3.7: Purposeful Practice: Small Groups for Big Learning in the K-5 ELA Classroom

The biggest shifts in learning often happen in the smallest moments—at a back table, over a shared text, with a clear purpose and timely feedback. We sit down with Samantha Lamora, K–5 ELA curriculum specialist, to unpack how intentional small groups can transform reading and writing growth without overwhelming your day. From decoding breakthroughs in primary grades to rich text analysis in upper elementary, we map out what responsive, student-centered instruction looks like when it’s focused, flexible, and grounded in evidence.

We walk through the heartbeat of effective small groups: aligning to the gradual release of responsibility and bringing the You Do Together phase to life. You’ll hear how to spot readiness signals, set a single learning target, and keep the cognitive lift on students while you calibrate supports in real time. Samantha shares concrete strategies for foundational skills—explicit modeling, repeated opportunities to respond, and immediate corrective feedback—as well as tools for comprehension and writing, including sentence frames, structured discussion, and quick checks that make thinking visible.

The conversation tackles the questions teachers ask most: How do I group students without labels? How do I fit it all in? Most importantly, we center student identity and confidence, ensuring groups address needs without defining learners. If you’re ready to teach the learner, not the label, and make small groups the most responsive part of your ELA block, this conversation will give you clear steps to start tomorrow.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hello and welcome to Straight Chalk, a podcast for busy educators. My name's Belinda Benner O'Donnez, and I am an instructional specialist in St. Lucie Public Schools. In this episode, I'm excited to get to chat with St. Lucie Public Schools ELA K through 5 curriculum specialist Samantha Lamora. Welcome and thank you for being willing to be my guest on the podcast this month. How are you? I'm doing well.

SPEAKER_01 0:24

Thank you so much for having me. I'm really looking forward to this.

Why Small Groups Matter In ELA

Samantha’s Background & Spark Moment

SPEAKER_00 0:27

Great, me too. I can't wait because as we are out in the schools, I know we see a lot of exciting things happening, and I can't wait to hear more from your specialist lens. Today we're spending time on a familiar and important part of the K through 5 English language arts curriculum, small group instruction. For most elementary teachers, small groups are already woven into the daily rhythm of the classroom. They are the moments when instruction becomes more personal, when teachers can listen closely to students, notice how they are applying a skill, and then they can respond in ways that support student growth in real time. In this episode, we're not just talking about adding more to a teacher's plate because we know everyone's very busy or redefining what good teaching is. Instead, we're taking a closer look at how small group instruction can be used intentionally with strong ELA lessons, especially as a part of the Learning Together you do phase of the gradual release of responsibility, where students are practicing skills collaboratively. We'll explore how small groups fit into the flow of K-5 ELA block, how they connect to gradual release, and what thoughtful, responsive small group instruction can look like across different grade levels and literacy needs. But before we dig into the why small group instruction matters so much in elementary classrooms, Sam, would you mind sharing a little bit about yourself, your personal professional background? I'd love to have you also share what I've been starting to call a spark moment with one thing big or small that recently reminded you of why the work that you do matters.

Small Groups Across Grade Levels

SPEAKER_01 1:54

Oh, Belinda, it'd be my pleasure. Um thank you again for having me. I'm really excited to be here. Um so I am Sam Lamora. Uh professionally, I serve as a K5 ELA curriculum specialist and I support teachers with literacy instruction, especially around foundational skills. That's really my passion. Um, but small group structures and building clarity in teaching is also a huge part of the work that I do. Before stepping into this district level role, I spent six years instructional coaching. And prior to that, I was a first grade teacher for five years. So I've experienced firsthand the challenge and the beauty of balancing whole group instruction, small groups, data, and differentiation. On a personal level, I am mom to three beautiful girls. They are elementary aged daughters. So literacy isn't just my profession, it's something that I'm living every day in my home, in my car. Yeah, it is my it is really my life. Um, and watching my kids grow as readers has really given me an even deeper appreciation for how much identity is tied into literacy. So, of course, it's about decoding words and answering questions, but it's more than that. It's that confidence that we're giving kids as readers, it's that voice, and it's giving them a sense of belonging. So, coming from that lens, I find this work to be really impactful. I love that you're calling it a spark moment because that's exactly like what this is, right? Like we're teachers because we live for that aha moment. And a spark moment for me would have been some work that I did uh recently with a teacher around her small group in a second grade classroom. There was a kiddo who had been working um on vowel patterns and decoding, and there had been a lot of hesitation, um, a lot of like waiting for others to respond before jumping in to the reading. And during this particular small group, he decoded the word independently and was like, I did, like I did it. And that moment was we both the teacher and I looked at each other and it was like, yes. And that was that reassurance, that spark of like, this is not just about skill gaps. It's how students see themselves having that precise instruction. It doesn't just grow that ability, it's that growth of identity in kids. And that's really the root of why this work matters so much.

