Small Groups: Reading

In first grade, reading is a huge push.  I spend between 45 minutes to an hour every day doing reading groups with my students.  I love my kidney table for groups, and especially appreciate my comfy teacher chair :).  A couple of summers ago, I saw the idea on pinterest for crate seats and made some for my classroom.  I have started really using them to store materials for use with my small group and it has made group time go so much smoother!  Here are some items I have stored in my crate seats:  letter magnets, sight word bingo, syllable bingo, white boards, dry erase markers, and foam syllable blocks.  I am doing a lot of word work with my strugglers, so I am using materials from my crate almost daily.  Here is a picture of my reading table:

I also started using a little teacher caddy this year.  I have items such as pens, scissors, index cards, stickers, guided reading prompting questions, my teacher white board & marker, my small group planning binder, books to use with my groups, and of course-- my tiara!  I put on the tiara during groups so the other students know not to come and ask me questions.  In my small group planning binder, I have a sheet that helps me to stay on track with which students are in which groups and what groups I am meeting with each day.  I have already changed my small group plan 3 or 4 times this year to meet the needs of my kids.  My plan at the moment is to meet with 2 groups a day so I can spend 20-30 minutes with each group.  Normally, though, I like to do 3 groups a day for 15-20 minutes.

Teaching reading small groups is definitely challenging.  Even after 6 years in first grade, I am still learning new things about how to make my group time better.  Do you have any suggestions?