Small Group Instruction Series Part 3: Early Reader Lesson Plan

Our small-group series is moving right along! Last time, we explored a Day 1 lesson plan for pre-readers. Now, let’s shift gears and dive into planning a lesson for Early Readers.

Remember, these lessons are modeled using fictional students. No real student data was used in creating these examples. When you plan your own lessons, make sure to use your actual assessment information and what you observe in your classroom each day.

First, watch the planning video to see how I planned this lesson in under 3 minutes!

Small Group Bundle

Let’s Get Planning

As small-group instruction begins for the year, it’s essential to create structured, predictable routines that support early readers. Today, I’m sharing my complete small-group plan for Group 2, a set of “first graders” in the Early Alphabetic Phase of Reading. These students are building foundational skills: phonemic awareness, letter-sound correspondence, and early decoding.

If you’re looking for practical, easy-to-implement literacy routines, this post will walk you through each part of the lesson—from warm-up through connected text.

Group 2: Early Readers (typically first graders)

Who Are Early Alphabetic Readers?

Students in the Early Alphabetic Phase:
Know basic phoneme–grapheme correspondences
Are developing phonemic awareness
Are beginning to fully understand the alphabetic principle
Benefit from explicit, structured literacy routines
This stage is all about building confidence with letters, sounds, and simple CVC words.

Activity 1: Handwriting

Activity: Handwriting
Supplies: Tracing template for A-Z a-z OR template for a specific letter OR dry erase boards for writing A-Z a-z. You can choose to focus on uppercase, lowercase, or both.

Warm-Up:
As usual, I always have a warm-up activity on the table ready to go. At the beginning of the school year, I often have handwriting practice as the warm-up. Depending upon the group’s needs, you might want a tracing template. The small group planning bundle has handwriting resources included.

If the group no longer needs to trace, the warm-up could just be writing letters A-Z (a-z) to build writing fluency. I also use this as a morning work activity at the beginning of the year in first grade. I even like to use this activity for a math warm-up, but with numbers.

activity 2: Phonemic Awareness

Activity: Word Chaining

Supplies: Word Chain Template (In Bundle), FREE Word Lists (Dyslexic Logic)

Word Chaining
Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate individual speech sounds within spoken words. The target skills are isolating, blending, and segmenting. Word chaining is one of my favorite activities for building phonemic awareness. You can do this with or without letters. Just be sure the words and task align with the phonics skill you are teaching. For example, if the group is working on reading CVC words with short vowel sounds, then you want your phonemic awareness task to support that goal.

There are different ways to word chains. The method you choose will depend on your goal. Are you working on blending or segmenting? Are you working on isolating the beginning, middle, or ending sound? Are you working on substituting?

Watch this video to see different examples of word chaining:

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A post shared by Jessica Farmer (@farmerlovesphonics)

Activity 3: Phoneme Drill

Activity: Phoneme Drill
Supplies: Sound Drill Cards (I like to use cards that don’t have a picture on them for this review. I want to ensure students aren’t relying on that keyword picture.)

Review Sounds & Spellings:
This group needs to review the 5 short vowels, so I’m going to do a sound drill! You can use flashcards with the 5 vowels, and then you can mix in some consonants to review as well. Hold the cards up one at a time and ask for the sound. You can have everyone answer in unison the first time through the deck.

Activity 4/5: Word Reading & Spelling

Activity: Blending Board
Supplies: Blending Board Template (In Bundle) OR Wooden Blending Board (If you’ve been OG trained, you might have this.)

Decoding:
This group is going to read words on the blending board. I like to use a blending board with early readers so they can really see the phoneme-to-grapheme relationships. I usually pull a few words from the decodable reader for this activity and add a few more that fit the skill. This group is working on CVC words with short vowels. I might throw in a challenge word or two just to keep them moving towards the next reading phase. For example, I add in a two-syllable word with two closed syllables and a few words with consonant blends (CCVC).

Encoding:
I usually use word chains with letters, so that would cover this portion of the lesson as well. You can include some dictation if you decide to word chain without letters during the phonemic awareness portion of the lesson(orally or with manipulatives). I have several videos modeling dictation, so let me know if you would like to see those. I have FREE templates available as well!

Watch my Dictation Series HERE!

Activity 6: connected text

Connected Text:
I chose a science decodable reader (Commissions Earned) for this group by Beanstalk Books. I like that the inside cover shows the included letter sounds and lists the high-frequency words as well. On day one, we usually just review the sounds and HFWs (Heart Words) that will be in the text. We might also discuss the topic if there is time. We will dig into reading the text on Day 2.

Need a better way to plan?

Grab my Small Group Planning Bundle to make planning small groups a breeze!

This BUNDLE contains everything you need to plan effective small groups aligned to the science of reading!

Resources Included:

1. Small Group Digital Lesson Plans (See HERE)

2. 10 Small Group Activities (See HERE)

3. Handwriting Practice & Formation Mini Posters (See HERE)

Replace your traditional guided reading plans with skills-based lessons in order to reach every reader in your classroom. If you are learning about the science of reading and structured literacy, these resources are perfect for you to get your small groups started!

Final Thoughts

And that’s a wrap! It might seem like a lot to take in now, but you’ll be amazed at how quickly these planning steps become second nature. If you have questions, drop them in the comments. I’d love to support you. Keep an eye out for the next post! It will go over a later reader lesson plan for students in the later alphabetic phase.