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Reading Strategy Groups: Small Group – STORY ELEMENTS and SUMMARIZING
Reading Strategy Groups: Small Group – STORY ELEMENTS and SUMMARIZING
Reading Strategy Groups: Small Group – STORY ELEMENTS and SUMMARIZING
Reading Strategy Groups: Small Group – STORY ELEMENTS and SUMMARIZING
Reading Strategy Groups: Small Group – STORY ELEMENTS and SUMMARIZING
Reading Strategy Groups: Small Group – STORY ELEMENTS and SUMMARIZING
Reading Strategy Groups: Small Group – STORY ELEMENTS and SUMMARIZING
Reading Strategy Groups: Small Group – STORY ELEMENTS and SUMMARIZING
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What others say

"This unit was laid out in such an easy to follow way. This unit gave students lots of opportunities to practice the skills. "
star
Sarah W.
"These were great for reading comprehension with my middle school special education students. The differentiation was really helpful for me, and the organization on the page was really helpful for my students while checking for understanding. "
star
Andrea H.

Description

With differentiated passages and small group lessons, these reading strategy groups will transform how you teach story elements and summarizing. You no longer need to look for reading passages or think of reading comprehension questions for reading groups. You get 14 print-and-go small group comprehension lessons that focus directly on story elements (setting, beginning, ending, moral, etc.) and summarizing (i.e. what elements should be included writing a summary).

Each small group reading lesson DIRECTLY teaches the skills your students need to understand story elements and summarizing. Since all the small group lessons include differentiated passages and skill-based lessons, you do not need to gather books or extra materials to help your students see story elements or practice summarizing a story.

_________________________________________________________________

ARE READING STRATEGY GROUPS DIFFERENT FROM GUIDED READING GROUPS?

Yes. Reading strategy groups rely on directly teaching your students a reading strategy or skill. This type of reading group is not strictly confined to the student’s reading level like it can be with guided reading. Strategy groups should be flexible so that we can get far, far away from kids who identify as a level, such as “I’m in the purple reading group” or “I am supposed to read level M books.”

Reading strategy groups rely on you knowing what your individual students need to work on.

Do you have a few students who can’t describe the moral of the story? Let’s work on it together in reading groups.

Do you have a group of students who need to identify the problem and solution in a story? Let’s work on it in reading groups.

Do you have students who are ready compare two versions of a story? Let’s work on it in reading groups.


_________________________________________________________________

EVERY STORY ELEMENTS AND SUMMARIZING LESSON INCLUDES:

  • STEP 1: INTRODUCE Quick tasks that introduce the ONE focused reading strategy or skill of the lesson.

  • STEP 2: READ Differentiated passages (three levels) that include the direct, skill-based prompts needed to fully practice the reading strategy. The focus of every lesson can be applied using the included reading passages. This saves you TIME because you no longer need to search for suitable texts or passages.

  • STEP 3: INDEPENDENT PRACTICE At the end of the small group time, send your students off with an exit slip for accountability practice. They will use this exit slip when they apply the skills from the small group reading lesson to their own independent reading.

  • Also includes… Printable anchor charts for every lesson, conferring note pages, and lesson planning pages are all included.

Everything in here is ready to go for your reading groups. All you need to do choose which students would benefit from any of the 14 print-and-go reading group lessons included.

_________________________________________________________________

WHAT 14 STORY ELEMENTS AND SUMMARIZING LESSONS ARE INCLUDED?

  • Connect The Title To The Text
  • The Beginning Of The Story
  • What Is The Setting?
  • The Moral Of The Story
  • How Does It End?
  • Summarize The Important Parts
  • What The Character Wants
  • The Problem And Solution
  • How Characters React To Problems
  • The Lesson Learned
  • Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then
  • Compare Two Versions Of A Story
  • Who Is The Storyteller?
  • What Is The Plot?

(Note: You can go in ANY order and skip any lessons that your students do not need.)

WANT TO TRY A ★FREE★ SAMPLE READING GROUP LESSON?

LOOKING FOR A READING STRATEGY GROUP BUNDLE?

­→ Reading Strategy Groups: MEGA BUNDLE (101 small group lessons)

Reading Strategy Groups: NON-FICTION BUNDLE

Reading Strategy Groups: FICTION BUNDLE


_________________________________________________________________

WHAT GRADE LEVEL ARE THESE AUTHOR’S PURPOSE LESSONS FOR?

