Small groups accelerate student reading growth Elementary students need personal attention from a teacher and a connection with their peers to progress as readers. Small groups offer both! When you work with just a few kids at a time on skills specific to their assets and goals, you provide a safe, trusting environment that encourages students to challenge themselves. Organized by developmental reading stages-emergent readers, early readers, transitional readers, and fluent readers-this timely handbook shows how to engage students where they are, regardless of grade level, and help them progress to the next stage. You'll learn how to assess student skills and needs, flexibly organize groups, plan and teach lessons, select appropriate texts, and differentiate instruction to give every reader a pathway to success. Features include: * Phonics and phonological awareness, reading fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension strategies and tools for each reading stage * At-a-glance charts for assessing current skill level and identifying next instructional steps * 70 downloadable teacher and student resources for planning and instructional use * Dozens of easy adaptations for use in online learning * Over 100 full-color photographs so you can see small groups in action * Reflection prompts and guiding questions for personal and PLC use Whatever your instructional setting, you and your students need the relationships that are best forged in small groups. With this book, you'll be able to differentiate instruction in a way that's manageable and sustainable - and build those relationships that help young readers achieve success.

The science of reading meets the art of teaching readers Do you have the knowledge and instructional ability to effectively teach foundational skills and to support students who show signs of reading difficulties? It is a tall order - and one that challenges many new and veteran teachers. How to Prevent Reading Difficulties, Grades PreK-3 builds on decades of evidence and years of experience to help teachers understand how the brain learns to read and how to apply that understanding to Tier 1 instruction. The book includes: step-by-step descriptions of techniques for effectively teaching phonological awareness, spelling, phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension specific Tier 1 activities, routines, and frameworks that build and strengthen word recognition and language comprehension links to video demonstrations and online resources clear, practical explanations of the science of reading, including the Eternal Triangle and the Simple View of Reading, to help teachers understand the fundamentals of the reading process, recognize how difficulties arise - and understand how to address them A book study guide is available on the Free Resources tab to provides group guidance on how to effectively teach foundational skills and to support students who show signs of reading difficulties. Author Mark Weakland brings new energy to teaching high-priority foundational skills. By blending the science of reading with the best instructional practices that lead to authentic reading-the ultimate goal of balanced literacy-teachers can prevent many reading difficulties in K-3 learners.