Each day in class we have Reading Workshop time. During this time we will use our new reading series Good Habits, Great Readers to help children become strong readers and to learn to love reading. Here is an explanation of our Reading Workshop components. Components of the Reading Workshop Read Aloud Shared Reading Comprehension Strategy Mini-lessons Literacy Centers What is Reading Workshop? Reading Workshop is a way to teach literacy using a balanced approach. It provides various ways to teach reading to students by using differentiated learning and providing activities that support various learning styles. The Reading Workshop format is typically made up of three parts: a mini-lesson, reading and conferring, and sharing. Using a mini-lesson, the teacher models a skill or strategy that will help students understand what they are reading. Students then practice the skill as the teacher confers with students, monitoring how students are doing. The workshop ends with students reflecting on their use of the skill or strategy and sharing their thoughts with other students. Reading Workshop activities may include: a Read Aloud, Shared Reading, Guided Reading, Independent Reading or Word Work. What is a Read-Aloud? A read-aloud is an activity in which the teacher reads a book aloud to the whole group. The purpose of the read-aloud is to model appropriate reading behaviors and reading strategies. It is also a time to expose children to a variety of genres and literary styles. The teacher has an opportunity to show students the joys of reading and teach them how to think and discuss text. Teachers should have a set purpose for each read-aloud and should read with the proper fluency, rhythm, and intonation. What is Shared Reading? Shared reading is the time when the teacher introduces a mini-lesson to the whole group using text that is read aloud together. Some mini-lessons include: What are comprehension strategy mini-lessons? In our class, we work on developing word recognition, vocabulary, and language structure in reading instruction, but a major focus is reading comprehension. Three books, MOSAIC OF THOUGHT by Ellen OliverKeene and Susan Zimmermann, STRATEGIES THAT WORK by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis, and READING WITH MEANING by Debbie Miller all deal with teaching comprehension and target several strategies that enhance understanding of text. The strategies were compiled by looking at what good readers do when they read. They include: making connections, questioning, visualizing, inferring, determining importance in text, summarizing/synthesizing, and fix-up strategies. A key component in successful comprehension is getting readers to think about their thinking. This is called METACOGNITION. Students are explicitly taught how to use these "thinking strategies." A great book for parents to read to learn more about helping your child with reading strategies is 7 Keys to Comprehension: How to Help Your Kids Read It and Get It!, by Susan Zimmermann and Chryse Hutchins What is a Guided Reading? Guided reading is a small group activity, led by the teacher. The goal of a guided reading group is to focus on a particular skill or strategy that all members of the group will benefit from, whether it is phonemic awareness, work attack skills, fluency, or reading comprehension. For example, one group might practice asking questions while reading. Another group might focus on practicing decoding long vowel sounds. Guided reading groups change regularly, based on the needs of the students in a class. It is also during this time that the other groups either work independently with a text, practicing the skills taught in the Shared Reading session, or they go to literacy centers.
What is a Independent Reading? In independent reading, students select books they are interested in and are confident they can read on their own. Students each have a "book box" containing 8 - 10 books based on their reading level chosen from our classroom library of leveled books. During Independent Reading time the teacher conferences with individual students to assess their reading and help them set goals. To help students achieve independence, we often make use of “buddy” reading or partner reading where students read to one another. Buddies help one another when they encounter a difficult word or have trouble understanding what they are reading. What are Literacy Centers? A literacy center is an area within the classroom where students work alone or interact with one another, using instructional materials to explore and expand their literacy. The centers contain a variety of activities that reinforce and extend learning. It is a time for children to practice reading, writing, speaking, listening, and working with letters and words. Some of our literacy workstations are: Library, Writing, Computer, Spelling, Sight Words, Creation Station, Listening, Drama, Poetry, Big Books, Science, and Geography. Our favorite book about Literacy Centers is: Literacy Workstations: Making Centers Work, by Debbie Diller
