Monday, October 27, 2008
Reading Workshop...
What are you thinking about a Reading Workshop after our last class? What about the idea do you like? Not like? What seems to make sense? What is confusing? I am very interested in your thinking so that we can figure out where to go next. Please write anything you are thinking...there are no "right" answers...
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15 comments:
okay so I guess I will be the first one to jump in with my thoughts. First of all I want you to know I did not sleep Thursday night because my head was full of ideas and my mind was racing. I was thinking about classroom set up, book organization, notebooks, color coding,ect....The list goes on. I like the idea but I need to move in baby steps so I do it correctly. I don't just want to dive in and do a blah job. I still have to say that the grade thing is a challenge for me. I also can see that there are more of "you" doing this in your school and you seem on the same page and direction. There are not as many of "us" to bounce ideas off of right now. Many are not even aware of the direction the district is going in because no one has been saying anything to anyone. With that said I hope more become aware of it and hear about the new direction besides hearing it through me :) so more sharing can go on more within the school. It sounds like such a gang thing "you" and "us" I don't mean it like that all because we know we are all one big happy family:)
Now that we have got that out in the open lets refocus. I do like the readers workshop and my goal for myself is to do at least one new thing a week and hopefully by the end of the year have the whole thing going on and I will be a pro by next school year.:) Sorry for the rambling and have a great week working on report cards.
HI there,
Sara, my friend, (I almost wrote fried insted of friend), I can only speak for myself in saying this is all new to me as well, and if anything I could be nominated for Miss Basal, Class of "75. I like many of the aspects of reader's workshop....I like the engagement of the students, the variety of material, and the idea of not holding anyone back. My concerns are in that with I feel my Grade 2 students, (who we know are not all on grade level) are still learning the logistics of reading. I still think they need a lot of help with decoding, vocab....and that I need to have a handle on what they can/can't do.....On the other hand, the ones that are ready for higher level reading, I am less worried about using this format.....I also agree with taking baby steps, and not throwing the baby out with the bath water! I love the thought of better utilizing my classroom library....looking forward to hearing more from all of you as for inside tips......and I do feel it is always about having balance.
fj
Hi girls,
I must say that I like the idea of the Reading Workshop as you are reading books that are of interest to you at a reading level that you can handle. It is also a great way to have special education students access to the classroom experience attheir own reading level. However, there is not enough of me to go around to be in all of the classrooms to assist the teacher.. With the clientel I have in my ptogram, I have 4th graders in the resource program reading a novel as a group. My goal is to teach them how to work through novels using the MOT/LTT strategies we have learned. They are enjoying it and I am able to work on other areas with them (ie syllabication, decoding). I am starting slowly with this group with the hope of letting them have more choice in the future.
I think that we are all mostly feeling about the same way. Lots of information, lots of ideas, but _how to set it up successfully, THAT is the question! I to, am thinking in baby steps. This will definitely be a work in progress that willinclude some trial and error. I look forward to trying it out, but I will do it SLOWLY I am still a bit unsettled with the grading, and letting go of some of the "control" issues. I am still of the mind of combining some of the "old" with some of the "new"--- to be continued!! In addition, Team 3 kids enjoyed your lesson on Tuesday thanks so much!! Nancy
I'm at a different place in reader's workshop than most of you. When I get a big chunk of time in the morning without a Special, the workshop just flows. I wish everyday was like that. As was watching Tomasen in Heather's class, I enjoyed the insightful connections of the 5th graders but it was not the 10 to 15 minutes mini lesson that sets up the independent reading time. Shouldn't it be? I tend to go on too long with my lesson and the next thing I know there's a shorter amount of time for actual reading or even wrapping up at the end. I want flow and balance in my reading/ writing morning. I'm still figuring that out along the way which is uncomfortable at times. Control issues I suspect. Trying to "do it right" adds pressure and it trickles down to the kids. Not good. That's the lesson I'm trying to learn. As evidence that the kids are learning was my favorite comment from yesterday. When we were discussing how we connect deeply to the character's emotions, Aleks piped up with, "When my character was in pain, I said, "Ouch!" Those are the moments I live for. One more thing. It is so gratifying to be the beneficiary of other teachers' labor before they get to me. Schema, connections, predictions are already part of their vocabulary. Your work is really impacting the quality of the student's thinking and it's fun to work with. Well done !
