Moving Your Small Group Reading Instruction Beyond Guided Reading: Maximizing Every Student's Reading Success (Grades 3-6)

Presented by Julie Wright
Author of What Are You Grouping For? How to Guide Small Groups Based on Readers – Not the Book (Corwin)

Specifically Designed for Grades 3-6: Classroom Teachers, Reading Specialists, Literacy Coaches, Special Education Staff, Title I Staff, and Administrators

Innovative strategies to moving your small group reading instruction beyond guided reading to better meet the needs of readers in grades 3-6
Efficient, effective and equitable strategies to maximize every student’s reading success
Dozens of practical ideas to launch and sustain a variety small group learning experiences that you can use immediately
Proven practices and protocols for hosting small groups in ways that increase student engagement and independence

Practical Ideas and Strategies

Intermediate grade readers don’t need to be guided as much as they need to be engaged. In this outstanding NEW seminar, experienced teacher, literacy coach and author, Julie Wright will share a multitude of highly practical solutions for doing just that using small groups that will take your reading instruction beyond guided reading with students in grades 3-6. Julie will share practical tools, classroom examples and actionable steps essential for more effectively starting, sustaining and mastering the management of small groups with intermediate level readers.

You’ll learn the five teacher moves that work together to more effectively support intermediate grade students’ reading independence through small group learning – kidwatching, pivoting, assessing, curating, and planning. Throughout the seminar, Julie will provide numerous examples to guide you and your students toward greater success. Julie will empower you with essential tools to ensure that your readers are doing the reading, thinking, and doing – not you. From must-have beginning-of-the-year strategies to step-by-step advice for implementation, Julie will break down the processes that support small groups to help create more effective reading instruction with students in grades 3-6.

You will leave the seminar having a clearer understanding of how to initiate and sustain a diverse variety of flexible, responsive small groups to maximize your intermediate grade students’ reading success. You’ll have an abundance of ideas that can be implemented immediately.

Ten Key Benefits of Attending

Learn Practical Strategies for Moving Your Small Group Reading Instruction Beyond Guided Reading
Learn an expanded range of small group options for more effectively targeting the diverse instructional needs and interests of readers in grades 3-6
Combat the Challenges of Small Group Reading
Learn highly effective ways to address the challenges of launching and sustaining small group reading
Expand Your Range of Options for Small Group Learning
Explore different options to launch small group learning that can be used anytime throughout the school year
Redesign Your Learning Environment to Prioritize Small Group Meeting Spaces
Think creatively about the spaces you have available and design them to maximize small group learning opportunities
Utilize Authentic, On-the-Spot Data for Making Grouping Decisions
Refine your kidwatching skills through note taking templates and student surveys in order to create small group learning experiences
Accelerate Progress for Striving Readers
Adjust the structure of your small group reading lessons to better target specific learning needs and intensify learning for students who need some extra support
Learn How and When to Pivot and Switch Up Groups Regularly
Learn how to pivot, or change up groups regularly, to better meet students’ individual and collective needs and interests
Implement Teacher-Led and Student-Led Small Groups
Explore ways to increase the frequency and duration of small group learning experiences by creating teacher-led and student-led small groups
Uncover and Curate Texts that Students in Grades 3-6 Want to Read
Expand your knowledge of short and long texts that stoke students’ curiosities, inquiries, passions, and interests
Receive a Reading Instruction Resource Handbook
You’ll leave this seminar with new knowledge and a resource handbook packed with valuable tips, tools, strategies, and protocols with ready-to-use examples of small group learning opportunities that can be put into action immediately

Outstanding Strategies You Can Use Immediately

Practical ways to move beyond guided reading to better address the instructional needs and interests of readers in grades 3-6
Proven strategies to positively impact your reading instruction
20+ different small group types to launch small group learning that can be used anytime throughout the school year
Small group schedules that can be used to jumpstart and sustain flexible and responsive small groups
How to redesign the spaces you have available to maximize small group learning opportunities
Time-efficient ways to gather on-the-spot data for making grouping decisions
How to pivot, or change up small groups regularly, to meet students’ individual and collective wants and needs
Ways to increase the frequency and duration of small group learning experiences by creating teacher-led and student-led small groups
Short and long texts that stoke students’ curiosities, inquiries, passions, and interests that can be used with small groups regularly
New tips, tools and templates to increase small group learning experiences that are responsive to students’ wants and needs

A Message From Your Seminar Leader

Dear Colleague:

Do you want to combat the challenges of small groups and focus on ways to launch and sustain flexible, small groups that result in greater success with readers in grades 3-6? Do you want to learn how to make grouping decisions and learn to pivot, or switch up groups regularly so that you are more responsive to students’ needs? And, are you ready to explore reflection rituals and routines that will nudge you to look back in order to plan forward with a focus on student success? If so, I invite you to join me for this dynamic day of learning that is packed with tips, tools and practical ideas and strategies that you can implement immediately following this seminar.

I will share efficient, effective and equitable strategies to maximize every student’s reading success. We will focus on launching and sustaining small group learning experiences that go beyond guided reading needs to better position ourselves to create more responsive, engaging small group learning experiences.

Hosting small, flexible groups requires us to be brave and step out of our comfort zone because it debunks everything we’ve learned about staying within the “levels” and organizing teacher-led groups. Instead, it’s about prioritizing using short and long texts that will ignite students’ interests and curiosities and often giving students opportunities to lead their own small group learning. Together we will look beyond the reading level of a book and find other important reasons for creating small group learning opportunities to help students hit their reading stride.

You’ll leave with numerous strategies and ideas you can use right away to strengthen reading instruction for grades 3-6.

Sincerely,
Julie Wright

P.S. You will receive a resource handbook filled with valuable tips, tools, strategies, and protocols with ready-to-use examples of small group learning opportunities that are applicable in both remote/digital and face-to-face settings and can be put into action immediately.

Who Should Attend

Grades 3-6: Classroom Teachers, Reading Specialists, Literacy Coaches, Special Education Staff, Title I Staff, and Administrators

Special Benefits of Attending

Extensive Resource Handbook
Each participant will receive an extensive reading digital resource handbook giving you access to countless strategies before, during and after the seminar. The handbook includes:

Tips, tools, strategies, and protocols for creating flexible and responsive small groups that will maximize student growth
Dozens of practical ideas that can be adopted or adapted to meet your small group learning goals
Numerous grouping ideas, along with sample schedules, that will positively impact your small groups
Templates and tools to elevate your planning routines to increase small group learning experiences that are responsive to students’ wants and needs
Ready-to-use ideas for increasing small group learning experiences

For in-person seminars, registrants will also receive a printed copy of the resource handbook as long as their registration is received in the BER office at least 15 calendar days before the event.

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Consultation Available
Julie Wright will be available to answer your specific questions and the unique needs of your own reading program.

On-Site Training Guarantee

BER is not a booking agency that just finds a presenter who presents on the topic you requested. Rather, we only recommend highly experienced BER presenters who have consistently received outstanding evaluations from educators attending their trainings.

Consequently, we provide a strong program guarantee.

We guarantee you'll be fully satisfied or you'll owe us nothing after your on-site training event.