SARAH DOERR DISTRICT LITERACY COACH SCHOOL DISTRICT OF MENOMONEE FALLS Extending Student Thinking Through Readers’ (and Writers’) Workshop

Opening Activity How familiar are you with the Workshop Model?  I have never heard of that!  I have heard of it but never used it!  I have heard of it and have just started using it in my classroom!  I am using that model in my classroom And could present for me!!

Opening Activity Continued Who are you?  Administrator  Classroom Teacher  Support Staff Member  Parent

WORKSHOP MINI-LESSON 5 – 15 minutes INDEPENDENT WORK SMALL GROUP WORK CONFERENCES WHOLE GROUP REFLECTION/SHARE 5 – 15 minutes Independent Work Time 30 – 50 minutes

Common Classroom Teacher Concerns What do I do with my G/T students? What materials should I use with my G/T students? How do I know my students are growing? How do I know what I should teach?

Mini Lesson Architecture of a Mini Lesson Connection Teach Active Engagement Link

Small Groups to Extend Purpose- Learn a particular strategy (practice new strategies, review previously learned strategies, or preteach upcoming strategies) Texts- Independent or instructional level (seen or unseen) Instruction- Explicit instruction around a particular concept Time minutes

SMALL GROUP Video

Literature Discussion Groups/Book Clubs Purpose- Deepen and enrich comprehension through conversation and writing Texts- Unleveled Trade Books Instruction- Facilitating conversation through participation, questioning and coaching Time- Varied depending on classroom structure and dynamics

Why Literature Circles ? The Rationale Behind Them Promote a love of literature and positive attitudes toward reading. Reflect constructivist, child-centered model of literacy Encourage extensive and intensive reading Invite natural discussions that lead to student inquiry Support diverse responses to text Provide choice and encourage responsibility Expose children to literature from multiple perspectives Nurture reflection and self-evaluation Source: Literature Circles and Response, Hill, Johnson, Noe

Book Clubs: Things to Remember Book Choice Groups meet regularly within the classroom Students use note taking device to help guide conversation: post its, jots in response log, annotations Discussion topics are student driven Group meetings should be open, natural conversations about books Teacher is a facilitator; not a leader Assessment

Coaching Into Book Clubs Act It Out-  Have 2 students play one character (internal thoughts vs. external actions/words) Reread the first page(s) and look for tidbits missed Compare and contrast text with a similar text or different text (Historical fiction with non-fiction) Keep book club grounded in the text Asking questions to grow investigative power  Questions with multiple answers  Questions grounded in the text

BOOK CLUBS Video

What is a conference? A short (3-5 minute) interaction between teacher and student during the work time of Readers Workshop.

Structure of a Conference Research- observe and converse with the reader Decide what to compliment the reader on and what to teach the reader Compliment the reader to reinforce what is going well Teach the reader Link the teaching point so that the learning transfers to all books.

Conferring with High Readers Access the Continuum book Use their response logs Focus on talking and writing about their thinking Focus on evaluating and critiquing a text Stretch their exposure to a wide variety of genre, topic, and author Look at the expectations for the grade level above or beyond

Importance of Note Taking Piece of data collection Provides evidence for grades and conferences Formative Assessment Record of the student’s growth

Why Thoughtful Logs? Students jot down thoughts before, during, and after reading Responding to reading through writing Preparing for discussion Assessment Conferencing Deeper Comprehension

A Share Might Look Like… Students bringing a post it to the rug and share what makes it so great Reviewing the learning for the day A fish bowl to assess and analyze one another A read aloud or shared reading work to teach another concept Restating teaching point Previewing a future teaching point Self-assessing Addressing a need that arises from independent reading Sharing student work/thinking

Goal Setting I know what I need to learn  Clear learning objectives and targets I have input on my learning goal  Student centered goal setting I know how I am doing on my goal  Charting progress I know what helps me learn  Student/Teacher Feedback

Video THE POWER OF WORKSHOP: TEACHERS AND STUDENTS

Questions Sarah Doerr School District of Menomonee Falls