Hello and Welcome to our Blog!
We will be using this blog to engage in conversations about our pre-institute reading of Regie Routman's Teaching Essentials. As you read each chapter, please post your thoughts and reflections here. Thanks! Becky and Christy
Monday, June 14, 2010
School Talk Article
In order to make responding to the article easier, I thought it would be nice to make one post where we could all respond with comments and aha's from the reading. Hopefully you will all agree that this works well and respond here.
I really enjoyed reading this article for many reasons: 1.) It affirmed some structures that I was already using well in my classroom. 2.) It reminded me of some structures that I wasn't using well and needed to focus on improving. *I need to do more write aloud for my students so they see my decision making process. 3.) It made me question some things that I hope you all can provide either insights or suggestions for me. *I would love to hear how you take a "status of the class and keep up with that from day to day *During shared reading, if the teacher is having the students read along are they to do so chorally? *If doing a guided reading lesson with the whole class, how is that different from shared reading?
I loved the idea of literature study and I want to implement that into my classroom this year.
In the "Workshop Environment" section I like that the teacher thought of how she learned best and then used that to create an environment fit for her students as well.
When reading the section titled "First Graders Study Families" I had two questions: 1.) How should you order the balanced literacy components so they are most effetive? 2.) Do they do anything else during the day besides language arts? It never mentioned math, science, or social studies.
This article was like a good refresher of balanced literacy in general. I liked the focus on inquiry and how the teacher incorpoarted that into their lessons to better help students explore what they were curious about in relation to the topic they were studying. I would LOVE to do more inquiry based stuff this upcoming year and really make sure literacy truly flows seamlessly acorss the curriculum.
I also like the focus again as Regie does on student choice and decision making with the teacher asking questions such as "Do the kids in my class have choices initated by their own interests? Are there predictable structures to support their learning and ample time for them to pursue those interests? Do students have opportunities to interact?" I think asking myself these questions will help develop structure within student choice to make the classroom an enjoyable, interactive and GREAT learning environment. I liked the idea of the "status of the class" to keep a running record of what students are doing and holding them accountable for accomplishing a task while I might be working with a small group. This is something I would like to try and really focuses on putting responsibility and accountability for learning in the student's hand.
I also liked the Literacy Workshop Across the Day chart as I think it is a GREAT starting place for ideas and a reminder of what each component is about.
I too found that this article affirmed some of the things I do in my classroom during reading and writing workshop, but it also reminded me of the things that I still need to work on. I feel pretty comfortable with the general organization of both blocks of time, but admit that I struggle with the sharing portion. I know the importance of it in theory but seem to run out of time! I really like the idea of giving my students ownership and choice within the workshop and do find that I get better quality work from my students when the choice is theirs. I found the part that talked about what the teacher is doing during the reading and writing workshop to be informative and a good indicator that I am on the right track!
As with the other bloggers, this article affirmed what I do well and where I could use improvement. I loved the status of the class idea and plan to use that in the future. I was reminded of the "write aloud" part of the writing workship which I was great at as a first grade teacher but did not do as well at as a fourth grade teacher. For me, writing with fourth graders was so overwhelming. I really loved how this article took us through the day and showed how she tied it all together. Last year, there were times where I felt my teaching was "disjointed" and did not flow. Regie talked about that in her book. It made me think that I have become a slave to the schedule and I watch it at times more that I watch the child. Does that make sense? This is why I love taking classes...it makes me think about my teaching and why I do what I do.
The three main areas I highlighted (areas I need to grow especially) in this article are on GUIDED READING and INQUIRY. I want to make these three areas more workable in my classroom. I feel like I have a pretty good handle on inquiry especially when we navigate our way through nonfiction texts, but I want to give my students more opportunities for this. This is a good time for them to discover and "label" later. Explicit, small group instruction is always a challenge for me because I always want to make sure the children that are not in the small group are engaged in meaningful and appropriate activities....does anyone do guided groups at times other than independent reading? Are they taking part in a literature study, partner reading, or even writing? Good idea, Angela....I like all the comments for this article in one place. :)
I am going to piggy back on what everyone else has said so far and saying that it was a good refresher of balanced literacy and it also affirmed someone the things I was doing in my classroom. Aspects I would like to work on would be shared writing and interactive writing. Like Angela, I also was wondering which order is the most effective way to set up the reading/ writing workshop day? In the First Graders Study Families the teacher started the day with Independent Reading. I have always started Reading Workshop with a Read Aloud then moved in Shared Reading, Guided Reading and then Independent Reading. Is there a certain way or is just what you think works best for your class?
