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South Phoenix

Design Team

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February 8th

March 1st

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bit.ly/3jrkqor

#7 & #8

Small Group Instruction

Reflection

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  • How did your small group instruction go?

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  • What worked well?

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  • What would you like to do differently next time?

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  • Did you experiment with a new blended model? (i.e. playlist or flex model)

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  • What support do you need during today’s Design Team meeting to strengthen your small group instructional planning?

Whoever has the ball when the music stops will share one idea from the list of reflection questions!

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Norms

Students Drive the Process

Step Up/Step Down

Be Fully Present and Prepared

Assume Positive Intentions

Keep Each Other in the Risk Zones

Trust the Process

Have a Growth Mindset

Give Honest Feedback

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Agenda

March 1st

3:00 - 3:10

Small Group Instruction: Reflection

3:10 - 3:55

Workshops:

  • What does small group instruction look like in action?
  • How to create playlists to guide independent learning
  • Plan your next small group lesson

3:55 - 4:00

Next Steps & Survey

Use the parking lot as a back channel during our Design Team meetings to ask questions, share ideas/resources, or provide comments.

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Individuality: Removing barriers to learning, creating unique pathways to education and successful careers for both our students and our peers.

I can design a lesson to support small group instruction that is based on student data.

Priority Practices

Core Values

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Objectives

3A: Small group instruction is differentiated based on students’ needs.

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Small Group Instruction:

Workshops

What does small group instruction look like in action?

Tyler, Julian, Jeremy, Andy, Chris, Matt, Sam, Rodriguez, Barron, Lerma, Beam

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How to create playlists to guide learning

Tanya, Jose, Taylor, Vickie, Andrea, Beatriz, Alisson, Hickey, France, Taylor, Grant, Lopez, Ramsey, Madrigal, Torres, McGirr, Crandell

Small group instruction lesson planning

Patricia, Lisa, Katherine, Cornacchio, Carroll, Ortiz, Urrutia, Amador

Counselors and other support staff, choose which instructional room you would like to attend!

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What does small group instruction look like in action?

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What does small group instruction look like in action?

Patricia used small groups during her reading block. Notice in this video that students who are not in the teacher-led small group are either working collaboratively by playing a dice game to practice sounding out words or going through an HMH tutorial in the tech station. Students with Patricia are working towards reading fluency. By using data, Patricia can select leveled texts that are aligned to specific student needs to use with different groups as they come to her.

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What else do you notice in this video?

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What is the balance of on device and off device activities?

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How has the cognitive load been shifted to the students?

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How is student behavior and engagement?

Elementary Example

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What does small group instruction look like in action?

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Tyler used small group instruction in 7th grade math in order to provide explicit instruction to students. By being fixed in his teacher space, he could focus on the direct needs of his students.

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Using explicit instruction in a small group is a game changer because the teacher can focus on getting 4-6 students engaged in the lesson rather than trying to manage classroom behavior of 20+ students at once.

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What else do you notice in this video?

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What is the balance of on device and off device activities?

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How has the cognitive load been shifted to the students?

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How is student behavior and engagement?

Middle School Example

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What does small group instruction look like in action?

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Lisa uses a simple flex model where students participate in a mini-lesson before being released to work independently. Lisa uses her data to determine how to group students for the specific skill they are learning. All students receive differentiated packets to work through the same skill that she introduced to the class. For example, the group of students who need the most help receive additional visuals; whereas, the group who is ready for a challenge has all scaffolds removed. Lisa releases all students from the mini-lesson to work in table groups, and she rotates between groups, starting with the highest need.

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What other learning opportunities could be added to this flex model?

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How could a playlist fit into this model?

High School Example

1. Lisa started here with the students who needed the most support.

2. Next, she spent time with the students who had fewer scaffolds.

3. She circled back to the first group to check for understanding and provide more help.

4. She checked on the group who needed the least support after making sure Groups 1 and 2 were experiencing success.

Group 1 Handout

Group 2 Handout

Group 3 Handout

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What does small group instruction look like in action?

Flex model

  • Zones for learning are set up around the classroom and designed around needs:
    • Collaborative space
    • Independent learning space
    • Study spaces
    • Teacher-led groups
    • Peer-led groups
    • DESIGN YOUR OWN!
  • Students choose their pathways and make decisions about direction (what to work on first) and time
  • Students can go back and forth between zones as needed
  • Teacher uses data to pull small groups and works with students as needed without a set time frame
  • Students can also elect to participate in the small group instruction
  • Benefit: Students have the MOST autonomy in this model
  • Challenge: Structures (expectations) and supports (checklists) must be in place for students to be successful
  • Find a lesson planning template here

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What does small group instruction look like in action?

