My school district has recently fully embraced what they call balanced literacy. Where I used to absolutely love teaching reading—I now hate it! The biggest problem is there are so many little pieces of it that we must squeeze in there is no time left to do our content areas—and usually no time for a read aloud either—though we are supposed to be doing that! I find it incredibly fragmented and of little use for anyone. By the time I get going with my little “guided reading groups” it is time to stop!! ALso, the other kids not currently meeting with me often are not doing what they should be doing—the off-task behavior in the room becomes contagious and distracting to me and the group I am meeting with. Some of those kids simply do not have good self control—others lack self confidence and give up too easily on tasks they really could do if they tried. I yearn for the day when I can do whole class instruction again—for at least a part of the time! We do get some whole class time for shared reading—but that is mostly narrative poetry and not enough to really get the kids excited about reading and literature. Is there any hope in sight? Where in the USA is whole class instruction permitted, if anywhere? When I teach the whole class I have little if any problem maintaining control and on-task behavior. Also, I can see to it that all children are involved in literacy activities.Another problem is trying to plan quality lessons for so many groups every day—Of course I also have to plan for what all the other children who are not with me are doing—another big task. I work at least 3 days a week until 1AM just to try to keep up! Help!!
I have worked in both regular classroom and sped classroom. I have done reading groups in the classroom. The most important thing I did was practice procedures. I also set up a rotation schedule (if four groups, a matrix that will accommodate the correct number of reading groups per week/day and what others will be doing during that time.) Then it is practice, practice.
For one of the blocks, a group of students uses computers in my class, the high readers may do some buddy reading w/the lowest readers for a block—not every day, one group is in the beanbags doing SSR, One group is at the writing center, and I’m working w/a group. (This is a twenty student classroom model.)
We practice the routines and transitions. Lots & lots & lots & lots. In fact, it usually takes almost a complete quarter to really get them down. It requires consistency (like any discipline model). We use the BIST discipline model and my district is about 70% free & reduced lunch. We have more low readers than high ones.
While doing full-class room stuff is easier in the planning and discipline modes, it doesn’t serve the needs of all students. In order to do that, we must differentiate instruction: some need more comprehension, some fluency, some decoding, some need everything.
Also, consider asking for a parent volunteer during reading time. They can do repeated readings with kids using something like Great Leaps or Read Naturally. I have had a para to do that for me. Works nicely and kids get a little more 1:1 attention. The other adult can handle the nurse passes, restroom requests, and small details after awhile. Then you aren’t disrupted in group so much and that flows nicely, too.
It is a different mind-set, but I believe we must do this in order to achieve our literacy goals.
Just my opinion.