Meeting Learners’ Needs Responsively

SPEAKER_00 4:07

I know, and I and like you, we're out in schools and we love to see those moments happen. And that that's the real meaning behind why we do what we do every day. So I love that you shared that. And certainly, whole group instruction does give us shared experiences, language, community, but it's in these small groups where teachers can they truly can meet students where they are. Research over the last few years has consistently shown that small group instruction allows teachers to respond to variability in reading and writing development, especially in foundational skills, language development, and comprehension. Studies emphasize that students benefit most when instruction is responsive to specific skill needs rather than broad ability labels. Small groups allows teachers to target just right instruction, provide immediate feedback, and adjust in real time based on student responses. What's also important is that small group instruction looks different across grade levels. In the primary grades, it often centers on phonological awareness, decoding, oral language, and early writing behaviors, and in upper elementary, focus shifts towards comprehension strategies, text analysis, fluency, and increasingly complex writing demands. The common thread is intentionality, and I like how you said balance earlier. So using small groups to provide the exact support students need in the moment. So, Sam, what in your experience makes small group instruction essential for meeting students where they are as readers and writers in the K through five classroom?

SPEAKER_01 5:31

Yeah, so it's it's what you're saying in terms of like that's the meat and potatoes of what kids learn. You're not going to be able to address all of their needs specific to their development within a whole group lesson. So small group instruction is that essential component where our instruction is truly responsive to the individual learner. Whole group builds shared understanding, but that small group allows teachers to respond to specific gaps, patterns, strengths that they can notice in their kiddos in real time, and where we can move from teaching the lesson to really teaching the learner. In primary grades, we see that small groups are skill-specific, just as you said, it's that articulation, decoding patterns, phonological awareness, all those foundational skills that we know are necessary to build good reading habits and create lifelong readers. And that immediate corrective feedback means that we can have tight, explicit, highly scaffolded lessons to create accuracy and automaticity in our kiddos. And in upper elementary, we kind of shift those small groups toward a little bit more of that thinking work, a little more cognition, comprehension strategies, text analysis. Maybe we're modeling our metacognition so that students can utilize those strategies on their own independent practice. There's more cognitive lift on the students in those upper elementary grades, or even for kiddos in the lower level who have mastered those foundational skills, allowing for the discussion really to move into those more complex pieces of reading and that reading rope to allow for that drive of learning to be focused on the skills that they need. But in any case, the thorough line across all grade levels is gonna be intentionality. So you're pulling your students not because they're low or because they're high, but because there's a specific need that we know we need to target and we're gonna be intentional about what we're doing within that time with them. So it's not about I had this kid for 20 minutes in front of me. It's about I have this amount of time, there's this skill gap, and I can utilize these instructional strategies to make the most of the time I have with them and ensure that I'm meeting them exactly where they are, providing that feedback, that scaffold, and giving them an opportunity to really justify their thinking depending on the needs that we're meeting.

Gradual Release And You Do Together

SPEAKER_00 7:59

Absolutely. And sometimes it's just like you said, it's looking at those skill gaps and how do I form my groups around that with that intentionality. And sometimes teachers get locked into being a part of a small group rotation themselves. But um, you know, when we're thinking through those phases, if we get back to that gradual uh release of responsibility within the lesson design, it isn't about just moving from teacher talk straight into independence. The you do together phase is critical. And small groups are often where this phase comes to life. During that stage, students are applying the new skills collaboratively while the teacher listens, they're prompting and nudging, thinking forward. Recent research we've seen by Fisher and Fry emphasize that collaborative learning shouldn't be optional. Rather, it's essential for deep understanding and transfer. Clear indicators that students are ready to move into this phase include students using shared language from modeling, attempting strategies with peers and verbalizing their thinking, even if it's imperfect. Small groups give teachers that space to notice misconceptions early and scaffold just enough support without taking the cognitive work away from students. So, indeed, how does small group instruction fit within that gradual release of responsibility model, especially during that you do phase in K through five ELA?

