Meeting Individual Needs: How can I help all the students in my group?

Differing ability levels are challenging but can also be an asset. Encourage children by acknowledging different learning styles, and pointing out the variety of successful strategies students use. For example, you can say, “Did everyone notice how Chandra related the story to her own experience? Who else has experienced something similar to the character in the story?” Students will be more engaged when they feel they have something meaningful to contribute.

Occasionally make each student an expert in something, or let students take on a teaching role for part of the session. For example, students can write and share paragraphs explaining how to do something that they are particularly good at, such as riding a skateboard, braiding hair, or preparing a special meal. Peer learning benefits students of all ages.

Each student brings a unique learning style and set of experiences to the group setting. Maintain realistic expectations for each child and be specific in noticing and reinforcing individual skills and abilities.

A Sample of Small-Group Literacy Activities: How can I make learning meaningful and fun?

Following are a variety of activities that engage groups of students in learning and support their literacy development. Whenever possible, we have included examples and resources to help with planning and implementation. Have fun!

Reading With a Small Group

Effective tutor strategies for reading with small groups While the best book discussions are student-driven and student-centered, tutors are instrumental in keeping the conversation on track. Do this by: 1. Focusing the discussion Introduce the story and author and tell children why you chose the book Do a "picture walk," if appropriate, to stimulate predictions and/or prior knowledge Redirect irrelevant discussion back to the story 2. Prompting Invite children to ask questions or comment throughout the story Model responses or questions when children don’t have any Relate responses to real-life experiences and other stories children have read 3. Supporting and informing Answer questions and respond to comments Encourage students to question and respond to each other Provide positive reinforcement (Adapted from Morrow, 1985)

Reading together will likely be a frequent activity when you meet with your group, especially in a classroom setting. Group reading activities can take many forms, including reading aloud, echo reading, and choral reading.⁵

Reading together provides an opportunity to develop children’s interest and enthusiasm for reading, as well as individual skills such as phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary development, fluency, and text comprehension. Group reading activities allow tutors to model and discuss the essential things that happen when we read, including calling up relevant background knowledge, predicting what will happen next, picturing the story, self-correcting, determining main ideas, making inferences, figuring out unknown words and concepts, and summarizing the story.

Whether you or your students do the reading⁶, your discussion can be general or focused on a particular skill or strategy (see Effective tutor strategies and Questioning strategies sidebars for general discussion guidelines). For example, you might read part of Two Bad Ants aloud to your group and ask questions like those posed by Gavin in the introduction to this article. Next, ask children to read on silently to identify the crystal in the story. Guide the reading process by asking questions and showing how to find the answers or confirm predictions in the story.

Don’t be afraid to read the same book more than once. Children love to hear or read their favorite stories again and again, and you can focus on different strategies with each reading. Group books by topic, genre, or favorite author if you want to develop and explore themes or sets of related books. While the interests of group members provide the best guide to choosing books, also consult teachers for ideas that support what students are learning in the classroom and are appropriate for their stages of development.