Podcast- Making Decisions for Individual Learners within a Small Group

The podcast talked about making instruction decisions and small group instruction. Pat Johnson talked about making instructional decisions and mentioned four points, assessment drives instruction, supporting the reading process system, providing opportunities to practice with real books so children can use their reading processing system correctly, and keeping meaning at the forefront. Teachers can support the reading process system through teaching the readers, not the book. The goal should be for readers to self-initiate strategies and behaviors by using a balance of sources and information. The reading process system is brainwork, not a collection of items and words and has phonics intertwined into it. Reading is not about remembering all the words; it’s about trying out strategies such as meaning, visual, and semantic. In order to keep meaning at the forefront teachers should give opportunities to talk about and reread the book as well as making the book about something.

Diane DeFord also talked about making instructional decisions. It is a complex task that teachers have to handle. Teachers need to know their students. Know their strengths, interests, experimental base, language and strategies that they can use. The lesson needs to be focused in order to assess easily. Assessment will be done with recording a child read a book that is matched to the reader. The teacher can find books that match by seeing what strategies the books use and how the book assists those strategies. It is important to remember that books are not neutral, they each have their own strategies that are needed in order to successfully read them. After the assessment, the teacher decides on one or two things to work on next. Teachers need to plan for change because students learning must change in order for them to progress. Through all of the instructional time comprehension has to be on the forefront of the teacher and student’s mind because it leads the reading processing system.

Mary Cappellini talks about small group instruction. Small group instruction also calls for the teacher to know each student individually in order to successfully group the students. Look at their language patterns in order to choose book that are leveled with not only their reading level, but also speaking level. Students with various levels, but use of similar strategies, are good to put in the same group because they can cross check with each other. Pick developmental stage of reading first by seeing if the student can successfully use their strategies and reading process system, then pick the book that matches the developmental stage. Do not go down or up a level after one book, test many books before making a final decision. It is possible to sit with an individual child during small groups to help them.