This is the first book I read on the modern concept of Reading Workshop though I'd read about it on line and seen some teacher made videos. I spent quite a bit of time deciding which books to order. I wanted them to be practical, yet also give me enough theory and overview for me to make intelligent decisions about Reading Workshop myself. Looking back, I can say that this book was a great choice, and I'm very happy to have it in my collection.
The eight chapters are Time, Organizing, Grouping, Comprehension, Fluency, Phonemic Awareness, Phonics and Vocabulary. Diller also has an Appendix for each of these with many reproducible pages that will be wonderful for getting started, and references at the end of each chapter. I didn't read the chapters in order, however. I really wasn't as interested in the time aspects as organizing and actually teaching skills, so I skipped around as I read. This worked fine.
One of the frustrating things about education is that most of our terminology is fluid, so I appreciated Diller's clearly stating that she does not consider her small group instruction to be Guided Reading, as she defines GR as being done with leveled readers. In her own words, "I've created small-group lesson ideas that you can use with leveled books, or texts from a basal reading series, or whatever you've got." (p10) Her small groups are structured exactly like many GR examples: Familiar Re-reading/Book Intro/During Reading (she listens to individual students here)/After Reading. She also discusses the importance of linking small group work with the rest of the day, and having a balance between whole group, small group, one-on-one instruction and individual work. And she discussed how to schedule and fit all of this into your busy day -- all by page 11! She does this by keeping her writing organized, clear, and concise.
In Grouping Diller discusses assessing, organizing, scheduling, keeping track of what they've done, and when to move students to another group. The following chapters discuss each of the 5 major areas of reading, beginning with comprehension. Isn't it interesting that usually this skill is covered last, yet everyone agrees it's essential? It's possible, for instance, to learn to read with poor phonemic awareness. But if you can't comprehend, you can't truly read. Diller makes the case for the importance of this skill be covering it before the others.
Each of the skills chapters opens with an example of the skill being taught in a small group. Then we have:
Definition of the skill
Identifying who needs to learn it
Possible lesson focus examples
Choosing materials
Details of several different lessons, each including lesson plans using the reproducible sheets from the back of the book
Assessing and recording observations
Making connections to -whole group -literacy stations -standardized tests
Cautions
Reflection questions
Further reading
In addition to all of this, the book includes reproducible sheets about how to choose a lesson focus, suggested lesson sequence, a chart correlating reading levels and skills needed, whole group lesson ideas, scoring rubrics, prompts teachers can use for each skill they teach and sources for reader's theater. And that still doesn't cover it all!
This is a book I would highly recommend to anyone who wants more information or direction or support on teaching reading. While ideally these small groups are taught during RW, they don't have to be. So it's useful for any teacher, anywhere. I especially appreciated the amazing charts and lists she includes in the appendices. In fact, I kept turning from the body of the book to marvel and get lost wallowing in all the information at the end!
What I learned from Making the Most of Small Groups:
Assess before, during and after your lessons.
It is possible to be organized and keep track of all the info and paper you generate, but you have to stay on it!
Have a focus for every lesson, and stick with it.
Don't re-invent the wheel. And thanks to Ms Diller's book, I won't have to!
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