The content is most appropriate for grades 2-4. However, you may have students in other grade levels that need lessons in this area. In the preview, you can see exactly which lessons are recommended for grade 2, grade 3, and grade 4.

The differentiated passages come in three levels:

  • LEVEL 1 reading passages (denoted with ❍) are recommended for students meeting a 2nd grade reading level. The Lexile range is 400-500L.

  • LEVEL 2 reading passages (denoted with ❍ ❍) are recommended for students meeting a 3rd grade reading level. The Lexile range is 500-700L.

  • LEVEL 3 reading passages (denoted with ❍ ❍ ❍) are recommended for students meeting a 4th grade reading level. The Lexile range is 800-1000L.

The variety of reading levels in the differentiated passages makes it so easy to meet your range of learners. If you teach 2nd, 3rd, or 4th grade, you have passages for all students who meet grade level. But then if you have students reading above or below grade level, you have passages that can meet them where you are. No more searching for texts that match your lessons AND have passages at the right level. Everything is already done for you!

_________________________________________________________________
DOES THIS DOWNLOAD INCLUDE A DISTANCE LEARNING OPTION? Yes! In addition to the traditional printable pack included, the small group lessons in this download can also be assigned via Google slides or Google Classroom, which makes it very versatile for digital distance learning.

_________________________________________________________________

WANT MORE SMALL GROUP COMPREHENSION LESSONS LIKE THIS?
I have more than 100 small group reading lessons written for teachers like you who want to save TIME with direct, skill-based instruction using reading strategy groups.

­→ Unit 1: Reading Foundation (5 reading group lessons)

­→ Unit 2: Understanding Characters (16 reading group lessons)

­→ Unit 3: Text Features and Text Structure (17 reading group lessons)

­→ Unit 4: Vocabulary and Figurative Language (9 reading group lessons)

­→ Unit 5: Main Idea and Key Details (17 reading group lessons)

­→ Unit 6: Fluency (10 reading group lessons)

­→ Unit 7: Theme (9 reading group lessons)

­→ Unit 8: Author's Purpose (6 reading group lessons)

­→ Unit 9: Story Elements and Summarizing (14 reading group lessons)

AVAILABLE IN READING STRATEGY GROUP BUNDLES!

­→ Reading Strategy Groups: MEGA BUNDLE (101 small group lessons)

→ Reading Strategy Groups: NON-FICTION BUNDLE(40 small group lessons)

→ Reading Strategy Groups: FICTION BUNDLE (48 small group lessons)

WANT MORE LESSONS TO MATCH THESE READING GROUPS?

I have reading lessons for teaching these lessons to your WHOLE CLASS! For every reading strategy group lesson, there is an optional WHOLE CLASS Interactive Read Aloud lesson found here:

→ Interactive Read Aloud BUNDLE

For a quick DAILY READING BELL RINGER that spiral reviews the skills from your reading strategy groups, here are reading warm ups that PERFECTLY align with these reading strategy groups:

→ 3rd Grade Daily Reading Warm-Ups

→ 4th Grade Daily Reading Warm-Ups


YOU CAN ALSO FIND THESE READING STRATEGY GROUPSINTERACTIVE READ ALOUDS, AND DAILY READING WARM UPS IN MY COMPREHENSION BUNDLES:

→ 3rd Grade Curriculum Bundle

4th Grade Curriculum Bundle

_________________________________________________________________

LOOKING FOR THIS PRODUCT LINE IN ANOTHER GRADE LEVEL?

_________________________________________________________________

STILL UNSURE?

Check out this small group free sample to see if this will work for you!

- Alyssha Swanson

Teaching and Tapas

Report this resource to TPT
Reported resources will be reviewed by our team. Report this resource to let us know if this resource violates TPT's content guidelines.

Reading Strategy Groups: Small Group – STORY ELEMENTS and SUMMARIZING

$6.25

Highlights

Digital downloads
Pages
115
Answer Key
Included
Teaching Duration
2 Weeks

What others say

"This unit was laid out in such an easy to follow way. This unit gave students lots of opportunities to practice the skills. "
star
Sarah W.
"These were great for reading comprehension with my middle school special education students. The differentiation was really helpful for me, and the organization on the page was really helpful for my students while checking for understanding. "
star
Andrea H.

Save even more with bundles

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Description

With differentiated passages and small group lessons, these reading strategy groups will transform how you teach story elements and summarizing. You no longer need to look for reading passages or think of reading comprehension questions for reading groups. You get 14 print-and-go small group comprehension lessons that focus directly on story elements (setting, beginning, ending, moral, etc.) and summarizing (i.e. what elements should be included writing a summary).

