In this 8-week, semester-long small group reading class, learners will be explicitly taught comprehension and strategies and skills and will practice them in a supporting small-group setting. 

Transitioning from "learning to read" to "reading to learn" can be challenging for many learners. This small-group reading class aims to bridge this gap, making the transition smoother. 

Reading together in a small group with other learners of similar reading ability—as opposed to 1:1 tutoring—allows all learners to feel seen, feel heard and know they aren’t alone in their reading strengths and struggles. 

The following skills will be explicitly taught and practiced by all learners:

Reading Comprehension Strategies: Re-reading, using graphic organizers, using context clues, inferencing, summarizing, visualizing, SSQ method (Stop, Summarize, Question), etc. 

Each week’s lesson:
5 min—Review the past weeks' skills
5 min—Introduce reading comprehension skill
20 min—Read the book or passage together using skill
5 min—Cooperatively write a retelling or summary, etc of what was read
5 min—Discuss what the learners did and how they can use it in the future

Overview of classes:
Week of September 2: Fiction—retelling with story elements
Week of September 9: Nonfiction—main idea & details
Week of September 16: Fiction—Visualizing
Week of September 23: Nonfiction—Using context clues
Week of September 30: Fiction—Text connections (text to self or world)
Week of October 7: Nonfiction—Summarizing
Week of October 14: Fiction—Retelling with story elements
Week of October 21: Nonfiction—Activating prior knowledge (and full review)