Language Arts Workshop
Reading & Writing Workshop is an extended time for students to read, think, write, and converse daily. Reading Workshop is designed to differentiate, or personalize, instruction in order to accommodate the learning needs of all students while fostering a love for reading. Writing Workshop is designed to emphasize the act of writing itself—students spend most of their time putting pencil to paper, not just learning about it. Over time, students learn to choose their own topics and to manage their own development as they work through a wide variety of writing projects in a sustained and self-directed way.
Reading & Writing Workshop includes:
-Adapted from Guiding Readers and Writers by Irene C. Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell & Writer's Workshop: Teaching that Makes Sense
- Focused mini-lessons with the whole class about reading/writing process, skills, or strategies
- Students independently reading and writing while the teacher is conferencing with individuals or small groups
- Students working on assignments relative to the mini-lessons
- Whole group sharing time and/or peer conferences
- Workshop is successful because it is based on the idea that students learn to read and write best when they do so frequently, for extended periods of time, on books/topics of their own choosing.
- Workshop is a time to involve students in authentic reading and writing experiences that focus on the strengths and needs of each individual student.
- Workshop occurs daily for 60 minutes.
- Reading Workshop allows time for independent reading on an independent level (95-100% accuracy; “just right”). Students choose books with guidance from the teacher.
- Writing Workshop uses strategies and techniques constantly modeled. Students use mentor texts as a guide to assist them in the writing process.
- Workshop is a time during which the teacher’s role shifts from one of initiating, modeling, and guiding to one of providing, observing, acknowledging, and responding through conferring.
- Workshop is a time for students to learn how to work together as a community, supporting one another, as well as pursuing individual reading and writing goals.
- Workshop is a time for readers and writers to take responsibility for their learning by setting goals, tracking progress and assessing their success.
-Adapted from Guiding Readers and Writers by Irene C. Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell & Writer's Workshop: Teaching that Makes Sense
Reading Workshop
- Reading Workshop 101
- Building a Reading Life
- Interpretive Writing About Reading
- Informational Non-Fiction