4 Simple Mistakes Teachers Make During Reading Rotations

Reading rotations are necessary to your daily routine at school. As teachers, we need to ensure that our students are reading and improving upon their reading abilities. To do that, we need to meet with small groups of students to check in with them, encourage them, and challenge them to improve their reading skills. The hard part for the classroom is making sure the rest of your students are focused and working on appropriate tasks while meeting with small groups.

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Check out this list of things you should avoid during reading rotations to make the time more efficient in your classroom.

Mistake #1: Not Using Peer Helpers

Peer helpers can be grouped for different reasons. You may want to group a high student with a low (or lower) skilled student. These students can help them when they don’t understand a word or a particular task that needs to be completed. This helps when you are meeting with a small group and need not have distractions. You may want to pair an organized student with a student that needs help keeping things organized. The peer may be provided with a checklist on tasks that need to be completed. The peer can help to keep another student on task. Team together new students with a peer that knows your rotation structure. This is extremely helpful for the student and the teacher. They will be able to explain the rules when you are not able to. Make sure to team up students that get along. There is nothing worse than hearing arguing when you are trying to teach another group of students. You don’t want to pair “besties” either. They tend to be talkative, which is also disruptive.

Mistake #2: Not Prepared For Reading Rotations

Try to prepare your centers 4-5 weeks in advance. Print, cut, laminate, and make copies of the resource that you will be using. Check out books from the library about a week before the skill be covered. Stay organized by using tubs, containers, and ziplock bags to organize your supplies. If you can use the same activities again next year, you will be grateful you took the time to organize this year. Check out this article on how to set up your reading rotations.

Mistake #3: Not Prepared For Small Group Instruction

Make sure you pull the supplies needed for the skills you will be covering that week in small group. Have them at the table where you will meet. Also, have supplies like sharpened pencils, erasers, highlighters, etc., ready to be used. You will most likely have a group that you will always meet with. But sometimes, you will find a student that needs help with a specific skill. Since we don’t always know who will struggle with what skill to work on in a smaller setting, it can be hard to prepare last minute. Try to identify the struggled skill 2-3 days in advance, so you can pull all students that are struggling together.

Mistake #4: Activities That Are Too Hard

Even though you want your student to work on a current skill, you may want them to practice a skill previously taught. Having a skill that has just been introduced may cause excessive interruptions for the teacher during small groups. This can also cause a student to act out due to being frustrated because they don’t know how to do the provided skill. Provide explicit instructions within the center tub. This may include pictures and or examples. This helps the student understand what is expected. I always introduce the rotations during whole group and ask if I need to clarify before breaking them out into the rotations. Use the same types of activities and change out skills. Students will be familiar with how the activity works, and you will have fewer interruptions.

Summary

Avoid these common mistakes during your reading rotations. Use peer helpers to make sure the students who have a hard time staying on task have a buddy encouraging them. Be prepared for reading rotations by making sure you have all the necessary pieces in advance. Make sure your small groups are ready to go by reviewing what will be taught and using your precious time in small groups to the fullest capacity. Make sure the activities you provide are age-appropriate for your small group students, as well as the reading rotations you are expecting them to complete. Good luck setting up your next set of reading rotations!

Grab my FREE guide for Mastering Reading Rotations.

Are you looking for some great ELA rotation resources? Check out my ELA rotation resources here!