The first thing that jumped out at me in this article (was in Regie's book as well) was the idea that to truly get your students involved is to make reading and writing authentic. I feel like I have tried to make writing "real" in the past, but I would like to be better at it. Something I'm not sure of is if I am making the reading experiences authentic enough. I modeled lots of real things last year...but,don't think I gave the students the practice time they deserved. This is something I will strive to do better in the coming year. I would like activities involving things like travel brochures, road maps, menus, cookbooks...things children will certainly as some point in their lives need to use....wylie
My thoughts about the article...I have to agree it was a good refresher but it also gave me some thoughts to ponder. I started to ask myself about student accountability. In other areas of my professional growth, I have used an accountability partner...someone who I worked with to reach my goals and vice versa. I would like use student accountability partners. There needs to be structure in the process, but could build a stronger working relationship. Another thought came to mind... after reading about the first grade case study, time will need to be spent teaching students "how" to discuss in literature circles, even with the older grades as well- it is important to spend the time teaching them how to respond to fellow students.
I really like how this article clearly explained the reading/writing workshop, and I am glad that I am pretty much on target. I use to take the "status of the class" each day in writing workshop. I went through the whole class and each student had to tell me where they were in writer's workshop. They had to tell me: if that day they were working on their graphic organizer, rough draft, needing a peer conference or peer editing, needing a teacher conference (prior to writing final paper), or writing their final paper. Although this did help me know if they were moving along at a steady pace (I recorded daily what they were doing), and it kept them focused, it took time for me to ask and record the info for the whole class each day. Perhaps it depends on the class, but my classes seem pretty focused on writing for the most part. Rather than spending my time "asking and recording", I found my time better spent on a quick walk around to see what everyone was working on and then proceeding to "guided writing". Of course, prior lessons were given so that students knew what writer's workshop was suppose to look like.
Since I am about to teach ELA in 5th grade for the first time next year, I have been picking everyone's brains about Balanced Literacy and what the main challenges will be. In response to what Liz said, everyone seems to say that guided reading is the most difficult component, and I already knew that inquiry has a variety of challenges - especially with management and accountability. I'm very interested to see how inquiry is going to work in ELA because I thoroughly enjoy inquiry in science and math!
To me as an outside observer of Balanced Literacy, I would think you would pull small groups throughout the day whenever possible - even if you form reading groups during writing time if that's a priority. However, in practice I know how simple this seems in math vs. the reality of 25 kids and their math journal questions, so I'm sure I'm in for a few reality checks.
I hate to sound redundant, but I also found the article to be a helpful refresher that reaffirms my beliefs about reading and writing instruction.
Faith, your post spoke to me, because I, too, struggle with the sharing portion. I completely understand the importance of it, but time (or the lack thereof) is the obstacle in my classroom. There were days this past year when sharing did not happen, but on the days that it did, I could see the pride and joy my students felt sharing their work and/or their thinking. And to piggyback on what Sandy said, there were times this past year when I felt like my teaching did not flow. I incorporated all of the elements/structures of reading and writing workshop, but moving from one to the other sometimes felt choppy and disjointed. I have done so much thinking about what I can do next year (and I think the answer lies in more frontloading and creating more authentic experiences) to help things run more smoothly, to see my students engaged and on-task, even when I am giving my attention to a student or small group of students.
