Partnerships
Key-groups are flexible and change as students grow
Grouping options can change within one lesson or across consecutive lessons.

5. How can grouping help our students become active, independent readers of the core weekly story?
Students who require support will flourish with teacher or peer support.
Students who are independent learners will appreciate the added independence.
Students will practice and apply reading strategies to create meaning.
Students will enjoy reading the rich literature Reading Streets provides.

6. Grouping Strategy
Rank students from highest to lowest using reading data
Place students on grid-redo grid after each benchmark test throughout the year
Horizontally-small homogeneous groups
Partners- every other row or two ex: 1 with 7 or 10, etc.-gives students enough support to be successful
Make considerations for positive student partnerships

7. Grouping Grid 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
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Ford, M.P. (2005). Differentiation through flexible grouping: Successfully reaching all readers. IL: Learning Point Associates.

8. How can I apply grouping to the weekly core story?
Pre-reading Whole Group
Build Concepts
Teach Skill and Strategy
Use read aloud to model your thinking-show students how to apply skill and strategy
Involve students in applying skill and strategy with skill/strategy selection
Build Background Knowledge
Vocabulary Development

9. During Reading-Small groups and partners
Partners read and respond to selection-work together to support one another
Small group working with teacher to read and respond to selection-guided practice/modeling as needed
Teacher choice-entire selection or half
Align student response to skill and strategy of the week

10. After Reading-Small heterogeneous groups
Discussion Circles guided by question stems
Sharing reading responses
Task cards to insure all participate

11. What happens when my support group isn’t quite ready for after reading work, but everyone else is?
Extension activities that truly extend learning
HOT Schools strategies-integrate the arts
Fluency-reread parts of text, capture the character’s voice, poems, readers theater
Read companion leveled reader
Read companion selection

12. Make a Reading Extension Activities Chart
List
Describe
Write
Question
Predict/Rate
Create
Vocabulary
Genre
Characters
Author
Setting
Word Work
Problem/
Solution
Connection

13. What Makes It All Work? Consistent routines Explicit expectations
Redo grid to form groups as children grow
Different weekly partners

14. Resources
Ford, M.P. (2005). Differentiation through flexible grouping: Successfully
reaching all readers. IL: Learning Point Associates.
Paratore, J. Grouping for instruction in literacy: What works and what doesn’t.
IL: Pearson Education, Inc.
Pavelka, P. (2009). Differentiating instruction in a whole-group setting. CT:
Husky Trail Press LLC.