Organizing 3-Week Lesson Plans

Once again I am so thrilled to welcome yet another great blogger to Minds in Bloom. Cynthia Vautrot from 2nd Grade Pad has contributed this amazing post organizing 3-week lesson plans.

Raise your hand if you do Intervention Groups…

Raise your hand if you are required to keep records for RTI…

Are any of you familiar with 3-week Lesson Plans? We have been doing them at my school for several years.

3-week plans can be used for any subject matter and is a GREAT way to really focus on only one or two skills that your students need. The groups are fluid each 3-weeks allowing you to change out the group members based on their current needs. At the low end of the spectrum it is a great tool for having needed documentation for RTI at your fingertips. In the mid-level range it is perfect for a little intervention when students just need an extra boost. Don’t forget about the high-range, yes, it is also perfect for those students who are already top in your classroom to challenge them and help them to exceed!

3-week plans aren’t hard to do. In fact, I find them to be one of the easiest parts of my day!

There are different ways you can keep your lesson plans. Here are a couple for reading. The top pictures focus on sight words that the students are working on. The bottom is focusing on vocabulary words and comprehension. You can easily make 3-week plans to fit whatever your students needs are. Just list daily what you will do for about 15 minutes each day. At the end of the 3-weeks, allow time on day 14 to evaluate the students progress over the items you worked on. On Day 15, complete any other required testing (in reading we progress monitor in DIBELS on Day 15).

Here are some different ways that the teachers at my school store items to pull from when making 3-week lesson plans.

Here are some needs-based groups in action. The top pictures show fluency in a higher group and a lower group. The bottom pictures show a comprehension passage that has been laminated for students to use and a game to use during the slotted time also.

Here are some needs-based math groups. The top left is working on making groups of ten. (This is a sped group and the parapro is blind. Using two different shapes benefits her as much as the students!) The upper right shows an on-level group working on regrouping with manipulatives…such a HARD concept for 2nd graders! The lower is a high-average group working on measurement skills.

Here are some more supplies that I keep at my fingertips for my lower groups… informational books (HIGH interest…my boys LOVE these), write wipe board, my plans kept in a 3-prong notebook along with sight words, a spelling book, and short vowel-anchor cards.

The supplies you gather up, would depend on your group and the skills you are working on.

While you are working with your needs-based groups (I do 3 groups at 15 min each for a total of 45 minutes everyday), the other students are working on meaningful skills in centers such as reading, computers, dictionary skills, and comprehension passages.

Some more centers…sight words, math addition, counting, and sorting.

If you’ve never tried 3-week plans in your classroom, you really should give it a whirl. You will be amazed at how you can reach EVERY student, EVERY day. WOW! What a difference you will see from that extra 15 minutes you spend each day on targeted needs.

Thank you Rachel for allowing me to be a guest on your blog today. I hope I have helped give some new information to your readers!

If any of you have questions, feel free to contact me. You can find me over at