Rethinking Small-Group Instruction in the Intermediate Grades: Differentiation That Makes a Difference [With CDROM]

This book offers intermediate-grade teachers sixteen options for small-group instruction for students who need to: construct basic meaning about a text, reinforce particular comprehension skills and strategies, and learn the art of discourse leading to higher-level critical and creative thinking. It includes rubrics and checklists, planning templates, prompts, and more. Teachers will also learn how to differentiate their RTI instruction and embed the Common Core State Standards into small-group instruction. Part I: Understanding Small-group Instruction in the Intermediate Grades contains three short chapters to set the stage for the instructional formats that follow. Chapter One illuminates dilemmas common to small-group instruction at the intermediate grade level. Chapter Two explains what it means to differentiate the literacy process, product, and content for students reading at different levels with different literacy needs. Chapter Three answers questions about the "how-to" of getting small-group instruction off the ground. Part II: Implementing Small-group Instruction: A Menu of Possibilities contains the sixteen formats. Chapter Four includes five instructional formats to help students achieve a basic level of understanding about what they read. Comprehension for both literary and informational reading is addressed through comprehension strategies and text elements. Chapter Five reinforces important literacy standards through five formats that focus not just on comprehension strategies and standards-based objectives, but also on vocabulary, fluency, and author's craft. Chapter Six discusses five different formats for talking about text literary and informational to generate both critical and creative thinking. Chapter Seven addresses how instruction needs to be different for students who are still "getting to fluency." A CD contains all of the reproducibles and Target sheets matched to each objective.