Reading Workshop in the Middle School Classroom BY Haley Walter Webb Bridge Middle School Alpharetta, Georgia

Objective Reading Workshop is designed to improve independent reading skills among middle school students.

Beginning Notes Each student will select a book of their choice throughout the year. Each student will read their chosen book at their own pace. Teacher will monitor this reading on Reading workshop days.

Schedule Every Tuesday and Thursday, students will read, complete a journal, or complete a book card

Status of the Class On your Reader’s Workshop Days I will check the status of the class. Find out what your students are reading and how far you have come

Journals Journals are written once a week Journals are written in letter form including: date, title of book, author, a brief summary, and their opinion or prediction Journals rotate: one week they are to the teacher one week they are to a friend Teacher or student (depending on the week) has 24 hours to respond.

Journal Evaluation Completeness 20 pts In letter format 10 pts Summary 20 pts Opinion/Prediction 20pts Date included 5pts Title of Book 5pts Author 5pts Grammar/Mechanics 15 pts

Book Cards: Once you complete a book, you are to write a book card Front of book card will contain: –Title and author –Students name, date, and number of pages in book –Summary of the book

Name of Bookauthor namenumber of pagesdate SUMMARY -- 

Book Cards: Continued Back of the card will contain –The answer to an insightful question such as: How did the main character change? How did the setting affect the story? Why is it titled the way it is? What would your change? What is your overall opinion? Who was your favorite character and why? What is the author’s purpose

The answer to an insightful question such as: How did the main character change? How did the setting affect the story? Why is it titled the way it is? What would your change? What is your overall opinion? Who was your favorite character and why? What is the author’s purpose

Book Card Conferences Once a book card is completed, the student will turn it into the teacher for a conference. Teachers may choose to conference immediately or set up a chosen time

Conferences During the conference the teacher will read the back of the book to insure the book card is of original thought The teacher will then read the card for accuracy and insight. The teacher will then ask the student questions about the book that can range from comprehension to deep understanding.

Scoring Difficulty Level 1-5 –1,2,3 – young adult novels Ex. 1 = Babysitter’s Club, 2= Maniac McGee, 3=Holes or Harry Potter –4 – adult novels 4 = Life of Pi –5 classic novels 5=Count of Monte Cristo

Scoring Card Content 1-4 –4= Very insightful, full knowledge of book –3=good insight, understanding of the main plot and characters –2 = Fair understanding of basic plot, little insight –1= Very little understanding, basic comprehension

Scoring Conference Points 1-4 –4 = Well articulated answers to questions –3= Good understanding, able to converse fluently about book –2 = basic knowledge of book, little insight or deep thought –1 = little knowledge of book, short choppy answers

Scoring These points are then added together The teacher then looks at the number of pages and rounds it to a single digit. Ex pgs = 1, pgs = 2, 250 – 349 pgs = 3, and so on The first total is then multiplied by the single digit number for a total score.

Scoring Example Student scores a 3 for Challenge, 2 for card, and 2 for conference totaling 7. The book was 230 pages long (rounded to a single digit of 2) Multiply 7 X 2 = 14 The total score is 14

Points A students goal is to receive 70 points by the end of the semester. A teacher may alter this to best fit their class/school

Video Example

Questions????

Conclusion We hope you will embrace Reader’s Workshop and make it your own. Thank You!