Darlene, your post also spoke to me, because this article has made me think about taking the "status of the class." I'm left wondering if taking the status is something that should be done everyday, or does the time it takes to do that outweigh the benefits? Sometimes I feel so in-touch with my readers and writers (from informal conferences, guided groups, etc...) that I don't feel the need to take the status. But there were days last year when I felt more out of touch with my students and did begin reading and writing workshop by taking the status of the class. What are your ways for taking the status of the class? How often do you do it? What record-keeping methods have you found to be effective?
It feels good to know I am already doing many of the things in this article, however, there are several things I would like to improve upon in my classroom this year! SHARING: I try to make time for students to share, especially with regards to their writing BUT, I find that is the first thing I "cut" out of the day if we are pressed for time. I am going to try and come up with a system for sharing that doesn't take a lot of time but might highlight a few students each day-what they are working on and what they are doing well. INDEPENDENT READING: I want to work with my literacy coach this year in hopes that my independent reading time will run more smoothly. I love to sit with my students and listen to them read (or, in some instances, tell the story through pictures). There is so much information I can get from listening!! I must admit though, from the beginning of the year through at least January, most days I dreaded independent reading!! My students had trouble choosing books that were appropriate and they really didn't use this time to read. Instead, they sat with friends and talked, rolled around on the floor, abandoned their books and went to the restroom...anything to get out of what they were supposed to be doing. I KNOW, without question, this was my fault. I had not set them up in the beginning to be successful during this time. I need some guidance as to how this time should look/sound at the beginning of the year in kindergarten (and how it will change throughout the year). What should be going on at this time and what procedures should I introduce so they are able to be successful? How long should it last?
Can anyone share ideas that have worked for you and your students during independent reading in kindergarten?
I enjoyed reading Kathy Short's article about reading and writing workshop across the day. It was a perfect example of effective and seamless teaching that Regie talks about in chapter 5. In Joanne Hindley's article, this quote is a perfect incentive to strive for gradual release of responsibility: "It is much easier for thirty people to take on the responsibility of caring for our home than for one person to do it for the other twenty-nine." The classroom has to be a caring and comfortable environment where children have a voice, a choice, and a desire to "take pride in the upkeep." Finally, I appreciated how Five and Egawa organized all of the components of the reading and writing workshop. It's nice to take a step back and look at the big picture instead of getting bogged down in all the details.
What a great resource. This article was explained step by step and how the parts of the workshops looked. For me, this is so valuable because I haven't taught ELA in so long that I needed a clear/concise refresher. I'm wondering if anyone could share any light on how it exactly works combining reading and writing workshop times together. It seems to me that the students would choose the workshops they were most comfortable with and try to avoid the other.
Angela, I agree with you about keeping up with the status of the class. There seems to be so many things you have to keep up with and juggle at the same time! I think that by having a structured and predictable routine, it will help both the students and me.
Since I will be looping, I have the benefit of knowing my children already. Some love to read and write and others detest it. My concern is that all this information is wonderful for the ones who love "doing school", but how do I get the ones who hate writing or any needed to "do school" interested and sustain that interest? This may be a topic for later discussion.
It seems like the buzz words for today were "authentic" and "meaningful" which were echoed in our discussion of R. Routman's book and in the Five and Egawa article. I appreciated Hindley's description of her own learning experiences, (in this case with cooking), as a means of identifying what her students need in order to learn. Courses like this give us, as teachers, the time to reflect on our own learning and apply those ideas to our students. Reflection seems to be the one thing I get very little time to do during the school year, so taking time to journal and reflect and to listen to all of you is really invaluable!!
I'm sure you all are asleep right now, as it is 12:30ish in the morning. The heat doesn't love me and I developed a migraine upon leaving class. LOVELY!
Anyhow, I really enjoyed reading this article. There are a lot of things that I already do that were mentioned, but I am looking forward to trying new things such as:
1)Literature study/circles - Before reading this article I wasn't sure this was possible with 1st graders but Kathy Short's section proved otherwise.
