When There’s a Range in the Group

Whether you have a Read Well 2 group of 16 students or a Read Well 1 group of 6 students, there is likely to be a range in the group. Whether it’s your highest group or your lowest group, the range is likely to grow.

WHY
Some students need more practice than others. Without differentiation in practice, the strongest readers tend to take off while the lowest readers get left behind. Even with a good signal during choral responses, the strongest readers can lead, leaving the weakest students in the back seat. It’s not unusual for the range in a group to become unmanageable.

OPTIONS
To manage the range within a group, your options are to:

  • Split the group.
    Splitting the group usually results in less instructional time for all of your students. Avoid this option, if possible.
  • Slow down the whole group.
    The range will remain, with the higher performers becoming even stronger but making slower progress. Avoid this option, if possible.
  • Drop your lowest students to a lower group.
    If regrouping appropriately is feasible, this may be a good option.
  • Provide differentiated practice—as early as possible.
    Make sure the lowest students in the group get more practice reading than the highest students do. The goal of this option is to keep all students moving at the faster pace, allowing you to avoid Options 1, 2, and 3.

EXTRA PRACTICE FOR THE LOWEST STUDENTS IN ANY GROUP

GENERAL GUIDELINES
Provide extra practice opportunities for the lowest students in the group until the gap closes. Then make sure the lowest students continue to get extra reading opportunities on a regular basis so the gap doesn’t reappear.

DIFFERENTIATE PRACTICE
It is important that you don’t give your strongest readers the same Extra Practice opportunities. Your stronger readers do not need the same amount of practice to achieve the same level of competency. If you increase practice for all students in the group, the gap will continue and become wider. While your weaker students get extra reading practice, your stronger readers may need other worthwhile activities such as handwriting practice. Research indicates that lack of handwriting fluency negatively affects the quality and quantity of compositions. Have the strongest students in the group copy a passage from their storybook and illustrate it.

OPTIONS FOR EXTRA PRACTICE PRE-TEACH
If students are generally weaker in skills and fluency, pull the weakest readers five minutes before calling the remainder of the group.

  1. Have students work on Smooth and Bumpy Blending of three or four difficult words.
  2. Have Extra Practice students choral read one page of the day’s Solo Story. Rotate individual turns on passage reading (checkouts) while the other kids follow along and whisper read. Keep a running list of turns and accuracy. If students are accurate, rotate individual turns for 30-second timings.

POST-TEACH
If students are accurate but lack fluency, keep the weakest readers five minutes longer than the other students in the group.

  1. Have the Extra Practice students do Short Passage Practice. Select a short passage from the day’s Solo Story and have students read once for accuracy. Then model reading the passage with expression. Guide a group choral reading. Then have individuals read the same passage. Provide positive descriptive feedback.
  2. Have each Extra Practice student read a passage for 30 seconds while other students follow along and whisper read. Record each student’s words correct per minute. Celebrate efforts and improvements.

HOMEWORK
Have Extra Practice students read their homework one extra time—to their parents (or, before going home, to a volunteer, to peers, or in partner reading). Remember: The extra readings are only for the weaker students in the group.

EXTRA READING AT SCHOOL
Have Extra Practice students read Extra Practice passages once for accuracy, a second time for expression, and a final time for a 30-second timing. This can be done with trained volunteers (for example, high school students, cross-age tutors, or parents who pick their children up after school—invite them to come five minutes early to assist)

TIER 2 INTERVENTION FOR PART OF THE GROUP
If a split is developing in your lowest group, provide a second dose of Read Well instruction for the lowest students in the group. The interventionist can provide Read Well Extra Practice lessons, repeated readings of Solo Stories with audio recording for motivation, review of Decoding Practice 4 and Solo Stories, or added practice with correlated RW Spelling lessons and dictation.

READ WELL 1 SPELLING AND WRITING CONVENTIONS AND READ WELL 1
Read Well 1 Spelling and Writing Conventions provides another great option for supporting and enhancing skills taught in Read Well 1. The scope and sequence of Read Well 1 Spelling parallels the Read Well 1 scope and sequence with only one deviation (i.e., the silent e rule is taught earlier for the purpose of writing). By completing Read Well 1 Spelling lessons, students hear, segment, and then write words that are read in Read Well 1. Lessons provide daily dictation of sounds, words, and sentences, with cumulative review as opposed to memorization of word lists.

SUCCESS
Watch Smiles as Weak Passes Turn into Strong Passes! Go back and let students retest on previous units. “Your practice is paying off. Let’s see what you sound like on Unit 20. The last time you read that passage, you made three errors and read 36 words per minute. This time, you read with no errors and you read 46 words per minute. Fantastic! Your hard work is paying off.”