The Reading and Writing Workshops

The Reading and Writing Workshops are driven by standards, focused on strategies, differentiated, and guided by student data. There is a great deal of support for the Workshop Model from many leaders in the field of literacy instruction, including Lucy Calkins, Nancy Atwell, Richard Allington, and Carol Avery.

The Reading and Writing Workshop Model is a structured time for the teaching and learning of literacy instruction. The Reading Workshop is an uninterrupted time for students to read, think and converse about authentic literature on a daily basis. The Writing Workshop is an uninterrupted time for students to engage in daily, authentic, self-selected independent writing in a variety of genres and content areas. The main focus of the Workshop Model is to differentiate instruction in order to accommodate learning needs of all students while fostering a love of reading and writing in a literacy- rich environment.

Word Study - Phonemic Awareness/ Phonics Instruction:  Wright Skills will continue to be used for phonics instruction in grades K-2 for approximately 20 min/day  It is important to have a systematic approach to the instruction of Phonemic Awareness and Phonics and Wright Skills provides such an approach  This will be considered a “Word Work” period that can be tacked on to the front or tail end of the Workshop period or taught at a separate time  The skills taught should be reinforced throughout any instructional time in which it is appropriate, including in the content areas

Implications for Teachers:  A literacy rich environment is critical to the success of the Workshop Model. Therefore, it is important that classroom teachers have a well-organized classroom library and students have access to a variety of literacy materials to support the reading and writing process.  Teacher facilitate a whole group minilesson that is about 10-15 minutes in length in which explicit modeling is provided through the reading of authentic literature.  Teachers establish routines and rituals that will allow students to focus on learning throughout the workshop time period.  Teachers meet daily with small groups and conference with individual students on a regular basis.  Teachers will set goals with students in both reading and writing and help students to monitor goals or set new goals as the student progresses.  Teachers use formative assessments, observations and conference notes to inform both whole group instruction and differentiated small group instruction.

Implications for Students:  Students are held accountable for their reading through journals, application of strategies taught and conferences with the teacher.  Students are held accountable for writing through their Writer’s Notebooks, a tracking process for steps in the writing process and through conferences with the teacher.  Students are responsible for choosing “just right” books for independent reading.  Students will collaborate with the teacher to set goals in reading and writing and monitor or adjust those goals every two weeks.  Students will have a clear understanding of the reading/writing expectations during the work periods.  Students will have multiple opportunities to collaborate with and discuss reading and writing with partners or in small groups.  Students will have multiple problem solving steps and strategies to use if the teacher is leading a small group or conferencing with another student.  Students will be highly engaged in high-interest reading and responding and authentic writing related to literature and choice throughout the Reading and Writing Workshops

Impact on Instructional Practices in Reading / Shift in Pedagogy:

Traditional Workshop Model

TIME FOR READING Limited Increased Students involved in whole class reading Increase in time students are reading independently Students may only be reading during their Students read during the entire Workshop “group time” Students were given “seatwork” when not Students read independent, in pairs and in in reading group small groups DIRECT INSTRUCTION Tasks and Skills Emphasized Strategic Reading Emphasized Reading is taught as a task to complete Reading is taught as a process with teacher modeling strategies Primary focus on reading skills taught Instruction emphasizes reading strategies sequentially through literature and based on need Less interesting and less challenging Higher level instruction provided to all instruction provided to less able readers students Students not aware of teacher’s reading Teacher models reading processes and processes and practices shares practices through read alouds, think alouds and demonstrations INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES Teacher Driven Student Centered Students are grouped by reading ability* Students are grouped by level, by interest or in flexible needs-based groups* Round-robin oral reading is practiced Silent and oral reading; discussions with teachers and/or students Vocabulary instruction presented in a list Vocabulary learned and practiced format to learn through reading material Teacher makes decisions Students have ownership and responsibility for choosing books, reading independently, using strategies, preparing for conferences Students perceive themselves as part of Students are part of a whole class reading one group community OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESPONSE Receptive Interactive Teacher responds to students Students have conversations with other students as well as with the teacher Few writing opportunities Writing occurs before, during and after reading * Due to this shift in philosophy and practice, homogeneous grouping is not appropriate in the Workshop Model.

Impact on Instructional Practices in Reading / Shift in Pedagogy (con’t):

Traditional Workshop Model

RELATIONSHIP OF ASSESSMENT TO INSTRUCTION Test-taking Dominates Assessment Informs Instruction Students read book and answer question Students involved in alternative forms of in a typical multiple-choice format assessment: anecdotal records , running records, journals, observations, checklists, rubrics, conferences All students assessed in the same manner Ongoing assessments and observations of individuals to determine strengths and weaknesses Teacher follows set guidelines in a Teacher makes instructional decisions prescribed sequence based on assessment

The specifics of the instructional practices that occur during the Reading and Writing Workshops are defined and clarified in use and practice in the “K-5 Quick Reference Guide to Effective Teaching Structures in a Literacy Classroom” created for teachers and administrators.

School Bookroom Expectations: Each school will have an organized bookroom that will:  be accessible to all teachers (not students)  contain sets of multiple books that are labeled and organized by reading level  contain grade level shared reading books that are labeled and used only at that grade level  have a check out and monitoring system in place

Classroom Library Expectations:  Each grade level classroom will have the same number of leveled baskets (provided by the district)  Each grade level classroom library will contain different books than the other classes at that grade  These classroom libraries can and should be rotated at intervals throughout the year in order to create a “new” set of books to choose from.  Each grade level will decide the dates at which to rotate the baskets  The school administrators will be responsible for determining a process for monitoring books and replacing lost books