Laura Robb, a well-known PD expert and proponent of reading and writing workshop in VA says it takes at least 5 years to become completely comfortable with the workshop model. Time is necessary, just like what our students need. Lynn Stanley ________________________________________ From: [email protected] [[email protected]] on behalf of Linda Rightmire [[email protected]] Sent: Monday, February 27, 2012 2:29 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [MOSAIC] Reader's workshop -- one thing at a time
=============== Renée, I love what you wrote. As a teacher of teachers, we want our education students to know, you have many years to build that up. Talked with a student teacher recently, in a wonderful class setting, and her sponsor teacher was seven years in. Seven years, to get a pretty dynamite program put together, is how the student saw it as well (of course, sponsor teacher will keep on doing more tweaking). Renée wrote: Like you, it took me years to tweak my independent reading and writing program (that's what I called it, as I began this before readers' workshop was the in thing). Every year I changed how I did things, how I did conferencing, what was on the students' checksheets, how I addressed spelling, what kind of interactive writing I did, etc. So when people ask for information and/or ideas on structuring and/or managing a readers' workshop, I am generally stuck on how to respond. My advice to people starting it is to just start it. That's what I did. Take one thing and implement it, then when that's running, start another one. I've been thinking of sending a series of posts the describe one thing at a time, but don't know if people are interested. (Probably, yes. ;-) And so much of what we do is "environment (systems) management".) Another variant on reader's workshop: we had a grade six-seven teacher who disliked how reader's workshop ended up (often) spending a lot less time on pure reading. So he got boxes of books (some adult oriented) from the downtown library (no he hadn't read them all, not at all). Spent the first entire HOUR of every day in reading. You know how absorbed readers get into a curled up or whatever position and are just "gone", there in their books? I visited his class on a sunny day in June a couple weeks before the end of school (yes we go till the bitter end here :-) ). His kids literally spent the entire hour reading, with no fooling around etc. including those who were reading on the grass out his door. Conferencing re that: during the hour, he conferenced with about four kids each period as to their last finished book. It was impressive and entertaining to see how he could take a book he'd never read and (as you or I could) by using the jacket blurb, questioning re characters, title, plot, and sliding up to page 128 or whatever, "So what's going on here?" In this way he was able to deduce quite well how much the kids had taken in, new vocab acquired, etc. One particularly impressive moment was when he pointed out one boy he'd just conferenced with, who clearly missed the meaning behind the title, and was a lower student who'd chosen (teacher thought) above his level -- but (a coming of age book) the boy thought it was "the most important book he'd ever read" and was seeking more by the same author. I have this written up better if anyone wants it -- Barry Brown's program in Kamloops, BC. I just offer this as another variation. [Funny complaint from a high school teacher who got his kids? She couldn't keep them from stealing into their novels, during her class.] Read, read, read! ;-) Linda Rightmire SD #73 Kamloops, BC ========================== _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive
