In most reading classrooms, instruction doesn’t just happen with everyone learning the same thing at the same time. You’d see a mix of whole-class lessons, small groups, and sometimes one-on-one sessions. Why? Because effective reading instruction needs to be flexible—it has to adapt to students’ diverse learning needs. With the many forms that reading instruction can take, each comes with its own set of advantages.
The benefits of small-group reading instruction
Small-group reading instruction is particularly effective. Small-group reading instruction is a targeted approach where the teacher works directly with a few students at a time, providing focused, explicit instruction based on their specific literacy needs. Meanwhile, other students engage in meaningful, independent work that reinforces literacy skills, so that the entire class remains productive and engaged.
This teacher-led method provides customized instruction, opportunities for real-time feedback, and focused skill development. Unlike independent centers where students rotate through activities, small-group instruction is guided by the teacher, allowing for deeper engagement with reading strategies. It offers targeted support tailored to the specific strengths and areas for growth of each group, so there’s meaningful progress for every student.
Planning small-group reading activities doesn’t have to be complicated; with thoughtful preparation and the right resources, it can be a simple process.
Integrating science of reading best practices into small-group work
Small-group reading activities are not just a way to organize students—they offer a practical method to apply science of reading principles, which are grounded in decades of research on how children best learn to read. The National Reading Panel highlighted five core components that are essential to reading development: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. These interconnected skills must be developed systematically for students to become proficient readers. Each component supports a different aspect of reading—such as understanding sounds, decoding words, building fluency and accuracy, expanding vocabulary, and comprehending texts.
Adding reading small-group activities to your daily teaching allows teachers to deliver structured, explicit instruction in the core areas of reading to a targeted group of students. For example, when focusing on phonics, teachers can guide students through letter-sound correspondences and blending words, ensuring that students master these foundational skills. Similarly, fluency practice in small groups can include repeated readings with immediate feedback, improving both rate and expression. Teachers can adjust the pace and focus based on real-time student feedback, which means that these small-group lessons are not only explicit but also deeply responsive to each student’s learning needs.
Engaging and fun small-group reading ideas
Small-group reading instruction isn’t just effective—it can also be fun! Part of the engagement comes from activities being calibrated to students’ exact readiness levels, as small-group activities allow for targeted instruction and immediate feedback. Small-group instruction should reinforce lessons from whole-class instruction, providing the additional boost some students might need to master new content.
Content in small groups should align with what students are learning in the curriculum to provide coherence for students. Students who have already mastered grade-level content also benefit from small-group instruction to extend their learning and provide additional challenges to enable their continual growth.
Many of these reading group activities are flexible and can also be adjusted to focus on different skills. For example, a beginning sound activity can be adapted to target digraphs or blends, depending on the group’s learning focus. Here are several small-group ideas that strengthen different areas of foundational reading skills.
Phonemic awareness
Sound matching game
Use cards with pictures and have students match cards that start with the same initial sound (like sand and sun). This helps them focus on the initial sounds of words, a key component of phonemic awareness.
Sound mix-up/substitution
Hold up an object and swap one sound for another. For example, say, “I am holding a cat. If I change the /k/ sound to the /b/ sound, what am I holding?” (Answer: I am holding a bat.)
Here’s another example: “This morning, I saw a rug. If I change the /r/ sound to a /b/ sound, what did I see?” (Answer: a bug.)
This activity helps students focus on phoneme substitution, building their phonemic awareness by identifying the manipulated sounds.
Tongue twisters (or alliteration sentences)
A fun way to practice phoneme isolation is with a tongue twister like “Silly Sam sang songs.” Students can then identify the common first sound in each word and make up their own sentences to share.
Phonics
Letter-sound fishing
Use a fishing game setup with magnetic letters on fish. Students catch a fish using a “fishing pole” and must say the letter sound or a word that starts with that letter to keep their catch.
Letter tile manipulation
Provide students with a set of letter tiles. Begin by giving them a simple word (e.g., set) and asking them to change one letter at a time to form new words (e.g., change the s to p to make pet). This activity helps students practice sound substitution and build connections between phonemes and graphemes.
Say it, spell it, write it
Students say the word, spell it with letter magnets, and then write it. Using Elkonin boxes for the letter magnets provides visual support, which helps students isolate and organize each sound in the word, reinforcing the connection between phonemes and graphemes.
Fluency
Expression cards
Give students cards that describe an emotion (such as happy, sad, or surprised). Then, have them read a passage with that emotion, which helps improve their expressive reading skills.
Intentional, repeated readings
Have students re-read familiar books with a clear purpose for each reading. For example, during the first reading, ask students to focus on decoding words from a specific word family you’ve been working on, and in the second, have them concentrate on reading with expression. Setting intentional goals like these will help students improve their speed, accuracy, confidence, and fluency.
Reader’s theater
No scripts and props needed here! Simply choose a book with lots of dialogue that the students are familiar with. Have the group take turns reading different parts, using expressive voices and gestures to bring the story to life. This activity promotes reading fluency, expression, and engagement.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary skits
In small groups, have students create skits using new vocabulary words to demonstrate their meanings in context. This makes learning new words fun and memorable.
Semantic mapping
Create semantic maps for new words on a whiteboard, large paper, or poster board. Students should add synonyms and antonyms and use the words in sentences. This activity helps deepen students’ understanding of new vocabulary.
Concept sort
Concept sorts introduce students to key vocabulary or ideas for a new topic. Students categorize terms to show how they are related. For example, in a unit on weather, terms like rain, wind, snow, and clouds can be sorted into categories like “types of weather” and “weather elements.” Before reading, concept sorts assess prior knowledge, and afterward, they evaluate students’ understanding of key concepts.
Comprehension
Story mapping
After reading a story, students work in groups to create a visual map of the story’s elements: setting, characters, problem, and solution. Download the resources below that guide students in story mapping.
Scrambled picture cards and sentences
After reading a story, provide students with picture cards depicting key events. Have students work together to arrange the pictures in the correct order and then write simple sentences to describe each scene.
Prediction box
Create a box where students can write or draw predictions before and during reading. After finishing the text, revisit the predictions and discuss to see if they were accurate.
Small-group lesson plan template
To help you implement small-group reading instruction effectively, we’ve provided customizable templates created by literacy teacher and HMH ambassador Kayla Dyer. In the article “How to Implement Small-Group Instruction in the Classroom,” Dyer shares that the templates support explicit instruction and incorporate the gradual release of responsibility model. By using these small-group reading lesson plan templates, you can streamline your lesson planning and feel confident that each small-group session is purposeful and tailored to your students’ needs.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of HMH.
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