Me too to everything already mentioned here. I need time to mull over and process all this information, then figure out how to make it work. I'm with you all on the starting small idea. So far the activities I've done have gone over pretty well but they feel a bit haphazard. I want to make them a regular part of the day, but I'm not there yet. I'm thinking that maybe I'll start out with a rotation station setup after doing a mini-lesson. I'm ok with kids doing different books and projects at the same time, but I think I need some kind of "map" for ME - to keep myself on track. Is there or should there be a sequence for skill or objectives for the mini-lessons? Maybe just follow the skills and strategies from the basal???? I've never been one to be tied to the basal, but after using it for as long as we've had it, I guess I've gotten used to the sequence. Finding a good solid block of this is also a challenge, this year in particular. Is anyone else having this problem? Finding time to connect with Sara and Kerrie is also not easy. I know you "Soule-sisters" see each other during the day more than we are able here. Believe it or not, I might not see Sara to talk to for a couple of days. Luckily Kerrie and I have a more common schedule. And right now it's only the 3 of us on this journey. Not whining - just a little envious I guess. Thanks for listening.
Well, I'm beginning to jump in using readers workshop and so far it's been great. First baby step: I started out turning afternoon DEAR time into a more focused activity. First, I tried having students work in pairs and gave them post-it notes to jot down connections, predictions, or just unfamiliar words they were stuck on (either w/ decoding or comprehension). The kids were so much more "into" their reading than a usual DEAR time when many students were just flipping through books and "going through the motions." They were interacting with the text and each other. We did this several times and sometimes I would pair students up to work together and other times I let them choose their own groups to work in or work alone. For these afternoon "mini-workshops" I let the kids choose their own books but encouraged them to find a "just right" book. I expected it to get out of hand and the room to get too noisy but this group of students has pleasantly surprised me. One day last week I decided to give it a try for an entire morning. I wasn't sure I (and the kids) would be able to sustain it for that long but we did. I divided the class up into small groups (between 2-4 students per group)and gave them the McGraw leveled readers to work with. The kids came up with their own strategies for managing THEIR reading groups and I floated around conferencing. The kids worked w/ these leveled readers (reading, discussing, connecting)for almost an HOUR! We then came together on the rug for sharing. The main focus of this sharing was reading strategies. Students took turns sharing words they had trouble with
and I used this opportunity to focus on phonics, decoding strategies, vocabulary, context clues, etc. I think this worked very well and I will be trying to incorporate a lot more of this into my reading program. It will take me a while to feel comfortable letting go of the reins and letting the kids completely self-select their own books but it's my goal to get there!
Well, I think everyone has the right idea. Taking steps that fit where you are in the process. I have to say that these steps have been better on some days than others for me. I'll have a day when it feels great and the next may feel choppy and out of sync for me. The kids do cheer when I say that we will be doing Readers Workshop and I have been so impressed with the classroom discussions related to the "Time for Kids" magazine that we got this year. One thing that has helped me is that I do not need to answer all of their questions. I have discussed this with my class that it's ok to have lingering questions and they seem ok with it. Maybe it was just me who wasn't. I do still need to find a comfortable management style for me. I feel that I am not conferencing enough, but I am trying to take the status of the class more often. Did any of this make sense? I think it has the same feel as my Readers Workshop...a moment or two of clarity and then...some disjointed ideas/lessons put together.
I liked being able to talk more about Reading Workshop last class. I found it helpful to discuss how we would keep records for parent “conferences” and such.