2) Taking a "status of the class" during workshop time - I've seen this done a couple of different ways in different classrooms. One teacher had a laminated chart with different workshop options. Each student had a clothes pin with his/her name on it and each day they would place their clip on the appropriate section. Another way I've seen this done is with a coded class list. If a child were working on revising an "R" would be placed by his/her name for that day. If a couple of students were conferencing together they would put a "C" by their names, and so on.
I am much later than you Tiffani! I got so much out of this article, but it also caused me to ask so many questions. It sounded to me that the students, during writing time especially, could all be doing 25 different things on 25 different topics?! Did I understand that correctly? I understand that each child might be at a different place in their writing at given times but aren't they all working on basically the same thing? For example, letter writing, persuasive papers, etc. depending on what the focus is (of course making the writing authentic and not just saying today we are going to write a letter to anybody for any reason). It sounded very confusing to me. Maybe I need to read the article again. I understand how the reading block can be spent doing a variety of things depending on the students levels, interests, needs, etc. I was just confused with the writing. I definitely see how important taking a "status of the class" would be and setting up consistent routines would be important. Right now I am feeling a mixture of overwhelmed and enthusiastic!
This article made me realize that I do so many of the things already. I love that is has all of the information together for a quick reference too. I know there are many avenues I will have to rethink for my classroom for next year, I will have to ramp it up for the children.
I enjoyed this article and thought it echoed many of Regie’s ideas. It reinforced that in order for workshops to be successful large blocks of time, three to four days a week are needed to incorporate a mini lesson, provide practice and a sharing time to improve student’s skills, opportunity for the teacher to confer and record the status of the class. A sense of classroom community is a necessity and can be established if students are provided again the time to interact in book talks, discuss their interests and share their writings with their peers, shaping student’s that take risks and are invested in their own learning. I especially liked what Five and Egawa said about valuing student’s ideas, encouraging different points of views and trusting their responses even if they don’t make sense as they may be meaningful to the student. It is apparent that lots of preplanning is necessary for a successful workshop including setting up your classroom for various grouping and gathering a variety of reference materials to extend student’s understanding. Last year I used e-books on the smartboard during shared reading and they were a hit with my students. Even the shy and less skilled readers joined in when rereading them.
I really enjoyed reading this article for many reasons:
ReplyDelete1.) It affirmed some structures that I was already using well in my classroom.
2.) It reminded me of some structures that I wasn't using well and needed to focus on improving.
*I need to do more write aloud for my students so they see my decision making process.
3.) It made me question some things that I hope you all can provide either insights or suggestions for me.
*I would love to hear how you take a "status of the class and keep up with that from day to day
*During shared reading, if the teacher is having the students read along are they to do so chorally?
*If doing a guided reading lesson with the whole class, how is that different from shared reading?
I loved the idea of literature study and I want to implement that into my classroom this year.
In the "Workshop Environment" section I like that the teacher thought of how she learned best and then used that to create an environment fit for her students as well.
When reading the section titled "First Graders Study Families" I had two questions:
1.) How should you order the balanced literacy components so they are most effetive?
2.) Do they do anything else during the day besides language arts? It never mentioned math, science, or social studies.
Thanks for being on the ball Angela:)!
ReplyDeleteThis article was like a good refresher of balanced literacy in general. I liked the focus on inquiry and how the teacher incorpoarted that into their lessons to better help students explore what they were curious about in relation to the topic they were studying. I would LOVE to do more inquiry based stuff this upcoming year and really make sure literacy truly flows seamlessly acorss the curriculum.
I also like the focus again as Regie does on student choice and decision making with the teacher asking questions such as "Do the kids in my class have choices initated by their own interests? Are there predictable structures to support their learning and ample time for them to pursue those interests? Do students have opportunities to interact?" I think asking myself these questions will help develop structure within student choice to make the classroom an enjoyable, interactive and GREAT learning environment. I liked the idea of the "status of the class" to keep a running record of what students are doing and holding them accountable for accomplishing a task while I might be working with a small group. This is something I would like to try and really focuses on putting responsibility and accountability for learning in the student's hand.
I also liked the Literacy Workshop Across the Day chart as I think it is a GREAT starting place for ideas and a reminder of what each component is about.