Each small group reading lesson DIRECTLY teaches the skills your students need to understand story elements and summarizing. Since all the small group lessons include differentiated passages and skill-based lessons, you do not need to gather books or extra materials to help your students see story elements or practice summarizing a story.

_________________________________________________________________

ARE READING STRATEGY GROUPS DIFFERENT FROM GUIDED READING GROUPS?

Yes. Reading strategy groups rely on directly teaching your students a reading strategy or skill. This type of reading group is not strictly confined to the student’s reading level like it can be with guided reading. Strategy groups should be flexible so that we can get far, far away from kids who identify as a level, such as “I’m in the purple reading group” or “I am supposed to read level M books.”

Reading strategy groups rely on you knowing what your individual students need to work on.

Do you have a few students who can’t describe the moral of the story? Let’s work on it together in reading groups.

Do you have a group of students who need to identify the problem and solution in a story? Let’s work on it in reading groups.

Do you have students who are ready compare two versions of a story? Let’s work on it in reading groups.


_________________________________________________________________

EVERY STORY ELEMENTS AND SUMMARIZING LESSON INCLUDES:

  • STEP 1: INTRODUCE Quick tasks that introduce the ONE focused reading strategy or skill of the lesson.

  • STEP 2: READ Differentiated passages (three levels) that include the direct, skill-based prompts needed to fully practice the reading strategy. The focus of every lesson can be applied using the included reading passages. This saves you TIME because you no longer need to search for suitable texts or passages.

  • STEP 3: INDEPENDENT PRACTICE At the end of the small group time, send your students off with an exit slip for accountability practice. They will use this exit slip when they apply the skills from the small group reading lesson to their own independent reading.

  • Also includes… Printable anchor charts for every lesson, conferring note pages, and lesson planning pages are all included.

Everything in here is ready to go for your reading groups. All you need to do choose which students would benefit from any of the 14 print-and-go reading group lessons included.

_________________________________________________________________

WHAT 14 STORY ELEMENTS AND SUMMARIZING LESSONS ARE INCLUDED?

  • Connect The Title To The Text
  • The Beginning Of The Story
  • What Is The Setting?
  • The Moral Of The Story
  • How Does It End?
  • Summarize The Important Parts
  • What The Character Wants
  • The Problem And Solution
  • How Characters React To Problems
  • The Lesson Learned
  • Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then
  • Compare Two Versions Of A Story
  • Who Is The Storyteller?
  • What Is The Plot?

(Note: You can go in ANY order and skip any lessons that your students do not need.)

WANT TO TRY A ★FREE★ SAMPLE READING GROUP LESSON?

LOOKING FOR A READING STRATEGY GROUP BUNDLE?

­→ Reading Strategy Groups: MEGA BUNDLE (101 small group lessons)

Reading Strategy Groups: NON-FICTION BUNDLE

Reading Strategy Groups: FICTION BUNDLE


_________________________________________________________________

WHAT GRADE LEVEL ARE THESE AUTHOR’S PURPOSE LESSONS FOR?

The content is most appropriate for grades 2-4. However, you may have students in other grade levels that need lessons in this area. In the preview, you can see exactly which lessons are recommended for grade 2, grade 3, and grade 4.

The differentiated passages come in three levels:

  • LEVEL 1 reading passages (denoted with ❍) are recommended for students meeting a 2nd grade reading level. The Lexile range is 400-500L.

  • LEVEL 2 reading passages (denoted with ❍ ❍) are recommended for students meeting a 3rd grade reading level. The Lexile range is 500-700L.

  • LEVEL 3 reading passages (denoted with ❍ ❍ ❍) are recommended for students meeting a 4th grade reading level. The Lexile range is 800-1000L.

The variety of reading levels in the differentiated passages makes it so easy to meet your range of learners. If you teach 2nd, 3rd, or 4th grade, you have passages for all students who meet grade level. But then if you have students reading above or below grade level, you have passages that can meet them where you are. No more searching for texts that match your lessons AND have passages at the right level. Everything is already done for you!

_________________________________________________________________
DOES THIS DOWNLOAD INCLUDE A DISTANCE LEARNING OPTION? Yes! In addition to the traditional printable pack included, the small group lessons in this download can also be assigned via Google slides or Google Classroom, which makes it very versatile for digital distance learning.

