1) in the middle, nancie atwell
2) teaching reading in middle school, laura robb
3) wondrous words, katie wood ray
4) how's it going (strategic conferencing), carl anderson
5) the reading zone, nancie atwell
6) strategies the work, stephanie harvey
7) thinking through genre, heather lattimer
8) you gotta be the book! (or strategic reading), jeffrey wilhelm
9) the power of grammar, mary ehrenworth
10) minilessons for literature circles, harvey daniels
Monday, May 31
Wednesday, May 19
workshop method: top ten tips
last year, the new york times reported on a growing movement towards the reading and writing workshop. i thought it was funny at first because we have been teaching workshop for a while now, and so many teachers have started to rebel against workshop because it's now the dominant standard here.
i think the challenge now is that while so many people may have opinions about the workshop method in general, far fewer teachers understand and practice the core principles. i've been working with student teachers the last five years, and these are the top 10 tips and suggestions i give to them.
1) independent reading with a class library.
if you can only choose one thing to start your workshop, so many people agree that you should start with independent reading. traditional instruction focuses on content or new critical readings. however, we know that traditional instruction has failed so many students.
independent reading is based on the belief that students will be more engaged in reading and writing about reading if they are able to choose the books and topics they read and write about. our larger goal is to create lifelong readers who care deeply about the books they read and think about.
this is the single most transformative step for workshop teachers. new instruction focuses on reading skills and strategies, in contrast to specific content or specific readings.
2) architecture of a minilesson.
there are many different ideas and structures that teachers use to develop units and projects and activities. however, if teachers can master the basic workshop minilesson, they can consistently deliver new skills and strategies through effective instruction. this minilesson structure is largely developed and perfected by lucy calkins and the reading and writing project at teachers college.
3) workshop structures: models and mentor texts. write with the students: whatever genre they're writing, you should be writing too.
4) workshop structures: reading and writing rubric. the traits of really good readers and writers. readers: stamina, fluency, volume, comprehension, analysis, commitment. writers: ideas, organization, details, fluency, voice, and conventions.
5) workshop structures: conferences. one on one meetings with students. use them to buoy their work, but mostly to figure out what students need individually or what they all need to help make minilessons.
6) workshop structures: small groups. small minilessons in groups of 4 or 5. you can choose who comes or they can choose. this is something that you're noticing in groups of students but not widespread.
7) remember to always only teach things real readers and real writers really do. don't make up stuff because teachers have to teach. don't use jargon and don't use reading or writing skills or strategies that real people don't use.
8) minilessons work on three levels: big ideas, general skills, and specific strategies. the beginning of the unit should focus on larger ideas. as the unit moves on, narrow your teaching points to general skills and onto specific strategies.
writing:
a) big idea: we write poetry from our heart.
b) general skill: we write poems towards specific ideas.
c) specific strategy: we choose words that help emphasize or highlight the specific ideas.
reading:
a) big idea: readers use strategies to help understand our reading. connect, infer, question, visualize, predict, analyze, retell.
b) general skill: readers predict to help follow the story sequence.
c) specific strategy:readers make effective predictions by using specific information they already know: from the genre, from other stories, from this story
9) try out independent writing
10) portfolio assessment
11) plus: read professional books to update your practice!
i think the challenge now is that while so many people may have opinions about the workshop method in general, far fewer teachers understand and practice the core principles. i've been working with student teachers the last five years, and these are the top 10 tips and suggestions i give to them.
1) independent reading with a class library.
if you can only choose one thing to start your workshop, so many people agree that you should start with independent reading. traditional instruction focuses on content or new critical readings. however, we know that traditional instruction has failed so many students.
independent reading is based on the belief that students will be more engaged in reading and writing about reading if they are able to choose the books and topics they read and write about. our larger goal is to create lifelong readers who care deeply about the books they read and think about.
this is the single most transformative step for workshop teachers. new instruction focuses on reading skills and strategies, in contrast to specific content or specific readings.
2) architecture of a minilesson.
there are many different ideas and structures that teachers use to develop units and projects and activities. however, if teachers can master the basic workshop minilesson, they can consistently deliver new skills and strategies through effective instruction. this minilesson structure is largely developed and perfected by lucy calkins and the reading and writing project at teachers college.
- connection
- teaching point
- link
- guided practice (active engagement)
- independent practice
3) workshop structures: models and mentor texts. write with the students: whatever genre they're writing, you should be writing too.
4) workshop structures: reading and writing rubric. the traits of really good readers and writers. readers: stamina, fluency, volume, comprehension, analysis, commitment. writers: ideas, organization, details, fluency, voice, and conventions.
5) workshop structures: conferences. one on one meetings with students. use them to buoy their work, but mostly to figure out what students need individually or what they all need to help make minilessons.
6) workshop structures: small groups. small minilessons in groups of 4 or 5. you can choose who comes or they can choose. this is something that you're noticing in groups of students but not widespread.
7) remember to always only teach things real readers and real writers really do. don't make up stuff because teachers have to teach. don't use jargon and don't use reading or writing skills or strategies that real people don't use.
8) minilessons work on three levels: big ideas, general skills, and specific strategies. the beginning of the unit should focus on larger ideas. as the unit moves on, narrow your teaching points to general skills and onto specific strategies.
writing:
a) big idea: we write poetry from our heart.
b) general skill: we write poems towards specific ideas.
c) specific strategy: we choose words that help emphasize or highlight the specific ideas.
reading:
a) big idea: readers use strategies to help understand our reading. connect, infer, question, visualize, predict, analyze, retell.
b) general skill: readers predict to help follow the story sequence.
c) specific strategy:readers make effective predictions by using specific information they already know: from the genre, from other stories, from this story
9) try out independent writing
10) portfolio assessment
11) plus: read professional books to update your practice!
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