Think Small!: Engaging Our Youngest Readers in Small Groups

by Debbie Diller

With the advent of RTI (Response to Intervention), teachers everywhere are spending part of their day teaching in small groups. Think Small! gives viewers an in-depth look at small group instruction in the primary classrooms of Estella Perez (kindergarten) and Maria Albertini-Diaz (first grade). Watch master teacher and author Debbie Diller plan and teach various small group lessons with students at different reading levels while the rest of the class works independently at literacy work stations. This engaging DVD shows Debbie:
• working with pre-emergent readers on rhyming and oral language in small group;
• teaching two differentiated lessons that focus on learning high frequency words;
• guiding small group lessons that focus on fluency and comprehension
• working with the whole class on a dynamic reading lesson
• modeling skills in both small- and whole-group settings; and
• planning and assessing various lessons.

Together with Debbie, the teachers explore how to form groups, organize for small-group instruction, choose books, write lesson plans, and support student independence so they can teach more effectively in small groups with young readers. The DVD includes an extensive viewing guide with questions, work samples, and reproducibles for groups.

Think Small!—particularly when used in conjunction with Debbie's book Making the Most of Small Groups— is ideal for professional study groups or staff development programs designed to help teachers deliver more focused small group instruction.

DVD (NTSC)

First published January 1, 2009