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Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.
Speaker 1:
Hi teacher friends. This is Melissa from Melissa and Lori Love Literacy. Today I'm going to answer the question what does the research say about small group reading instruction? Our top two episodes of all of 2023 both focused on this topic, so we know it is something many of you are very interested in, which makes sense, because most teachers in kindergarten through second grade have time in their daily schedule for small group reading instruction. Interestingly, I recently saw someone post on a Facebook group that there's all of this new research that says small group instruction is ineffective. That is just simply not the case. So what does the research actually say? There is research that supports small group reading instruction.
Speaker 1:
In episode 143, we spoke with the authors of an article called maximizing small group reading instruction. In the article they say when researchers have examined the effects of small group in targeted skills across many studies, they have consistently demonstrated positive effects and they cite several studies that support this. They even cite a meta-analysis, which is a synthesis of many studies that focused on the effects of reading interventions in grades K through 3. They found that, across studies, interventions provided in small groups yielded higher effects on reading outcomes. So big sigh of relief out there. Research does support the use of small group reading instruction. However, another study that they cited in the article stated that differentiated instruction, like what happens in these small groups, is not always a silver bullet and not all approaches to differentiation will produce positive results. This is really important and this is the key. To return to that comment I read on Facebook. I think it's less about research saying that small group instruction is ineffective. That's not the case. It's more about making sure what's happening in that small group is effective.
Speaker 1:
The authors of the article, who are on our podcast, refer to this expense of this time. That means when thinking about the reality of these of small group instruction in the classroom. It really does take a lot of planning for teachers to really effectively assess students, group them and design lessons for each small group, and in many classes, small group reading instruction has traditionally been a time where teachers differentiate based on reading levels and text levels, which is not an effective practice. Lori is going to address this in our next quick Q&A and you can listen to episode 143 to hear the authors of the article speak to this really important point.
Speaker 1:
In addition to that, there is the age old question of what are the students doing during this time who are not working with a teacher, and is what they're doing independently an effective use of their time? You can listen to episode 142 to hear more about how one kindergarten teacher plans for small group instruction more strategically to minimize the time students are working on their own. So to sum that all up, there is research to support the effectiveness of small group reading instruction, but we need to think carefully about what is happening during that time and how it is structured to make sure it is effective for all of the students in the class. You can find the podcast episodes and articles that I mentioned linked in the show notes. Thank you for listening. Can't wait to keep learning with you.
Speaker 2:
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Speaker 1:
Just a quick reminder that the views and opinions expressed by the hosts and guests of the Melissa and Lori Love Literacy Podcast are not necessarily the opinions of Great Minds PBC or its employees.
Speaker 2:
We appreciate you so much and we're so glad you're here to learn with us.