Small group instruction is probably built into your literacy block—but have you ever stopped to ask: What is the actual purpose of small groups?

For years, Emily knew she was supposed to teach small groups, but she wasn't always sure what students should actually be doing once they got to the teacher table. Like many teachers, she focused on creating groups, planning rotations, finding leveled texts, and managing the rest of the class. But the most important question often got overlooked: What do these students need to practice with my support?

In this episode, Emily breaks down the real purpose of small group instruction and shares a simple mindset shift that can completely change the way you plan. Small group isn't a curriculum or a specific type of lesson. It's an instructional structure that gives students more opportunities to practice a targeted skill while you observe, provide immediate feedback, and adjust your instruction based on what you notice.

You'll also learn why strong small group instruction starts with specific student needs (not reading levels) and how using multiple layers of data can help you pinpoint exactly what students need to practice.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• The real purpose of small group instruction—and why it's not simply getting every student to the teacher table
• Why small group is an instructional structure, not a curriculum
• How small groups increase opportunities for meaningful student practice
• Why immediate, precise feedback is one of the biggest benefits of teaching students in a smaller setting
• The planning shift from “What am I going to teach?” to “What do my students need to practice with my support?”
• Why effective small groups should be flexible and responsive to what you notice about your students

Next week, we're wrapping up our Small Group Success series with a special guest! You're not going to want to miss that!

Resources Mentioned:

Small Group Success Checklist: stellarteacher.com/smallgroup

Small group instruction can be one of the most powerful parts of your literacy block—but it can also be one of the hardest to figure out. In this episode, Sara and Emily are bringing back our Dear Stellar Teacher style episodes and sharing six small group mistakes they made in their own classrooms (and what they would do differently now!).

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why too much teacher talk can take away from the practice and feedback students really need.
• Why you don’t need to meet with every student in a small group every day (or even every week).
• How relying on one data point or fixed reading levels can keep you from identifying what students actually need.
• Why small group instruction should focus on the specific skills students need to become stronger readers, rather than simply reteaching your whole group lesson.

If small groups have ever left you wondering, Am I even doing this right?—this episode is for you. We’ve made the mistakes, learned a lot since then, and we’re sharing it all so you can feel more confident with your small group instruction.

Resources mentioned:

Small Group Success Checklist: stellarteacher.com/smallgroups

Reading Intervention Kit: stellarteacher.com/intervention

What does MTSS actually look like in your upper elementary literacy classroom? Understanding the tiers is one thing, but knowing what instruction should look like at Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 can feel much more complicated.

In this episode, Emily breaks down how to put MTSS into practice with practical examples you can use in your literacy block. You’ll learn what strong Tier 1 literacy instruction should include, how to identify the specific skills students need during Tier 2, and how Tier 3 increases the intensity of support without necessarily requiring an entirely different program.

We’ll also walk through a simple Tier 2 fluency routine and a five-day phonics and decoding intervention routine to help you see what targeted support can actually look like.

Resources Mentioned:

Free Fluency Resource: stellarteacher.com/fluency

Stellar Intervention Toolkit: stellarteacher.com/intervention

Stellar Literacy Collective: stellarteacher.com/join