Looking inside classrooms

This week I am a discussion leader and read the article "Looking inside classrooms: Reflecting on the "how"as well as "what" in effective reading instruction by Taylor, Peterson, Pearson, and Rodriguez.  In this article they described a study they conducted about reading reforms.  Within the study they found that the most effective reading teachers were using more small-groups, used high levels of student engagement, and engaged students in higher leveled thinking.  Teacher need to be careful about their interaction styles.  In this study more teachers were just telling students great amount of information rather then coaching and letting children take responsibility for their own skills and strategies.  Using a more student-support way of teaching leads to a better understanding and greater reading achievement in the classroom.  It was found that whole group instruction was used more often than small-group reading instruction.  This type of teaching for reading showed that small-group instruction was found in the most effective schools for primary-reading.  When a child is just learning how to read they need more instruction catered just for them because the whole class is not struggling with the same skills.  Whole-group instruction could be a lesson for everyone in general but there needs to be a time when a teacher can talk to his or her students individually.  A great time for small-group reading instruction is during center time.  Everyone in the class is occupied with other educational activities while the teacher is helping a small group in reading instruction.