Small Group Reading Activity
Leslie Cole
During my small group reading activity, I worked with students that worked below third
grade reading levels. The focus for small group: differentiated reading groups was to make sure
that we are providing opportunities for students to practice word work activities by providing
them with one of the introductions lessons the IA’s did at the beginning of the school year. The
standards used during this lesson include: 3.L.1a-Explain the function of nouns, pronouns, verbs,
adjectives, and adverbs in general and their functions in particular sentences. 3. RL.4.-Determine
the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, distinguishing literal from
nonliteral language. 3. RF.4c-Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and
understanding, rereading as necessary.
The small group reading activity was based on the readings of, “I Need a Book” by
Richard Gunther. I began with questions that focused on prior knowledge such as:

What is a library? Who do you find in a library? What is the title of someone who
works in the library?
Then transitioned to words focusing on antonyms vs. synonym




What does tiny mean?
If that book is thick, what is it the opposite of?
If we say the book is skinny, could it also mean it’s thin?
What are jokes? (Student’s response- Jokes are funny, Jokes are used to make
people laugh)
Then I introduced the book- “I need a Book”
Let’s look for text features (Three): Titles, illustrations, the title page
I want you to just glance over the words. What kind of punctuation marks do we see? Periods,
question marks, exclamation mark (can you point to that for me, what does that mean?),
quotation marks, comma (which means a brief pause)
Why do you think punctuation marks are important? Do you think they’re important?
Let’s look at our CAFÉ board. At what letter are we at when we are reading with expression
because of punctuations?
C- I can understand what I read
A- I can read the words
F- I can read accurately, with expression, and understand what I read
E- I know, find, and use interesting words
**Now I want you to take a quick picture walk, and write a prediction about the story! Write it
on a sticky note, and put it on top of your book.
The second day we returned to this small group activity, with the same students.
Let’s revisit our predictions from yesterday “I Need a Book”, as we’re reading I want you
to think about this question: “What kind of book was Tiny Tim in search of?” “What do we mean
what kind of book? (genre)” Why should we read it twice? (FLUENCY!)
Let’s read the title page together for the first time. (Continue to read) On page 4,
“remember what thick means? So what is Tiny Tim looking for? (A thick book) Words that are
opposite are? Antonyms What do you think about Tiny Tim’s book? Is it thick enough?
Now I want you to partner read, and I’m going to listen to you. When you’re finished,
using your reading response journals go back to the question, “What kind of book was Tiny Tim
in search of?” How would we make this a response? As you are writing in a complete response,
check to make sure that your response in your journal makes sense to you.
**The kind of book Tiny Tim was in search of was…