I too found that this article affirmed some of the things I do in my classroom during reading and writing workshop, but it also reminded me of the things that I still need to work on. I feel pretty comfortable with the general organization of both blocks of time, but admit that I struggle with the sharing portion. I know the importance of it in theory but seem to run out of time! I really like the idea of giving my students ownership and choice within the workshop and do find that I get better quality work from my students when the choice is theirs. I found the part that talked about what the teacher is doing during the reading and writing workshop to be informative and a good indicator that I am on the right track!
ReplyDeleteAs with the other bloggers, this article affirmed what I do well and where I could use improvement. I loved the status of the class idea and plan to use that in the future. I was reminded of the "write aloud" part of the writing workship which I was great at as a first grade teacher but did not do as well at as a fourth grade teacher. For me, writing with fourth graders was so overwhelming. I really loved how this article took us through the day and showed how she tied it all together. Last year, there were times where I felt my teaching was "disjointed" and did not flow. Regie talked about that in her book. It made me think that I have become a slave to the schedule and I watch it at times more that I watch the child. Does that make sense? This is why I love taking classes...it makes me think about my teaching and why I do what I do.
ReplyDeleteThe three main areas I highlighted (areas I need to grow especially) in this article are on GUIDED READING and INQUIRY. I want to make these three areas more workable in my classroom. I feel like I have a pretty good handle on inquiry especially when we navigate our way through nonfiction texts, but I want to give my students more opportunities for this. This is a good time for them to discover and "label" later. Explicit, small group instruction is always a challenge for me because I always want to make sure the children that are not in the small group are engaged in meaningful and appropriate activities....does anyone do guided groups at times other than independent reading? Are they taking part in a literature study, partner reading, or even writing? Good idea, Angela....I like all the comments for this article in one place. :)
ReplyDeleteI am going to piggy back on what everyone else has said so far and saying that it was a good refresher of balanced literacy and it also affirmed someone the things I was doing in my classroom. Aspects I would like to work on would be shared writing and interactive writing.
ReplyDeleteLike Angela, I also was wondering which order is the most effective way to set up the reading/ writing workshop day? In the First Graders Study Families the teacher started the day with Independent Reading. I have always started Reading Workshop with a Read Aloud then moved in Shared Reading, Guided Reading and then Independent Reading. Is there a certain way or is just what you think works best for your class?
The first thing that jumped out at me in this article (was in Regie's book as well) was the idea that to truly get your students involved is to make reading and writing authentic. I feel like I have tried to make writing "real" in the past, but I would like to be better at it. Something I'm not sure of is if I am making the reading experiences authentic enough. I modeled lots of real things last year...but,don't think I gave the students the practice time they deserved. This is something I will strive to do better in the coming year. I would like activities involving things like travel brochures, road maps, menus, cookbooks...things children will certainly as some point in their lives need to use....wylie
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts about the article...I have to agree it was a good refresher but it also gave me some thoughts to ponder. I started to ask myself about student accountability. In other areas of my professional growth, I have used an accountability partner...someone who I worked with to reach my goals and vice versa. I would like use student accountability partners. There needs to be structure in the process, but could build a stronger working relationship. Another thought came to mind... after reading about the first grade case study, time will need to be spent teaching students "how" to discuss in literature circles, even with the older grades as well- it is important to spend the time teaching them how to respond to fellow students.
ReplyDeleteI really like how this article clearly explained the reading/writing workshop, and I am glad that I am pretty much on target. I use to take the "status of the class" each day in writing workshop. I went through the whole class and each student had to tell me where they were in writer's workshop. They had to tell me: if that day they were working on their graphic organizer, rough draft, needing a peer conference or peer editing, needing a teacher conference (prior to writing final paper), or writing their final paper. Although this did help me know if they were moving along at a steady pace (I recorded daily what they were doing), and it kept them focused, it took time for me to ask and record the info for the whole class each day. Perhaps it depends on the class, but my classes seem pretty focused on writing for the most part. Rather than spending my time "asking and recording", I found my time better spent on a quick walk around to see what everyone was working on and then proceeding to "guided writing". Of course, prior lessons were given so that students knew what writer's workshop was suppose to look like.
