Ms. Martin (a pseudonym) is preparing to teach her new group of students this fall. This is her ninth year teaching second grade, so she knows much about the complexities she faces. The professional development focus in her district this year is differentiated reading instruction and she knows from experience that the twenty-two children who will…

Discusses the historical and social context of instructional grouping and the assumptions behind it. Offers an alternative approach--a single curriculum with flexible grouping--in which the difficulties children experience with reading are viewed not as signals to slow down, but as signals to enhance and accelerate instruction, by any of several…

Argues that round robin reading is valuable because it prepares students for "the real world" by exposing them to boredom, teaching them to look alert when they are not, teaching the skills of oneupmanship, and teaching inference skills (since it often obscures the story line of a work). (FL)

Reports that (1) the most common organizational pattern used by teachers for reading instruction is to divide the class into three subgroups and (2) students rarely move from one group to another. (FL)

Maintains that low achieving readers receive poorer quality instruction than their higher achieving peers. Suggests changes based on reading as an active process of constructing meaning from text. Provides examples of ways to foster collaboration and give students choices in reading and writing materials--activities that can result in improved…

Describes numerous ways cooperative or collaborative grouping can be implemented in classroom literacy instruction. Explains how the transition may be made to cooperative grouping. Shows how the process can be adopted to reading and writing instruction. (SR)

Suggests ways of adapting instruction so that the lowest level readers can do some reading each week at their instructional levels. (FL)

Explains the use of a parallel scheduling technique for reading instruction to provide varied instruction for different groups of students according to their needs. (MKM)

Concludes that, as it is commonly practiced today, round robin oral reading is merely a vehicle for assessing accuracy in calling words. Argues that such a purpose can be achieved better on a one-to-one basis between teacher and student. (FL)

Uses the author's experiences as a less-able member of a university choir as metaphor for how less-able readers experience the demands of learning a complex symbol system. Translates the positive experiences as a choir member into classroom contexts. Advocates choral reading, heterogeneous grouping, regular opportunities for practice, limitation…

Describes a classroom in which the teacher has developed a sense of community through her emphasis on whole-language instruction. Describes the organizational patterns of both the teacher's and the children's activities in this exemplary whole-language classroom. Documents instances of collaboration and student choice. (SR)