Reading Groups – Ideas Needed

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Today I’m asking for advice.

First, some background:  I have a fixed library schedule and see every class (K-5) once a week for 40 minutes as part of the related arts schedule.  This year, we have 26 classes, which means that there are four time slots each week when there is no class in the library.  (The same is true for the other four related arts: Music, Art, P.E., and Computer.)  These open slots in the schedule serve as our planning periods for the week.

Rather than spreading the planning periods over four different days during the week, our principal this year put all four planning periods on the same day.  So on Monday I have four planning periods, on Tuesday the Art teacher has four planning periods, etc.  The reason she did this is so that on our “planning days” we can be pulled and used as substitutes for teachers who are absent, since there is a limited amount of funding to pay for subs this year.

Last week, all the related arts teachers were asked by our principal to begin using our planning periods (on the days we are not needed as subs) to assist classroom teachers with reading and math circles, to provide extra help for at-risk students.

We haven’t been told exactly how this will work, but my understanding is that we will have some input into which teachers we work with and how we will assist with helping the low-achieving students.  Therefore, I’d like to hear your ideas. 

What would be the best use of my time in working with elementary students in small groups to improve reading skills and achievement?  All suggestions are welcome!

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One thought on “Reading Groups – Ideas Needed

  1. What if you created a book club just for them. Maybe one for girls, one for boys. Pull those lower kids out and choose a book that is within their lexile and treat it like a reward instead of punishment. Audiobooks or playaways could be used to further supplement their learning. You can get a Belkin Rock star adaptor that would allow up to 5 kids to listen to one playaway or recording and have them track while they listen then discuss. I’m going to do something similar with our struggling readers from each grade. Maybe they could even blog about what they read. I would love to comment and contribute and we have students here that might like that too.

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