Ways of Grouping Students

Ways of grouping students in the classroom can differ from activity to activity. Although it may not seem like the most obvious answer, students can be grouped in ways other than instructional levels. Strategic grouping may be a more helpful alternative that allows teachers to meet student needs while providing more student choice. Book clubs are a fabulous time to try this out! Here are a few ways of grouping students that have worked for me in book clubs.

If you are ready to begin teaching and assessing through a standards based approach that allow data to drive instruction, then sign up below with your name and email to download the First Steps towards Data Driven Instruction: ideas for formative assessment organization that will get you started on the right track. This guide will get you moving in the right direction as you learn how to first organize your instruction and assessment process.

When my perspective changed

I had a group of 4th graders one year with a vast amount of reading levels. Book clubs didn’t seem like an option, especially when thinking about 5-6 students per group. With the support of my reading coach and special education teacher, we knew it was time to think about book clubs differently.

I shifted my mindset to interest groups. With a little prep, I learned how to group students of all levels to one book club. The book I used was Tiger Rising (level r) by Kate DiCamillo. Six students were a part of this club. Two were reading at a level P, while four were reading at an R. The interest in this book was so high that I knew I needed to figure out a way to make this work. The level P students struggled with decoding but had high listening comprehension and loved to talk about books.

The scaffold in place was listening to the audio book ahead of time. Using powerpoint, we inserted audio recordings of text being read aloud. Students listened before each club meeting to gain understanding and prepare talking points. This scaffold gave them access to the text so that they could participate in a rich comprehension discussion with peers.

Listening to fluent reading is a great support for students who struggle with decoding and fluency. This book club did not replace decoding instruction for these students but gave them an opportunity to work on grade level comprehension and communication with their peers. 

Going against the grain and putting these students in a book club that didn’t focus on decoding gave them the opportunity to access a book for pleasure and enjoy reading with their peers. If all of their reading experiences are around the things that are challenging for them, would that really foster the love of reading for them? Should I focus all of my instructional time on one skill or continue working on grade level comprehension skills that continue to build on each other year after year? The books at their level didn’t touch some of the grade level content that they need to know so I felt confident that this too would support their overall reading journey. I explored these questions that year during book clubs. By the end of the club, these students loved reading, didn’t feel left out and felt like part of the group.

Why is grouping students important?

With the vast amount of planning that we have as teachers, sometimes grouping students can become a quick part of the process. When we carefully consider how to group students in the classroom, big change and learning opportunities arise. In order to teach responsively, we must think about specific student needs instead of making a grouping of students based on one assessment done at the beginning of the year. Students change, grow and often assess at the same level for very different reasons. 

Should a student reading at a level O who struggles with fluency be placed in a book club with another student reading at a level O who has difficulty with summarizing? Perhaps..but maybe there are faster, more strategic ways to approach these specific needs EVEN if that means using student grouping strategies that differ from the norm. It can feel scary at first to place students in groups outside their level, but trust your teacher gut! Formative assessment and daily observation will lead you in the right direction.

3 different ways to group students

These different ways of grouping students have stretched me as a teacher as I have become more open-minded and data driven. Here are my top 3 strategic grouping methods for better book clubs.

Grouping students by interest

Book tastings are a fun and engaging way to introduce new books to students. Students can get a “taste” of a each book by reading the back, first few pages or skimming any pictures. You can set a timers so that students have enough time to explore each book. I typically introduce 5 books at a time so students spend about 3-4 minutes per book before they rotate with a partner to another book. We continue this until they have previewed each book. Then, students list the 4 top books of choice in order from most excited to least excited to read. Joanne Miller does it really well with her book tasting pack on tpt if you want to add even more creativity. This process gets students excited about new books!

When I group students, I try my best to give them either their first or second choice so engagement stays high. Most often, books are either at their level or one above. There are times that I have done two levels above (read story in earlier paragraph) but only if the proper scaffolds are in place to set that student up for success. My instructional purpose for placing that student in a higher book club would have to be valuable for this to make sense and this wouldn’t replace decoding/fluency work that a student at a lower level may need. That would take place during a different time of independent reading work. Read more about how I make my instructional schedule. It really just depends on the student and their specific needs!

Grouping students by reading strategies

Reading strategies or strategy groups are a powerful way to teach reading in any grade. Jennifer Serravallo introduces these ideas in her Reading Strategies book. This book is an amazing guide to teaching targeted small groups that has really transformed my teaching. I would highly recommend this approach to reading instruction. Students have different reading goals based on their instructional needs. Students practice during independent reading. I keep track of all of my reading goals for students using different goal tracking forms.

Since working on specific reading goals at independent levels is recommended, book clubs are the perfect opportunity. Students of varying levels could be working on summarizing and using the same book to practice this skill. Summarizing and talking about their book would be the focus for instruction of that book. I always find it helpful to have a communication/collaboration goal and at least one comprehension focus for a book. This doesn’t overload instruction, gives targeted teaching points and gives students time to discuss and enjoy a book.

Grouping students by communication skills

Book clubs really should be a perfect balance of teaching comprehension and communication skills. Students grow as readers when they are talking about books so these skills are imperative to practice. It can be more difficult to practice these skills with smaller texts because the more a student gets to know a character and story line, the more they will have to say.

I can distinctly remember a book club for a level R with some of the higher readers in my class. 3 of the members spent most of the time talking while two, very capable members stayed quiet and struggled to speak up. They both had AMAZING ideas but it was difficult to share when they weren’t feeling comfortable.

Lessons on turn taking and asking questions helped but students needed more explicit lessons with strategies on being better communicators. If book clubs are planned well giving students time to read everyday, book clubs can take place almost every unit. I practiced this in my classroom on a regular basis. Because multiple book clubs happened in a school year, more opportunities arose to group students differently, including by communication level. Some students were working on elaborating while other students were working on paraphrasing ideas. Growing as a communicator is an important life skill that when paired with the reading process can deepen comprehension.

Factors to consider when grouping students

Scheduling and support are two of the biggest factors to consider when grouping students for book clubs. Read these tips to help you as begin grouping students in different ways so teaching responsively is the focus.

Scheduling: Scheduling groups can be a bit of a messy process. I try to write everything out on paper with all of my ideas for possible groupings first. Then I prioritize the highest need for each student and move students around until each group makes sense. Pay attention to any push in/pull out services that students may have with a special education or ELL teacher. Plan around these times so you don’t have to go back and plan again! If these teachers are push-in, talk to them about being involved with their student’s group!

Scaffolding: Consider the scaffolds and supports that will need to be in place for each group. In my example above, I mentioned recording the book ahead of time as a scaffold. This scaffold was created for two students so they were in the same book club to save on recording time.

Don’t overlook the importance of grouping students as it really sets the stage for book clubs! Think about different ways of grouping students so that instructional focuses are more meaningful for students.

If you need help getting organized with formative assessment in reading or any subject, start by downloading my FREE guide to organization with data driven instruction by signing up below!