Description
With differentiated passages and small group lessons, these reading strategy groups will transform how you teach theme. You no longer need to look for reading passages or think of reading comprehension questions for reading groups. You get 9 print-and-go small group comprehension lessons that focus directly on theme.
The small group lessons walk your students step-by-step to identifying the theme of a story. First, they identify the topic of the story. Then they think about what the author is saying about the topic. Once students have that part down, they are ready to go deeper. They will think about how stories can have more than one theme and they will compare and contrast themes of different stories.
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ARE READING STRATEGY GROUPS DIFFERENT FROM GUIDED READING GROUPS?
Yes. Reading strategy groups rely on directly teaching your students a reading strategy or skill. This type of reading group is not strictly confined to the student’s reading level like it can be with guided reading. Strategy groups should be flexible so that we can get far, far away from kids who identify as a level, such as “I’m in the purple reading group” or “I am supposed to read level M books.”
Reading strategy groups rely on you knowing what your individual students need to work on.
Do you have a few students who can’t identify a theme? Let’s work on it together in reading groups.
Do you have a group of students don’t know the difference between plot and theme? Let’s work on it in reading groups.
Do you have students who are ready compare and contrast themes in different stories? Let’s work on it in reading groups.
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EVERY THEME LESSON INCLUDES:
- STEP 1: INTRODUCE Quick tasks that introduce the ONE focused reading strategy or skill of the lesson.
- STEP 2: READ Differentiated passages (three levels) that include the direct, skill-based prompts needed to fully practice the reading strategy. The focus of every lesson can be applied using the included reading passages. This saves you TIME because you no longer need to search for suitable texts or passages.
- STEP 3: INDEPENDENT PRACTICE At the end of the small group time, send your students off with an exit slip for accountability practice. They will use this exit slip when they apply the skills from the small group reading lesson to their own independent reading.
- Also includes… Printable anchor charts for every lesson, conferring note pages, and lesson planning pages are all included.
Everything in here is ready to go for your reading groups. All you need to do choose which students would benefit from any of the 9 print-and-go reading group lessons included.
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WHAT 9 THEME LESSONS ARE INCLUDED?
- Think About the Big Topic
- The Story’s Lesson
- Connect the Topic to the Theme
- More Than One Theme
- Plot vs. Theme
- Give the Character Advice
- Compare and Contrast Themes
- Learn From Characters
- Learn From the Author’s Ending
(Note: You can go in ANY order and skip any lessons that your students do not need.)
WANT TO TRY A ★FREE★ SAMPLE READING GROUP LESSON?
LOOKING FOR A READING STRATEGY GROUP BUNDLE?
→ Reading Strategy Groups: MEGA BUNDLE (101 small group lessons)
→ Reading Strategy Groups: NON-FICTION BUNDLE
→ Reading Strategy Groups: FICTION BUNDLE
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WHAT GRADE LEVEL ARE THESE THEME LESSONS FOR?
The content is most appropriate for grades 3-4. However, you may have students in other grade levels that need lessons in this area. In the preview, you can see exactly which lessons are recommended for grade 3 and grade 4.
The differentiated passages come in three levels:
- LEVEL 1 reading passages (denoted with ❍) are recommended for students meeting a 2nd grade reading level. The Lexile range is 400-500L.
- LEVEL 2 reading passages (denoted with ❍ ❍) are recommended for students meeting a 3rd grade reading level. The Lexile range is 500-700L.
- LEVEL 3 reading passages (denoted with ❍ ❍ ❍) are recommended for students meeting a 4th grade reading level. The Lexile range is 800-1000L.
The variety of reading levels in the differentiated passages makes it so easy to meet your range of learners. If you teach 2nd, 3rd, or 4th grade, you have passages for all students who meet grade level. But then if you have students reading above or below grade level, you have passages that can meet them where you are. No more searching for texts that match your lessons AND have passages at the right level. Everything is already done for you!
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DOES THIS DOWNLOAD INCLUDE A DISTANCE LEARNING OPTION? Yes! In addition to the traditional printable pack included, the small group lessons in this download can also be assigned via Google slides or Google Classroom, which makes it very versatile for digital distance learning.
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WANT MORE SMALL GROUP COMPREHENSION LESSONS LIKE THIS?
I have more than 100 small group reading lessons written for teachers like you who want to save TIME with direct, skill-based instruction using reading strategy groups.
→ Unit 1: Reading Foundation (5 reading group lessons)
→ Unit 2: Understanding Characters (16 reading group lessons)
→ Unit 3: Text Features and Text Structure (17 reading group lessons)
→ Unit 4: Vocabulary and Figurative Language (9 reading group lessons)
→ Unit 5: Main Idea and Key Details (17 reading group lessons)
→ Unit 6: Fluency (10 reading group lessons)
→ Unit 7: Theme (9 reading group lessons)
→ Unit 8: Author’s Purpose (6 reading group lessons)
→ Unit 9: Story Elements and Summarizing (14 reading group lessons)
AVAILABLE IN READING STRATEGY GROUP BUNDLES!
→ Reading Strategy Groups: MEGA BUNDLE (101 small group lessons)
→ Reading Strategy Groups: NON-FICTION BUNDLE(40 small group lessons)
→ Reading Strategy Groups: FICTION BUNDLE (48 small group lessons)
WANT MORE LESSONS TO MATCH THESE READING GROUPS?
I have reading lessons for teaching these lessons to your WHOLE CLASS! For every reading strategy group lesson, there is an optional WHOLE CLASS Interactive Read Aloud lesson found here:
→ Interactive Read Aloud BUNDLE
For a quick DAILY READING BELL RINGER that spiral reviews the skills from your reading strategy groups, here are reading warm ups that PERFECTLY align with these reading strategy groups:
→ 3rd Grade Daily Reading Warm-Ups
→ 4th Grade Daily Reading Warm-Ups
YOU CAN ALSO FIND THESE READING STRATEGY GROUPS, INTERACTIVE READ ALOUDS, AND DAILY READING WARM UPS IN MY COMPREHENSION BUNDLES:
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STILL UNSURE?
Check out this small group free sample to see if this will work for you!
– Alyssha Swanson
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