SPEAKER_01 9:16

You're absolutely right. The small group is really where the you do together comes alive. So our whole group modeling is where we're exposing to the strategy. We're doing that I do, we're giving them that foundation of what they can expect to kind of replicate. But in a small group, I can apply it with support, with feedback, with peer interaction. Sometimes we even call it a y'all do together, right? Because I as a teacher, right? I as teacher might be watching what my kiddos are doing at my table and pairing them up and intervening depending on the groups that are in front of me, but giving them an opportunity to grapple with it a little bit, have a little productive struggle. And I am facilitating and I'm listening more than I'm talking. I'm not sage on the stage, I'm guide on the side. An indicator that students are ready to move into that collaborative practice is really when they can start to explain the strategy in their own words. They're starting to internalize what I have modeled. They can attempt it without waiting for the teacher to prompt, like, okay, first we're going to this and then we're going to that. Even if they're making errors, you mentioned imperfect uh application, it shows that partial understanding rather than just like throwing a bunch of stuff at a wall, you know, and seeing what sticks. Exactly. It's really about that student language too. Am I integrating the vocabulary as student from the modeling phase, what I heard my teacher say? Am I referencing the anchor chart? Is the student able to kind of justify their thinking? Again, even if it's misguided, are they able to start to put a reason behind why they said what they said? All of that starts to come together and make us say, okay, these kiddos are ready to have a little less scaffolding support and do a little more independent. And that's that gradual release in action at the back table. Um, so seeing that small group gives that opportunity for scaffolds to be in place at just the right structure, just the right amount without removing the cognitive demand of whatever we've put in front of them. So I, as teacher, can calibrate that release really moment by moment. I can be so intentional about how much they're given, how much I'm supporting, um, stepping in when a misconception is here, stepping back when I want to see them demonstrate that ownership and apply that gradual release most effectively.

Forming Flexible, Data-Driven Groups

SPEAKER_00 11:30

Yeah, absolutely. And so with thinking of that small group design, effective small groups instruction doesn't start with a schedule. It really truly does start with data. And teachers draw from multiple sources. There's universal screeners, progress monitoring, daily observations, you know, that qualitative data, student talk, work samples. We know research supports um not just having grouping students by text level solely or static labels. Instead, high impact small groups are flexible, they're skill focused and frequently adjusted. We don't get in a group and that's where we stay from beginning of the year to the end of the year, right? And so I used to ask myself simply like, what skill is getting in the way right now of my seniors? Like I'm talking about seniors because I had I had nine through 12 for the most part. But what skill is really getting in their way of learning? And then what evidence do I have to show myself that? So often I would walk around and listen to student talk because listening to how they explain things really shows me so much and reveals so much more than sometimes you know, even assessment does of how I can make those small tweaks and form those small groups. So these small groups can become a space not just for instruction, but actually formative assessment in action. So, Sam, how did K-5 teachers then make that decision of who meets in a small group and what the instructional focus should be?

High-Leverage Strategies That Work

SPEAKER_01 12:51

You really hit the nail on the head when you said it's not about the label. So often you want to like have that knee-jerk reaction to say, I'll meet my high kids, my medium kids, my low kids. But the most effective groups is gonna be the pattern. Who has this deficit? Because you might have high kids, and I'm coming mostly from that lower elementary lens because I have done a lot of work with K to 2, but it's applicable across the board. You pick a skill, right? Whatever skill you're working on, and you might have proficient readers, beautiful readers, people who are on comprehension, right? But then you look at their data and you're like, oh my gosh, they are having trouble, you know, with an ENCODE process, or they are stuck on diagrams, they don't get medial sounds. And so if you're pulling a group that has that need, regardless of the fact that maybe the rest of that group struggles to comprehend or struggles to read fluently, those kids can be in the same group. They have the same deficit. So it's really about identifying a pattern, a need, and starting there and grouping from that lens. So I always ask teachers, look at multiple data sources, look at your screeners, look at your formative checks, look at your writing samples. And as you said, listen to your kiddos. What did you observe from your? We used to call it clipboard cruising when I was in the classroom. You know, when you're walking around the room and you're catching little tidbits, what observations have you made from your students about what they are needing? And then utilize all of that to really triangulate where you're gonna take that skill because that's gonna give you the most comprehensive approach to what you need to focus on in your small group. And then if you've got those kids, several of them need decoding accuracy as their focus, but they maybe are also struggling to explain meaning. You're gonna now have to determine which skill is my forefront skill. What am I gonna need to start with? Because oftentimes we have more than one area of focus. So we gotta begin with the one that we can leverage first to get the most bang for our buck in this moment, resolve that, and then continue onward. So it's about what skill is that next area of focus right now, keeping it flexible, keeping it temporary. You were so right in saying that it's not about living here. I've been in this group since August. Right. We don't we don't love that. We want to be able to move in and out and ebb and flow, and and kids are very perceptive. And if we keep them in a group and they start to feel like, wait a minute, nobody in this group is reading. Uh does that mean I'm not a reader, right? We don't want them to have that experience. We want to keep the groups varied because we want to give them opportunities to both shine and to have those refinements and to strengthen their skills and then dissolve that group when that skill has been strengthened. And so use our small group to address the need, not to define the student.

