Think Small! : Engaging Our Youngest Readers in Small Groups

With the advent of RTI (Response to Intervention), teachers everywhere are spending part of their day teaching in small groups.

In Think Small!, master teacher and author Debbie Diller plans and teaches various small-group lessons with students at different reading levels while the rest of the class works independently at literacy work stations.

Teachers learn how to form groups, organize for small-group instruction, choose books, write lesson plans, and support student independence so they can teach more effectively in small groups with young readers. Debbie works with pre-emergent readers on rhyming and oral language in small groups.

She teaches two differentiated lessons with an emergent group that focuses on learning high-frequency words, both in reading and writing.

Other small-group lessons include a focus on fluency and comprehension in guided reading with first-grade readers.

In a dynamic, engaging whole-group reading lesson, Debbie models a skill all students need and later takes this same skill to small group.

DVD extras feature a tour of the kindergarten small-group area, and an overview of the planning process and lesson structure. Think Small! - particularly when used in conjunction with Debbie's book, Making the Most of Small Groups - is ideal for professional study groups or staff development programs designed to help teachers deliver more focused small group instruction.

The program includes an extensive viewing guide with questions, work samples, and reproducibles for groups.