Image of Students Looking at Books with the Text "5 Quick Things to do When Reading Together in a Small Group".

The purpose of activities DURING reading is is monitor understand. You can do this in a variety of ways. These quick activities to do when reading together in a small group are perfect for helping students monitor their understanding while reading.

Image of Primary Gal's Reading Series Book Yellow on a Desk with a Pencil and a Piece of Paper that has the Support Statement "Sloths eat plants and other animals" for one of the Quick Activities to Do When Reading Together in a Small Group

Support My Statement

This is one of my FAVORITE quick activities to do when reading together in a small group because you can use it for so many different reading strategies. First, decide on a statement and share it with your students. As you read, it is their job to find sentences that support your statement.

Image of Primary Gal's Resource Room Reading Series on a Desk with a Pencil and a Copy of a Character Map

Character Maps

Character Maps are a great way to give students a purpose while reading. As they read, students will be searching for words, phrases, or sentences to describe a character or a specific characteristic.

Image of a Page Titled 30 Freaky Facts about Weather, a Pencil, and a 3-2-1 Chart for one of the quick activities to do when reading together in a small group.

3-2-1 Chart

This simple printable is easy for students to do! As they write:

  • 3 Things They Discovered
  • 2 Interesting Facts
  • 1 Question

For younger students, this can be done orally by assigning each student one part from the 3-2-1 chart to focus on.

Image of Primary Gal's Resource Room Reading Series with a Pen and a Post-It Note. On the Post-It Note it says Why do you think they would make it to a new place?

Stop & React

While reading, it is important to stop and react. The reasons for which you stop could be anything from stopping to make a prediction, re-reading, summarizing, or simply looking up or discussing the meaning of a word.

Depending on the text or the ability of my group, I might use a Post-It Note to plan when I’ll stop and what I’ll ask them.

Image of a student holding a marker in one hand and holding up three fingers with the other hand while reading Is Mold Bad? From the Primary Gal's Resource Room Reading Series

Think of Three

Think of three is something I use all. the. time. I love it because it can tie right into so many other reading strategies that we might be practicing.

As I read the passage, my students are looking for the three things. What they are looking for will vary depending on what strategy we are working on at that moment. They may be looking for details to support the main idea or sentences that tell how a character was feeling. As they find important sentences, they stick up a finger and then underline it in their book.