_________________________________________________________________

WANT MORE SMALL GROUP COMPREHENSION LESSONS LIKE THIS?
I have more than 100 small group reading lessons written for teachers like you who want to save TIME with direct, skill-based instruction using reading strategy groups.

­→ Unit 1: Reading Foundation (5 reading group lessons)

­→ Unit 2: Understanding Characters (16 reading group lessons)

­→ Unit 3: Text Features and Text Structure (17 reading group lessons)

­→ Unit 4: Vocabulary and Figurative Language (9 reading group lessons)

­→ Unit 5: Main Idea and Key Details (17 reading group lessons)

­→ Unit 6: Fluency (10 reading group lessons)

­→ Unit 7: Theme (9 reading group lessons)

­→ Unit 8: Author's Purpose (6 reading group lessons)

­→ Unit 9: Story Elements and Summarizing (14 reading group lessons)

AVAILABLE IN READING STRATEGY GROUP BUNDLES!

­→ Reading Strategy Groups: MEGA BUNDLE (101 small group lessons)

→ Reading Strategy Groups: NON-FICTION BUNDLE(40 small group lessons)

→ Reading Strategy Groups: FICTION BUNDLE (48 small group lessons)

WANT MORE LESSONS TO MATCH THESE READING GROUPS?

I have reading lessons for teaching these lessons to your WHOLE CLASS! For every reading strategy group lesson, there is an optional WHOLE CLASS Interactive Read Aloud lesson found here:

→ Interactive Read Aloud BUNDLE

For a quick DAILY READING BELL RINGER that spiral reviews the skills from your reading strategy groups, here are reading warm ups that PERFECTLY align with these reading strategy groups:

→ 3rd Grade Daily Reading Warm-Ups

→ 4th Grade Daily Reading Warm-Ups


YOU CAN ALSO FIND THESE READING STRATEGY GROUPSINTERACTIVE READ ALOUDS, AND DAILY READING WARM UPS IN MY COMPREHENSION BUNDLES:

→ 3rd Grade Curriculum Bundle

4th Grade Curriculum Bundle

_________________________________________________________________

LOOKING FOR THIS PRODUCT LINE IN ANOTHER GRADE LEVEL?

_________________________________________________________________

STILL UNSURE?

Check out this small group free sample to see if this will work for you!

- Alyssha Swanson

Teaching and Tapas

Report this resource to TPT
Reported resources will be reviewed by our team. Report this resource to let us know if this resource violates TPT's content guidelines.

Reviews

4.8
Rated 4.83 out of 5, based on 100 reviews
100
ratings
5
88
4
10
3
1
2
1
1
0
Mostly used with 3rd and 4th grades
Reviews
1
1
2
14
25
25
8
PreK
K
1st
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good resource
Rated 5 out of 5
January 28, 2026
This is a helpful resource that I can use with my students.
Jennifer S.
561 reviews • Florida
Grades taught: PreK, K, 1st, 2nd
Great Resource for Skill Practice
Rated 5 out of 5
December 18, 2025
Met expectations
Great value
I purchased this for specific lessons I saw were in it. This has great resources for small groups!
All Things NEW
(TPT Seller)
711 reviews • Ohio
Grades taught: 4th
Student populations: Autism, Emerging bilinguals, Learning difficulties, Mild to severe disabilities
Intervention Resource
Rated 5 out of 5
September 16, 2025
Met expectations
Great value
Small group activities to support reading comprehension
Jenna L.
293 reviews
Grades taught: 3rd, 4th, 5th
Rated 5 out of 5
July 1, 2025
Great help with small and large groups for specific standards
erin J.
920 reviews
Grades taught: 3rd
Rated 5 out of 5
June 16, 2025
This unit was laid out in such an easy to follow way. This unit gave students lots of opportunities to practice the skills.
Sarah W.
238 reviews
Grades taught: 2nd, 3rd
Rated 5 out of 5
May 26, 2025
These were great for reading comprehension with my middle school special education students. The differentiation was really helpful for me, and the organization on the page was really helpful for my students while checking for understanding.
Andrea H.
67 reviews
Grades taught: 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th
Student populations: Autism, Learning difficulties, Mild to severe disabilities
Rated 5 out of 5
May 7, 2025
Thank you so much! This has been a great resource for my classroom!
341 reviews
Grades taught: 2nd
Rated 5 out of 5
March 3, 2025
My students found this resource engaging and grade level appropriate!
staci G.
517 reviews
Grades taught: 2nd

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