Overview of Reading Workshop for Parents

Fall 2015

What is Reading Workshop?

A teaching method with the goal of explicitly teaching strategies to skillfully comprehend text

Emphasis is on the skills & strategies you need as a reader – not the content of the book

Students read authentic texts that focus on strengths and needs of individual students as readers

Emphasizes the importance of student engagement and interactions between readers and text

Traditional Approach Readers Workshop Approach

Instruction:• Whole class reads same text• Limited or no independent reading

time in class• Teacher only instructs to whole

class • Lack of student participation• Teacher sets the pace for reading

Instruction:• Whole class, small group, partner

and independent reading of text• Explicit modeling and thinking

aloud in whole group, small group and 1:1 conferences

• All students participate, high engagement & choice

• Students read at their own pace

Application:• Students read the SAME text over

a set period of time• Students answer questions at end

of the book/complete worksheets• Students not aware of the reading

process- what good readers do

Application:• Students read DIFFERENT books

by interest/level• Students apply and demonstrate

skills & strategies in their own book

• Teacher models process of what good readers do

• Instruction emphasizes reading strategies& standards

Assessment:At end of reading, written or multiple choice questions, essay or short answer

Assessment:Running records, conferring, rubrics, notebooks, comprehensions questions, literary essays, discussion

Why? Research shows that reading for pleasure drastically

declines at the end of elementary school, this has negative effect on school performance

21st Century demands and CT Core Standards require students to read complex texts with independence and critical thinking skills

Choice plays an important role in student motivation and engagement in learning

Teaching the reader not the book allows for differentiation and re-teaching or stretching readers to make individual growth

How Can you Help?

Support at home reading! Same book as school with evidence of their thinking.

Understand that levels matter- JUST RIGHT! Interest, motivation, comprehension and progress

Talk with your child about what they are reading

Ask questions