Reading Intervention Essentials
Have you ever wondered how to teach reading and still make it fun and engaging for your students? Don't worry, I've got you! Below I have rounded up my absolute MUST HAVES for engaging students in small group. It is important to note that these materials enhance but do not replace good instruction. We must give them effective, systematic, and explicit instruction if we want them to succeed (see this post for ways to make reading effective).
Why is engagement so important?
When students are engaged, they are part of the process. They become involved, active participants in your lesson. When they are EXCITED to learn, the learning comes more naturally. Let's face it, it's so much easier to teach a child who wants to learn right? Below I am going to share my favorite products that will enhance and engage your readers. I will also be sharing HOW I use them to make reading effective and purposeful.
Mini Erasers
My mini eraser stash is....well, downright embarrassing. Here's the thing though. THEY ARE CHEAP AND I LITERALLY USE THEM FOR ALL THE THINGS! These little beauties can be switched out with each holiday/season, which keeps the novelty alive. Here are some ways I use them:
Sight Word Cover
Finding Words in Text
Push and Spell
Slinky, Rubber Band, Beads
These are all great ways to help support both blending and segmenting words during your phonemic awareness lesson. You can even extend them on past phonemic awareness and use them as a support for spelling words.
Dice and Foam Cubes
I love using dice for games like roll and read, roll say keep, and any other game, because games make everything more fun. Every time I am in the dollar store, I stock up on these blank foam cubes. I use them for all things roll and cover. I can easily write sight words, letters, etc. on them and pair them with a roll and cover sheet!
Tracking
Let's face it, pointing to words in text can be sort of boring. Switching it up will keep them engaged.
Google Eyes: Keep your "eyes" on each word as you say them.
Magic wand: The wand gives you magic decoding skills
Witch finger: Put a "spell" on the page and read write through
Magnifying glass: Be a word detective. Look at each word as you say it.
Play-Doh
My students love all things sensory. I use play-doh to help students segment words. They can also easily spell sight words or form letter names and sounds.
Timers
I don't know about you, but I could spend ALL day at my reading table. I use the small digital timer to help keep me on track and the sand timer for games, sorting, and quick reads.
Whisper Phones
I've said it, and I will say it again: Round Robin Reading is DEAD! Sorry..not sorry. With that being said, six students reading at my small group table at one time can be distracting. I give each student a whisper phone to use while I listen in to one or two students at a time.
Novelty Glasses
I am slightly embarrassed to share how many of these I have. Let's just say that I have enough to share with an entire grade level (insert eye cover emoji). All jokes aside, these are one of my favorite manipulatives. Like the erasers, I have them for every season/holiday. Students love using their magic glasses to read.
Student Visuals
Visuals are so helpful when teaching students how to read. Here are my top three.
Ending Sounds Strip: Students frequently come to words with these ending sounds. It is helpful to have them handy. When students see it repeatedly, it sticks.
Decoding Strips: These strips are useful during reading. They help students attack words as they read.
Vowel Strips: Students practice vowels before any word study lesson and use these strips for support when decoding.
Magnetic Letter Trays
Okay, I cannot tell you how many times I have sorted out letters for word building and sight word building. I found these trays that truly saved me SO MUCH TIME. They are small and compact and the students always have what they need!
White Boards
We all love white boards, but these lined white boards from lakeshore are ideal for the younger kiddos. I use them every day for writing letters, sight words, and word building.
Puppets
I don't know why, but puppets get kids excited and engaged...EVERY SINGLE TIME. I use puppets to support students in phonemic awareness.
Stickers
Stickers are not only great rewards for kiddos, but they can also be used for instruction.
Sentence Segmentation: Place a sticker down for each word you hear in the sentence.
Phonemic Awareness: Place a sticker down for each sound you hear in the word.
Sight Word Slap: Slap a sticker on the sight word I call out.
Wooden Cubes
A couple of years ago, I purchased these cubes after a professional development. I use them to help form questions after reading a text.
Comprehension Visuals
I use visuals to discuss my comprehension focus for the text that we are reading. It helps to make it more concrete for them.
Comprehension Question Cards:
Sometimes, I just need quick questions to ask after we read a text. I can pull these fiction and non-fiction question cards to go with any book.
Well, there you have it. These are my absolute must haves for small group reading intervention!
Happy Reading!