ReplyDeleteSince I am about to teach ELA in 5th grade for the first time next year, I have been picking everyone's brains about Balanced Literacy and what the main challenges will be. In response to what Liz said, everyone seems to say that guided reading is the most difficult component, and I already knew that inquiry has a variety of challenges - especially with management and accountability. I'm very interested to see how inquiry is going to work in ELA because I thoroughly enjoy inquiry in science and math!
ReplyDeleteTo me as an outside observer of Balanced Literacy, I would think you would pull small groups throughout the day whenever possible - even if you form reading groups during writing time if that's a priority. However, in practice I know how simple this seems in math vs. the reality of 25 kids and their math journal questions, so I'm sure I'm in for a few reality checks.
I hate to sound redundant, but I also found the article to be a helpful refresher that reaffirms my beliefs about reading and writing instruction.
ReplyDeleteFaith, your post spoke to me, because I, too, struggle with the sharing portion. I completely understand the importance of it, but time (or the lack thereof) is the obstacle in my classroom. There were days this past year when sharing did not happen, but on the days that it did, I could see the pride and joy my students felt sharing their work and/or their thinking. And to piggyback on what Sandy said, there were times this past year when I felt like my teaching did not flow. I incorporated all of the elements/structures of reading and writing workshop, but moving from one to the other sometimes felt choppy and disjointed. I have done so much thinking about what I can do next year (and I think the answer lies in more frontloading and creating more authentic experiences) to help things run more smoothly, to see my students engaged and on-task, even when I am giving my attention to a student or small group of students.
Darlene, your post also spoke to me, because this article has made me think about taking the "status of the class." I'm left wondering if taking the status is something that should be done everyday, or does the time it takes to do that outweigh the benefits? Sometimes I feel so in-touch with my readers and writers (from informal conferences, guided groups, etc...) that I don't feel the need to take the status. But there were days last year when I felt more out of touch with my students and did begin reading and writing workshop by taking the status of the class. What are your ways for taking the status of the class? How often do you do it? What record-keeping methods have you found to be effective?
It feels good to know I am already doing many of the things in this article, however, there are several things I would like to improve upon in my classroom this year! SHARING: I try to make time for students to share, especially with regards to their writing BUT, I find that is the first thing I "cut" out of the day if we are pressed for time. I am going to try and come up with a system for sharing that doesn't take a lot of time but might highlight a few students each day-what they are working on and what they are doing well.
ReplyDeleteINDEPENDENT READING: I want to work with my literacy coach this year in hopes that my independent reading time will run more smoothly. I love to sit with my students and listen to them read (or, in some instances, tell the story through pictures). There is so much information I can get from listening!! I must admit though, from the beginning of the year through at least January, most days I dreaded independent reading!! My students had trouble choosing books that were appropriate and they really didn't use this time to read. Instead, they sat with friends and talked, rolled around on the floor, abandoned their books and went to the restroom...anything to get out of what they were supposed to be doing. I KNOW, without question, this was my fault. I had not set them up in the beginning to be successful during this time. I need some guidance as to how this time should look/sound at the beginning of the year in kindergarten (and how it will change throughout the year). What should be going on at this time and what procedures should I introduce so they are able to be successful? How long should it last?
Can anyone share ideas that have worked for you and your students during independent reading in kindergarten?
I enjoyed reading Kathy Short's article about reading and writing workshop across the day. It was a perfect example of effective and seamless teaching that Regie talks about in chapter 5. In Joanne Hindley's article, this quote is a perfect incentive to strive for gradual release of responsibility: "It is much easier for thirty people to take on the responsibility of caring for our home than for one person to do it for the other twenty-nine." The classroom has to be a caring and comfortable environment where children have a voice, a choice, and a desire to
ReplyDelete"take pride in the upkeep." Finally, I appreciated how Five and Egawa organized all of the components of the reading and writing workshop. It's nice to take a step back and look at the big picture instead of getting bogged down in all the details.
