Whole Group Instruction

Whole group, grade-level instruction is broken into three parts: Opening, Work Time, and Reflection and Goal Setting.

Opening
- Students engage in a familiar instructional practice that connects to prior learning or warms them up for the Work Time. In the K-2 Skills Block, an instructional practice is a routine used consistently over one or more modules that addresses grade-level standards, ensuring that all students have access to grade-level instruction as a whole group.
Work Time
- Work Time is the heart of whole group instruction. This is where students use instructional practice routines to practice newly introduced graphemes (letters), phonemes (sounds), spelling patterns, or skills.
Reflection and Goal Setting
- Students set goals for their growth as readers. Throughout Skills Block, we focus on students’ habits of character. The lesson’s Closing often emphasizes growth mindset, helping students notice: “How did our work today help us become even more proficient readers?”

Small Group Differentiated Instruction

Small group differentiated instruction includes teacher led small group instruction and independent student rotations. Read below for detailed descriptions of the instructional concepts covered during the Work with Teacher Rotation and Independent Rotations.

Work with Teacher Rotation

In the Work with Teacher Rotation, students receive differentiated instruction in small group determined by microphase. During this time, teachers have a variety of instructional options to choose from based on their deep knowledge of their students' needs.

Option 1: Decodable Reader Routines
- Teachers select decodable readers that correspond with a small group's microphase. Throughout the week, the teacher uses the decodable reader to engage in instructional practices that target learning new phoneme-grapheme patterns, decoding, encoding, fluency, and comprehension.
Option 2: Whole Group Concept Differentiated by Microphase
- Teachers provide instruction differentiated by microphase that aligns with concepts, skills, and modified instructional practices addressed in the daily grade-level whole group lesson.
Option 3: Whole Group Lessons from Previous Microphases
- Teachers teach a complete whole group lesson that corresponds with a small group's microphase. This includes re-teaching lessons covered earlier in the year, teaching lessons covered in earlier grade levels (if the small group's microphase is below grade level), or teaching lessons covered in future grade levels (if the small group's microphase is above grade level).

Independent Rotations

Each day, small groups of students who are not working with the teacher engage in purposeful independent rotations that strengthen foundational literacy skills. Students engage in a combination of the following each day:

Accountable Independent Reading: This is a time for students to choose from a variety of texts based on interest and/or reading goals. Teachers can use this time, possibly during a rotation or between rotations, to observe and/or confer with students about their reading proficiency goals and to monitor fluency and comprehension.
Word Work: This is a time for students to analyze words and word parts. Teachers may use materials from the K-2 Skills Block (e.g., suggested Word Sorts and Activity Bank activities) or other existing classroom materials (e.g., games, letter tiles).
Writing Practice: This builds students’ ease with the skills and habits needed to generate ideas on paper— everything from letter formation to spacing to knowing how to begin a sentence and continue a thought. In a primary classroom, students can practice writing and letter formation using a wide variety of mediums— teachers can use their creativity to design ways to help students practice these skills, build stamina as writers, and write about topics of interest in creative ways.
Reading Fluency: Fluency involves lots of rereading. Teachers can use a variety of familiar texts from the K-2 Skills Block or existing classroom libraries for fluency work. Teachers should give students texts that are familiar and easily decodable for a given phase.
Skill Flex Videos: These videos are an abridged version of Whole Group Lessons and are intended to be used as an independent rotation. Students watch the Skills Flex video assigned and complete all activities as instructed by the onscreen teacher.

The Components