SPEAKER_00 15:50

We can agree. High-leverage small group strategies are focused, they're efficient and purposeful. And research highlights practices such as explicit modeling, followed by guided practice, repeated opportunities to respond, and immediate specific feedback. For foundational skills, brief targeted lessons with ample student practice are most effective. For comprehension and writing, structured discussions, sentence frames, and collaborative problem solving support deeper understanding. Engagement and accountability matters, especially for young learners. Teachers keep students actively involved in assigning clear roles using routines students know well, and setting a single learning target for each group. When students understand that purpose of the group and their role within it, engagement naturally increases. So, what might be some high leverage? We always love talking about strategies. So, what might be some high-leverage small group strategies that support foundational skills, comprehension, or writing development across K3-5 that you could share with us?

Productive Struggle And Clarity

SPEAKER_01 16:49

Absolutely. You you know, the high-leverage small group strategies, whatever they may be, they've got to be focused, they've got to be efficient. Um, we know small group is only a limited amount of time in our day, but it is some of the most important time we'll spend in our day. So we've got to include if it's foundational skills, explicit modeling, repeated opportunities to respond, immediate corrective feedback. We want students really doing more work than the teacher in those small groups and having that teacher again provide like guide on the side opportunities, um, not providing all of the support, but scaffolding in appropriate ways, depending on the need of those learners.

SPEAKER_00 17:30

We talk about that all the time. Just step back a moment. Like, don't be so ready to jump in and solve the problem for the students. Like, give them that time and space to think and process and then answer. So, yeah, I love I love what you're saying.

SPEAKER_01 17:44

Productive struggle is everything, like that's where you learn and grow. And and what a compliment to teachers that a student feels safe to have a productive struggle. And it it hurts sometimes as a teacher to like see your kiddos going through it, but that is going to be some of the most powerful learning they're gonna have.

SPEAKER_00 18:04

Absolutely. We hate that silence. I think what it is I know as a teacher back in you know, a long time ago, I used to worry, right? That you you throw a question out there and then there's this silence, but that's good. Silence is good, it's okay to have silence.

SPEAKER_01 18:17

Um, and it can be a really a micro lesson. We're focusing on one move here. It's not the weight of the entire whole group lesson, it's a a specific skill. So we're teaching them one thing here at the back table that we're leveraging to have them help in their their reading. Um I just feel like that immediate application of the skill that we're focused on is really that critical piece. So we're doing it together at the table and then we're allowing them an opportunity to practice that. And we know that that engagement will increase if we've set a clear purpose. So when we're setting up our success at the table, we got to start with our learning target. What are we doing here? What's our what's our goal? What's our get? And making sure the group is aware and then revisiting it before we go.

SPEAKER_00 19:09

I think that's the key too. If students need to know, it's it's yes, the teacher must know, but it's it's also just as important for the student to know the direction of where the lesson's going. A hundred percent portion of the lesson.

Time, Routines, And Narrow Focus

SPEAKER_01 19:21

And truly, even sometimes I think um it can be a misconception that like the little guys, you know, in kindergarten and first grade and even second grade, like they don't need that, but they do, they need to anchor their learning the same way our our big kid friends need to know where they're headed, what they're doing, what the expectation is. So giving that clarity to them of this is our focus, this is our intention, and these are the steps we're gonna take to be able to get through this learning is really like a pivotal piece of that small group. If students understand why they're in the group, what they're working on, that engagement will naturally follow and their accountability strengthens because then they realize that they are responsible for the thinking, the cognitive load, and ultimately the learning.

