Sounds great... but how do I get them there?

Arguably the toughest and the most important time in a Reader's Workshop year, is September. It's in September that mold your class from a place of indifference towards books and authors to a state of wild enthusiasm, in which each and every child is convinced that 1.) he/she is- and always has been- a reader 2.) that authors are rock stars and 3.) reading can get them things they want and take them to new places.

And it's gotta be done in September because it's with the above kind of readers that you build the rest of your year on. Check out the beginning of Growing Readers by Kathy Collins for a really really detailed, step by step, play by play explanation of how to set up your school year. Here are some blogs on the topic...

First Day of First Grade Schedule
Building a Bridge: Essential September Learnings
Growing Readers' Identities as Readers and Authors
Library GRAND OPENING!
Setting Sail: Moving into October
Dealing with Bumps Part 1
Dealing with Bumps Part II

A Place to Start: Using the concept of STORY to kick off your year

Dialogue as Curriculum

In the Reader's Workshop classroom, much of the knowledge is self-constructed. The teacher's role is to teach explicitly and with passion, and then to pull back-- guide, facilitate, and marvel. All of us know how to do the first part- it's why we become teachers. But the second part- the part where we hand the reigns to the children, requires that we let dialogue between kids take center stage.

In order to do this, we need to think about what kinds of things children need to know to talk well. We can do this by listing the things we notice about adult conversations and teaching those behaviors to children. Behaviors such as leaning in to the speaker, rephrasing, disagreeing respectfully, knowing when someone is finished talking, and many more are paramount in a RW classroom. For more, read...

Yak yak yak- Structures for Talking in Class

Loosely tied to the idea of talk:
Spontaneous Book Clubs
What makes a good reading response?

Teaching Readers to Think

Most recent research points to the same things effective, proficient readers do as they read. That's a relief for us, because it means that even with all the thousands of things we can choose to teach our readers (from story elements to character development to cause and effect), there are certain strategies that if we teach them well, will have the most effect on our children.

Here are some blogs on the comprehension strategies. Keep in mind that they are not "definitions" of the strategies, but reflections and meditations I wrote before, during, and after teaching them.

Making meaningful connections (1st grade)
Envisioning
Questioning (1st grade)
Questioning (2nd grade)
Inferencing (1st grade)
Determining Importance in Fiction (1st grade)
Determining Importance in Nonfiction (2nd grade)
Synthesizing (1st grade)
Synthesizing (2nd grade)

Managing a Reader's Workshop

Reader's Workshop- in its truest form- typically consists of these components:

Minilesson: Teacher explicitly teaches children about one behavior or strategy of a reader.
My Notes from Lucy Calkin's Teacher's College Aug. 07 (Minilessons)
My Notes from Lucy Calkin's Teacher's College Aug. 07 (Minilesson Skills and Strategies)
My Notes from Lucy Calkin's Teacher's College Aug. 07 (Minilesson examples)

Independent Reading: For most of the workshop, all children should be engaged in meaningful, self-selected reading. During this time, it is a classroom expectation that children are doing more than just reading the words. They are applying newly learned strategies and working towards goals set by themselves or their teacher at their conferences.
My Notes from Lucy Calkin's Teacher's College Aug. 07 (Independent Reading)
My Notes from Lucy Calkin's Teacher's College Aug. 07 (Partner Reading and Reading Centers)


Conferences: During Independent Reading, the teacher meets with children one on one and teaches to their unique needs and abilities. This, in my opinion, is where the real teaching power of the workshop lies. Here's more about conferring... lots of examples if you read the comments! Read a different blog entry that was a joint effort between me and lots of awesome "proteachers". It is a list of possible conference topics.
My Notes from Lucy Calkin's Teacher's College Aug. 07 (Art of Conferring)
My Notes from Lucy Calkin's Teacher's College Aug. 07 (More on Conferring)

Groups: Depending on the ages and needs of your students, you might hold a guided reading group (typically very helpful for emergent readers) or a more targeted "strategy group" in which all readers are called to meet by the teacher because she sees the same strategy need in all of them. While guided reading groups are meetings of children at the same level, strategy groups are heterogeneous meetings.
My Notes from Lucy Calkin's Teacher's College Aug. 07 (Small Groups)

Sharing: At the end of each workshop, all readers and the teacher meet to share, troubleshoot, celebrate, and discuss what has worked and what hasn't worked that day. As teachers, we want to ask children each and every day, "What worked so well for you today that you will try again and again as a reader?" Sharing isn't only what it's name entails-- it is another teaching time. For a great read on just the sharing time, read Don't Forget to Share, by Leah Mermelstein. Also, read Sharing as a Celebration.


These photos show the Reader's Workshop boards that I use to stay organized in my classroom. (Actually, I've posted the red one from last year too, since it's filled in and you can get a better idea from that one. The blue one is the one for this year- I've added the strategy group spot). Although starting a workshop does not mean you need a board like this, it might help if you random (like me!). The board has a spot for me to write the day's strategy group objective, as well as which children should meet me. It has a spot that will show the names of about 4 students who I'll be conferencing with. It also holds our assigned book nooks, which rotate frequently. In the lower right corner, I can write what I'd like readers to think about while they are reading that day. This board ensures that I don't skip conferences with kids or get behind on groups. It makes a difference that the children can see it, because kids NEVER let you off the hook!

Need more details? Read more about the board.



(Stay tuned for information about tweaks on the RW components, such as book clubs, reading responses, and partner reading)

Setting Up a Reader's Workshop Classroom, Part 2

If you've made the decision to set up a Reader's Workshop, you need to put a lot of thought into your library. It will serve as your main teaching tool.

In my eyes, the most important feature of any classroom library its ability to reach students. How dynamic is it? A library should be a living, breathing presence in your classroom. Read my blog entry (B&N Lightbulb Moment) to learn how you can make your library more dynamic and changing.

In this photo, you can see two displays that change about every two to four weeks in my classroom. The first one is the author display (far left in the photo) and the second is the Spotlight section. Those are the books that are facing covers out on the shelf, directly under the light. They are typically a genre we are studying, but other times they simply represent a topic or concept. Examples might be: Books that share a message. Check out my blog entries about creating a literate environment in a first grade classroom.

Setting Up a Literate Environment Part 1
Setting Up a Literate Environment Part 2

Setting Up a RW Classroom, Part 1

Here are some photos of my classroom set up this year. Because I'm looping with my current class, I was faced with the daunting task of keeping out all of my first grade books, as well as spotlighting our second grade ones. Because of that, this year more than any other- I truly have a classroom in a library!

Almost all of the books in these photos were sorted by the kids at the end of last year. I think they did a pretty good job, using their genre knowledge to make the big distinctions and then breaking them down further within the genres.

More photos of another school year

...And more

Welcome!

I'm creating this board to be an extension of my Reader's Workshop blog that can be found on the ProTeacher website (http://www.proteacher.net/). I love that site, but I need a little room to expand. Blogger gives me more options and greater freedom. I'm not going to leave my beloved Proteacher! I'm still playing with how I'll link these two boards.