I think that I am ready to dive into the Reading Workshop, although I may not be able to have it every day. Right now, I am trying it two to three times a week. I already tried to teach the mini-lessons and move into reading workshop. However, I found that I was not able to keep it short because of the rich discussions we were having. I had students digging into the book deeper than I have seen a first grader go, therefore I couldn’t stop it. I noticed this occurring often when I try to practice various strategies. Is there a better way to make my lessons shorter without losing that ahh effect from my children?
Last week I taught a mini-lesson on I wonders. Then I asked the children to go to their reading spots and find three wonders (using Angela’s form from last year) from a self selected book. Students who could read were asked to read the text and other students who have a difficult time decoding were asked to look at the pictures in their stories to develop their I wonders. It went well, so well that my students asked to use the papers again for DEAR time and at home!!
My mind is swimming after reading all of these blogs. First of all, what comfort I had in our last class when you were giving EXPLICIT instruction on what a Readers' Workshop is. I seem to keep reading all types of ways to do it, but nothing as explicit as yours. I'm not one to flail around guessing how to do it, I want to be told. Then came the problem with my non-readers. I did set up a Status report form for myself and used it once, (yes, I used it during DEAR time) mostly to send the message to my students that read, you need to stop floating constantly from book to book and stay with one. Now I need to follow up with it.
Thank you Tomasen for coming in to do a lesson on book choice. We've been talking about too easy books, vacation books, just right books and hard books. I did a follow up lesson having a child demonstrate a too easy, just right and too hard book. Then I had the children vote on what type of book it was. I'm surprised to say the lesson went well, and I am sure that some children really got it. I plan on doing it some more so that they can eventually do it on their own.
I'm with the others that say some days appear to be better than others when doing the Readers' Workshop. It's difficult for me with the time management piece and I am looking forward to hearing from others on Thursday about this. See you then!!!
Hi, it's me, Jackie back with a comment I forgot to post. I felt a sigh of relief when you said that we should let the children sort our class books so that they're easier to pick. Can't wait to try but I'll need to do it in small chunks, otherwise it's another overwhelming job. Any suggestions for sorting other than by animal, fairy tale, fiction, nonfiction etc.? Thanks!
I absolutely loved the last class. This is how I want my class to run. I have already been letting the students choose their books but I have not had them doing lots of thinking along with the reading. Lately we have been doing a lot more picture walks and questioning activities. I agree with Karen S. I feel as though I need a better map. I do like the activities and the philosophy. I just need to feel more comfortable about the approach and the sequence of lessons.
Like many of you I am both eager and excited to bring in aspects of the reader's workshop into my classroom. I loved watching the video and seeing the children in the classroom who were so invested and interested in what they were reading. They really seemed to have the flow of the workshop down, and this is what I would love to have more experience with. I am very new to this idea, and am interested in learning more about the initial set-up of the workshop because I know there is a lot of planning that is involved in order to set up the climate for a sucessful reader's workshop. I would also love to take the opportunity to observe in other classrooms that are already using the workshop and see what a typical lesson looks like...time management, flow, format, etc. I am a very visual learner and would benefit from seeing it myself in an actual classroom being used. I am also curious as to how it will play out in my classroom with specials and different children leaving at odd times all throughout the morning. I'm excited, but still have many questions before beginning...as many of you have said baby steps sound like a great idea.
Wow!!
I feel comfortable being in the same boat as everyone. I too am having a hard time leaving the basal because it is what I have been using for so long (Karen S). I loved teaching w/o the basal and I'm glad to be able to do it again. I have not had the time to get going with RW. I still have to organize the classroom library with the students and then talk about book selection. I know my kids will enjoy getting to pick their OWN book and get to read. When things get tight and I take DEAR away, there is a moan!! I do have a question about what happens when the kids complete a book. Is there some sort of expectation. A character poem, a quick write, a chart, or anything?? I guess I want to know what they do with all those sticky notes in the book.
I feel that I am taking the steps into the pool of RW with all of you. However, I usually dive into the pool.
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