SPEAKER_00 20:07

One of the most common challenges teachers share is time. We always hear it. There's planning, we've got planning time, instructional time, management time. We know that small shifts can make a big difference. The tighter you get with your structure, the more can get done in that very valuable small group time. Tightening the focus to one skill, shortening group time and using consistent routines, that clarity is key. When teachers clearly articulate that purpose of the group, model expectations, and use that precise language, small group instruction becomes more efficient and more effective. Perhaps the biggest shift, though, is mindset. Viewing small groups not as an add-on, but as a place where instruction becomes the most responsive. When teachers focus on impact rather than perfection, small group instruction becomes sustainable. So, what are some common challenges that K through 5 teachers do actually face with small group instruction? And what small ships can increase impact without adding more to their plate?

Mindset Shift: Progress Over Perfection

SPEAKER_01 21:04

Time really is that that common challenge, that thread of like, oh, if only I had more time. But really planning, managing your rotations, fitting it all in, while it feels overwhelming, if we do see those small groups as the beneficial piece of the day that it is, if we have that mind shift to this is where all learning takes place, this is the meat and potatoes of what I need kids to do, this is where I'm going to meet a child where they are and help them grow the most, then the structure becomes intentional. And by nature of the need to get there, it becomes a little less overwhelming. One of the biggest shifts that I really recommend is just narrow our focus. Pick one skill. I need one clear outcome. Like there's always going to be a laundry list of things we got to do as teachers. We we wear a million hats. But at the end of the day, if we just say in this group, this skill is the focus, and I have Of 15 minutes to address it today. And when we walk away, the kiddos are going to have demonstrated it through this action. That's so measurable. And that's so applicable, right? Like we can see that and we can say to ourselves, all right, check, we did that today. And every day we piece it out that same way. We have 180 opportunities in the school year to see that in action. So having shorter, more frequent groups rather than like one long 20-minute broad session. We don't need to live in a group for a whole lot of time in order for it to be powerful. Because if we're intentional, specific, explicit, we can get the job done and have it be effective. Having clear routines, that is huge, so tremendously important. Students have to know what I am doing during my rotation. Teachers have to know what I am doing during my rotation, right? Like if I can focus on the material and not the management because I have routines, procedures, expectations, and they've been clearly communicated, that takes the load of small groups off your back a little bit. And having a teacher language that is precise, consistent, tied to strategy, benchmark focused, that helps reinforce that transfer, makes it consistent, makes it cross-curricular. So ultimately, all of these like micro steps can make small groups feel less complex, feel as impactful as they're meant to be, be purposeful, be we keep saying intentional, but really that's the that's the purpose of a small group is intentional instruction. And that helps us really shift from saying small group is something else I have to do, to being like, this is the most responsive part of my instruction. And that helps to ensure the fidelity of the small group in your day.

SPEAKER_00 23:44

Absolutely. You've given some really great advice, Sam, today. And I'm sure if you're in a St. Lucy Public School, Sam will be helping you with small groups if you if you need her, you can reach out. I'm sure she'll be there to support you with how to do that.

SPEAKER_01 23:58

Yes, it would be my pleasure. And such a shameless plug, but we always say, and you know this, it's progress, not perfection, right? Like exactly the expectation is not that you hit a home run out of the park. It's just are you doing it? Are you doing it as best you can? Are you putting your best foot forward? Are you being intentional? Are you being reflective in your practice? It's yeah, it's just all those pieces so that it hopefully starts to feel like I can try this. I can do one thing differently the next time I'm in front of a group of my kids and you know, continuing to like chip away at making it the best group you can run. Absolutely.

Closing Thanks & Share The Show

SPEAKER_00 24:34

Thank you, Samantha, for sharing your insights and expertise. Today we've learned a lot, and I would love to continue the conversation further. I also want to thank all the listeners for joining us for this conversation on the power of small group instruction in K through 5 classrooms. We hope today's discussion reminds you that some of the biggest shifts in learning happen in those smallest moments where we listen closely, respond intentionally, and create space for students to think together. Keep fostering curiosity, keep noticing student thinking, and keep doing the work that moves learners forward every day, Sam. Thank you so much. I appreciate you.

SPEAKER_01 25:08

Oh my gosh, thank you. I really truly appreciate this opportunity. It was so wonderful to speak with you on this. And anytime you want to talk shop, I'm in. I love it.

SPEAKER_00 25:17

Thank you so much. Thank you. Once again, thank you for listening to Straight Chalk Podcast for Busy Educators. And be sure you share this podcast with a friend and tune in again next month for more from anywhere you get your podcast.