What a great resource. This article was explained step by step and how the parts of the workshops looked. For me, this is so valuable because I haven't taught ELA in so long that I needed a clear/concise refresher. I'm wondering if anyone could share any light on how it exactly works combining reading and writing workshop times together. It seems to me that the students would choose the workshops they were most comfortable with and try to avoid the other.
ReplyDeleteAngela, I agree with you about keeping up with the status of the class. There seems to be so many things you have to keep up with and juggle at the same time! I think that by having a structured and predictable routine, it will help both the students and me.
Since I will be looping, I have the benefit of knowing my children already. Some love to read and write and others detest it. My concern is that all this information is wonderful for the ones who love "doing school", but how do I get the ones who hate writing or any needed to "do school" interested and sustain that interest? This may be a topic for later discussion.
It seems like the buzz words for today were "authentic" and "meaningful" which were echoed in our discussion of R. Routman's book and in the Five and Egawa article. I appreciated Hindley's description of her own learning experiences, (in this case with cooking), as a means of identifying what her students need in order to learn. Courses like this give us, as teachers, the time to reflect on our own learning and apply those ideas to our students. Reflection seems to be the one thing I get very little time to do during the school year, so taking time to journal and reflect and to listen to all of you is really invaluable!!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you all are asleep right now, as it is 12:30ish in the morning. The heat doesn't love me and I developed a migraine upon leaving class. LOVELY!
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, I really enjoyed reading this article. There are a lot of things that I already do that were mentioned, but I am looking forward to trying new things such as:
1)Literature study/circles - Before reading this article I wasn't sure this was possible with 1st graders but Kathy Short's section proved otherwise.
2) Taking a "status of the class" during workshop time - I've seen this done a couple of different ways in different classrooms. One teacher had a laminated chart with different workshop options. Each student had a clothes pin with his/her name on it and each day they would place their clip on the appropriate section. Another way I've seen this done is with a coded class list. If a child were working on revising an "R" would be placed by his/her name for that day. If a couple of students were conferencing together they would put a "C" by their names, and so on.
I am much later than you Tiffani! I got so much out of this article, but it also caused me to ask so many questions. It sounded to me that the students, during writing time especially, could all be doing 25 different things on 25 different topics?! Did I understand that correctly? I understand that each child might be at a different place in their writing at given times but aren't they all working on basically the same thing? For example, letter writing, persuasive papers, etc. depending on what the focus is (of course making the writing authentic and not just saying today we are going to write a letter to anybody for any reason). It sounded very confusing to me. Maybe I need to read the article again. I understand how the reading block can be spent doing a variety of things depending on the students levels, interests, needs, etc. I was just confused with the writing. I definitely see how important taking a "status of the class" would be and setting up consistent routines would be important. Right now I am feeling a mixture of overwhelmed and enthusiastic!
ReplyDeleteOops! Responded before I read other blogs. Good idea, Angela. Thx!
ReplyDeleteThis article made me realize that I do so many of the things already. I love that is has all of the information together for a quick reference too. I know there are many avenues I will have to rethink for my classroom for next year, I will have to ramp it up for the children.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this article and thought it echoed many of Regie’s ideas. It reinforced that in order for workshops to be successful large blocks of time, three to four days a week are needed to incorporate a mini lesson, provide practice and a sharing time to improve student’s skills, opportunity for the teacher to confer and record the status of the class. A sense of classroom community is a necessity and can be established if students are provided again the time to interact in book talks, discuss their interests and share their writings with their peers, shaping student’s that take risks and are invested in their own learning. I especially liked what Five and Egawa said about valuing student’s ideas, encouraging different points of views and trusting their responses even if they don’t make sense as they may be meaningful to the student. It is apparent that lots of preplanning is necessary for a successful workshop including setting up your classroom for various grouping and gathering a variety of reference materials to extend student’s understanding. Last year I used e-books on the smartboard during shared reading and they were a hit with my students. Even the shy and less skilled readers joined in when rereading them.
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