First Day Lesson Plans for Reading Intervention Groups (Part 1)

Are you curious what the first few days of reading intervention groups look like?

To be honest, the first few days are not a whole lot different than the first days in the classroom.  

The first moments with your new students (whether in small group or the whole class) are all about building relationships and teaching your new students about the routines, procedures and agreements that are in place to maximize your time together. 

It's important for students to know about who they are spending their days with.  Just like we want to know about all of the sweet faces in our room, those sweet faces want to know about us too! So, I always start the first day with a PowerPoint about me. I share slides of my family and favorite things

During the quick presentation, I always stop and ask students to share what they like.  Students might orally share to the whole group, or with a shoulder partner. 

After the presentation, we go over our classroom agreements.  Yep---agreements--not rules.  Rules, according to Merriam Webster, are the laws or regulations prescribed by a founder for observance of its members.  In other words, rules are imposed.  Rules are put into place by someone with power who is "above the people."  They are made for compliance and punishment.

BUT....an agreement is an arrangement that is accepted by all parties.   Agreements are negotiated and set for a purpose of collaboration.  

After thinking about these two terms, I decided I wanted my classroom to be a place where we ALL work together.  I didn't want my classroom to be run like a dictatorship.  So, I changed from rules to agreements. 

If you want to learn more about how we set classroom agreements, check out this post by clicking here, or the image below. 

Then, we dialogue about what an active listener is. I use this awesome little freebie I found on TPT from Picking Up STEAM with Mrs Owens, where students cut, glue or write all of the characteristics of an active listener.  It is a great visual!

After that, we go over student jobs.  I know small groups have few students in them, but having jobs is crucial for keeping the group running smoothly and sharing responsibility. 

Since my group size runs from two to four students,  I only have four jobs: line leader, door holder, teacher aide and clean up crew. 

Finally, I end the first day of small group by handing out a fun treat! This year I used goldfish crackers, with a tag attached that said this is "oFISHally going to be the best year ever!"

You can get your hands on these treat tags (plus NINE other options) by clicking the image below!  They are great for open houses, back to school nights or the first day of school!

Want to know what Day 2 of reading intervention groups looks like? Come back next week for a peek of what the second day entails!