My Reading Workshop

Starting up a classroom of my own is far more intense than I ever thought.  As I have planned for the placement of my guided reading table, whole group meeting area, computers, my desk, and many other spaces, I have spent a lot of time thinking about what the room will be like in November/December when my room is in full swing with students working independently and me with a small group.  Having had the opportunity to "test" out my teaching style and a classroom layout or two as a long term substitute has been wonderful.  It has also left me with more ideas than I can use in one room (having worked in a hundred or more classrooms in three years, my idea book is full). 

My favorite part of the school day is my reading block.  I love to read and love to watch my students enthusiasm for reading grow during the year.  I have spent a lot of time studying, taking classes, and observing other teachers during this time and have developed a structure that works for my students.and myself  I usually start this time with a mini lesson.  I am a big fan of anchor charts and use them often during the school year.  My mini lessons typically consist of a read aloud that connects to a concept (i.e. cause/effect, prediction).  Check out this area below.

After the mini lesson, my students get to work on their independent work.  I have read and love the books titled Daily 5 and The Cafe Book by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser.  I have found a way to incorporate their ideas into my reading block.  While I work with a small group of students on reading (more to come about my guided reading lessons later), the rest of my class knows that they are expected to be working on their "Daily 5 Choices."  Daily 5 is more geared towards early elementary and my Master's degree and early teaching experience is all K-3, but I have tweaked it a bit to make it just as successful for my 5th graders (used with my 4th grade long term classes last school year).  My kids have 5 "Main Idea" choices - Independent Read, Buddy Read, Word Study, Writing, and Content Area (more on these area's in a later post).

My Buddy Reading station is on the bottom of the left end of the bookshelves and the Independent Reading station is on the bottom of the right end of the bookshelves (in the blue bin).

The entire black bookshelf is my Word Study station.

This is my Writing station.

This is my Content Area station.

When setting up my classroom, I had to take into account these "Daily 5 Choices."  I took a class this summer on Literacy Work Stations that focused around two books (one for primary grades and one for intermediate grades), Literacy Work Stations and Practice with Purpose.  Both books are by Debbie Diller (an author I read a lot of in grad school - where my love for teaching reading really blossomed).  This class talked a lot about providing students with choices during the reading time that are not busy work, rather provide valuable practice to enhance learning.  My five choices this year will be viewed more as "Main Ideas" with choices or "Details" inside of them.  I stationed these five spaces around the classroom.  Each station is housed inside of a portable file bin.  The students choices at these stations will be placed inside of these bins.

Planning for a classroom that will be mine all year long is a lot of work, but I am certain rewarding once the students arrive at the end of August.  I hope you enjoyed a little glimpse of my reading block plans.  I hope to share so much more about it.  After all, learning is reading in many ways!