Playlist Model

  • Teacher creates a pathway of learning for students:
    • Structured: Students follow learning activities in a pre-designed order (see image)
    • Flexible: Guidelines are looser where students can choose order, sequence, or amount of activities
  • Playlists support independent learning so that teachers are free to pull small groups and focus on targeted instruction
  • Playlists can be easily differentiated to address specific needs of students
  • Find more information here

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What does small group instruction look like in action?

Check out the Jamboard to explore more look-fors of small group instruction in the K-6 and the 7-12 classroom. Add your own observations, too!

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JAMBOARD

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Dos

Don’ts

  • Teach the model before using small groups
    • What should students be doing when they are in the small group?
    • What should students be doing when they are working outside the small group?
  • Use data from both formative and summative testing to determine grouping of students
  • Group students based on data that are directly tied to standards
    • Keep groups fluid because student needs change with each standard
  • Unpack a standard to determine leveled instruction
  • Provide opportunities for students to work together or discuss during small group time
  • Include structures for students to process and share their thinking
  • Add variety by using the small group for targeted skills teaching, feedback, reflection, or conferencing (when appropriate)
  • Set up expectations at other stations so that students can solve problems on their own
    • Include visual guides or posted directions
  • Don’t repeat the same lesson
    • All lessons can be tied to the same standard but should be reflective of varying DOK levels or include additional scaffolds (i.e. sentence stems)
    • Instead, use a whole group, mini-lesson to make better use of your students’ time
  • Don’t use the small group to facilitate an activity that the students could do independently (i.e. practice problems)
    • Instead, have students complete the independent work and use the small group for targeted reinforcement or intervention
  • Don’t use the small group for review games or community building
    • Although these are important to include in the classroom, they are better used in collaborative groups
  • Checking in with small collaborative groups that are working on projects is not small group instruction
  • Don’t create a small group that could function without a teacher
    • If you are not needed, students can understand and work on their own, or the group could be facilitated by students, you have not planned small group instruction

Optional Review: The Dos and Don’ts of Small Group Instruction

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How to create playlists to guide independent learning

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How to create playlists to guide independent learning

Start here if you are brand new to playlists or if you would like to explore templates and ideas.

Start here if you have created playlists but need a student-friendly resource to help explain how to use them in the classroom.

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What is a playlist? (Student’s Guide)

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Small group instruction lesson planning with colleagues

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Small Group Instruction Lesson Planning

Examples

  • 3rd Grade HMH Math (Station Rotation example)
  • ELA 10 (Station Rotation example)
  • Algebra (Station Rotation example)
  • World History (Flex Model example)

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Feeling stuck? Use this document to guide your small group planning. There are 10 data-driven strategies that you could try out.

Additional Resources

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Next Steps & Survey

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See you on April 5th!

  • Schedule a classroom visit for your site leaders to observe small group instruction in action.

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  • Reflect on your Graffiti Wall. Have you made your commitment come to life over the course of this semester? Continue to add evidence as we will circle back to this on May 10th during our final Design Team meeting of the year.

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  • Participate in the optional Q3 Bingo Card challenge that is all about Domain 3: Differentiation.

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  • Use the Cactus to highlight your classroom!

The Cactus is a beacon to invite all staff into

your room.

Design Team Meetings

August 10th

August 31st

October 19th

November 2nd

December 7th

January 11th

February 8th

March 1st

April 5th

May 10th

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Thanks!

Please, fill out this survey.

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Useful Resources

South Phoenix Implementation Pathways - Please continue to add to this document throughout the year to showcase the Priority Practices in action!

Check out our shared Google Drive: SPhx Student-Centered Learning. Whenever you come across something shareable, add it there!

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Small Group Instruction:

The Dos and the Don’ts

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Agenda

February 8th

3:00 - 3:10

Small Group Instruction: Dos and Don’ts

3:10 - 3:55

Small Group Planning Time

3:55 - 4:00

Next Steps & Survey

Use the parking lot as a back channel during our Design Team meetings to ask questions, share ideas/resources, or provide comments.

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Small Group

Planning Time

  1. Open your calendar and review your upcoming units and lesson plans.
  2. Determine a date that you would like to try a small group lesson.
  3. Send a calendar invite to Taime, Yvonne, Patrick, or Jill to attend your lesson.
  4. Use the template and resources on the next slide to plan your small group lesson.

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See you on March 1st!

  • Schedule a classroom visit for your site leaders to observe small group instruction in action.

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  • Add evidence or a reflection to your Graffiti Wall from our January meeting. These are the commitments we have made to embed blended and personalized learning into our weekly planning. You’ll bring these to our next Design Team meeting in March.

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  • Participate in the optional Q3 Bingo Card challenge that is all about Domain 3: Differentiation.

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  • Use the Cactus to highlight your classroom!

The Cactus is a beacon to invite all staff into

your room.

Design Team Meetings

August 10th

August 31st

October 19th

November 2nd

December 7th

January 11th

February 8th

March 1st

April 5th

May 10th

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Thanks!

Please, fill out this survey.