Small Group Intervention

I recently received a copy of Linda J. Dorn's and Carla Soffos' professional development resource, Small Group Intervention: Linking Word Study to Reading and Writing. I initially underestimated the possibilities for the video because it is only 15 minutes long. While the topic caught my attention (word study has been one of my focuses the last couple years), I was not sure how much I would learn from the brief segments on word assessment, setting a purpose, modeling, guided practice in reading, guided practice in writing, prompting for transfer in reading, and prompting for transfer in writing..

The resource comes with two discs, one DVD and one CD with additional resources. After watching the DVD and taking notes of new thoughts to consider on how I could make my word study even more beneficial, I popped in the CD. I loved what I saw and instantly realized how there was so much more to the resource than I thought. The CD contains a power point presentation for staff development in both PC and Mac versions. All of the video clips from the DVD are embedded right into the presentation, making it easier for presenters to share the concepts with ease.

The Power Point begins with background resources, a guiding question to open up the dialogue about the topic and direct learning, and background information. Then it moves into the individual clips with discussion questions. I quickly realized that while the clips alone were only 15 minutes, the actual structured presentation set up would entail much more than just viewing the video and reflecting on the concepts. As I am building more interest in staff development and literacy leadership, I especially enjoyed this resource. I look forward to eventually sharing the DVD with others to support literacy instruction development.