Teaching · For Teachers

Small Group Instruction Planner

Plan a fast small-group lesson where every student answers many times, built from this week's data and ending with a score for each student.

Start a planWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $12

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the For Teachers toolkit, $79 for 92 items.

Plans

Each plan keeps the group, its purpose and a timed lesson. Load the worked example to see a 20-minute phonics group.

Loading the group plan form. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Teaching · For Teachers$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A group plan with the student codes, the purpose, the data behind the group and how every student responds; a timeline that adds up against the lesson and shows the student response time; six checks marked ready, not yet or not needed; and a run sheet with a score table per student to print.
Who it is for
Classroom teachers, interventionists and special education teachers running small groups, grades K to 8.
Format
Browser tool with a saved record per group plan. Prints a run sheet with clock times, the full group plan, every group plan in a table or a blank form; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the For Teachers toolkit ($79) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The For Teachers space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. List the codes and the data behind the group.
  2. Choose how everyone responds.
  3. Lay out short segments.
  4. Mark the checks.
  5. Print the run sheet and fill the score table.

Start a plan

Small groups that move fast

Ways every student in the group answersAll at onceChoral response on asignalWhiteboards held uptogetherThumb or finger signalsfor choicesOne at a timeIndividual turns afterthe group answerPartner tells partner,then one sharesName the student afterthe questionOn paperA short probe eachstudent does aloneMarked on the spotThe score goes on thegroup sheetWays every student in the group answersAll at onceChoral response on a signalWhiteboards held up togetherThumb or finger signals for choicesOne at a timeIndividual turns after the group answerPartner tells partner, then one sharesName the student after the questionOn paperA short probe each student does aloneMarked on the spotThe score goes on the group sheet
The point of a small group is that every student answers many times. Count the responses, not the minutes.

From the practice guides

The federal practice guides on reading and math intervention recommend systematic small-group instruction for students who need more support, several times a week, with frequent responses, immediate feedback and regular progress checks. The planner keeps segments short and counts the minutes students are responding.

Group by need, regroup often

A group is a decision based on this week's data, not a fixed placement. The score table on the run sheet gives you what you need to regroup next week.

Sources

  1. Gersten, R., Compton, D., Connor, C. M., Dimino, J., Santoro, L., Linan-Thompson, S., and Tilly, W. D. (2008). Assisting Students Struggling with Reading: Response to Intervention and Multi-Tier Intervention in the Primary Grades (NCEE 2009-4045). Institute of Education Sciences.
  2. Fuchs, L. S., Newman-Gonchar, R., Schumacher, R., Dougherty, B., Bucka, N., Karp, K. S., et al. (2021). Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics: Intervention in the Elementary Grades (WWC 2021006). Institute of Education Sciences.
  3. Archer, A. L., and Hughes, C. A. (2011). Explicit Instruction: Effective and Efficient Teaching. Guilford Press.
  4. Rosenshine, B. (2012). Principles of instruction: research-based strategies that all teachers should know. American Educator, 36(1), 12-19.

The worked examples are made up. The 70 percent, 8-minute and six-student flags are planning rules of thumb. Use student codes, not names. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.