reading groups

I am going to do reading groups in my 2nd grade class this year. I will have 27 kids. For those of you that do them..how many grous do you have? Do you have centers for the other kids to do and/or do you give them seatwork? I just need help getting it started. How long do you do each group? Any tips would be helpful?

Re: reading groups

In first grade I have about 4-5 reading groups, but it depends on the class and how diverse their levels are. While I am doing reading groups the others are doing centers. Some of my centers are:
Listening Center
MAking Words Center
Writing Center
Art Center
Reading Center

Then when the students finish their centers they go into writing workshop. I usually give them a focus for the week. They also have story starters they can use. Once they have 3 stories, they get them checked by a parent volunteer and they can "publish" one.

In the beginning of the year it takes them a while to learn to work independently but after a few weeks it works out great!

Depending on which group I am working with, the time I spend might be longer or shorter, but I would say I spend about 15-20 minutes with each group and I don't meet with everyday. the low groups I try to meet with 2-3x a week whereas the high groups 1-2x a week. HTH

Re: reading groups

i teach 3rd grade. i do a whole group minilesson for 15 minutes, 2 small group guided reading lessons for 20 minutes each and then a whole group share for 5 minutes. during the small group time the other students meet in their groups to do tasks (some teachers in my school call them centers but i don't have physical centers they are just tasks that they take to their seats to do). the tasts might include independent reading, grammar or phonics activities, test prep handouts, going to the listening center or computer center, etc, etc, etc. i have a task chart that shows where each group is going that day. i made magnets so that i don't have to write it out each day, just move around the magnets. so for example just by looking at it group 1 might see that it's meeting with me for guided reading for the first session (first 20 minutes) and then doing phonics for the second session.
it takes a lot of training for the kids to do this but they do get it. you just have to enforce the rules and keep everyone quiet and focused.
HTH

ETA: i had 26 kids last year and i had between 4 to 6 groups throughout the year depending on how the kids were doing and what level they were on at the moment. i loved having a group of 4 or 5 kids. but i often had groups of 6 kids. 6 was a little more to manage because you can't give them as much individual attention.

Message edited 7/31/2008 5:58:12 PM.

Re: reading groups

i was in kindergarten last year, so it is different but i had 5 then four later on....reading groups are wonderful - good luck!

Re: reading groups

It all depends on their levels. I have them grouped by ability for reading groups, and then I also do a whole class "readers workshop". I pull reading groups during the "independent practice" part of readers workshop and then during "centers" where they are working is small, mixed ability groups on lots of stuff (art, writing, math, handwriting, listening center, etc.). It's hard to plan ahead for reading groups until you have your class and have assessed them. hth!