{"id":7005,"date":"2013-07-12T14:59:00","date_gmt":"2013-07-12T14:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theteacherstudio.com\/2013\/07\/getting-ready-for-year-of-reading.html"},"modified":"2022-06-09T18:17:49","modified_gmt":"2022-06-09T18:17:49","slug":"getting-ready-for-year-of-reading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theteacherstudio.com\/getting-ready-for-year-of-reading\/","title":{"rendered":"Launching Reader’s Workshop and Independent Reading"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"preparing<\/a><\/div>\n
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One thing I know to be true about fourth graders and intermediate students is that there is no ONE thing true about fourth graders and intermediate students. It seems like the longer I teach, the more compelled I am to find ways to group and individualize for students, but I have to admit–it is NOT easy for me. It isn’t that I don’t KNOW who the students are or what to do. It’s that whole “structure” or organization piece for a good reader’s workshop.<\/p>\n

Reader’s Workshop Routines<\/h2>\n

One area where I do feel more confident is establishing a culture for independent reading in my classroom.\u00a0 I really know how to establish routines and procedures to make my reading time run smoothly so students get the most “bang” for their buck. Students need to be taught HOW to be independent.\u00a0 It simply isn’t intuitive for all of this.\u00a0 This is especially true for those strugglers who have received a LOT of interventions–often have some learned helplessness. I spend the first few weeks of school working very hard to teach routines and processes and to get my students more independent and successful with their reader’s workshop time.<\/p>\n

I went back to my copy of this book to read a little more about one of the key elements of the CCSS–Standard 10. It is one that is inherently vague and I think it’s easy to gloss over it and say, “I do that.” But do we?<\/p>\n

\"Pathways<\/a><\/div>\n

So how can we REALLY teach this standard?<\/h2>\n

When I went back into the text, it talks about the standards 1 and 10 as being the “sides” of the ladder holding up all of the other standard “rungs”. I kind of like that analogy. We must help students read more complex texts in order to accomplish all that the CCSS (and other sets of standards) wants us to–but it won’t happen without careful scaffolding by us. Let’s be honest…we meet with kids in small groups. We do picture walks. We preteach vocabulary.<\/p>\n

WAIT! Maybe WE<\/strong> do too much! After all, we can’t sit next to them and “frontload” their standardized tests, can we? Their work in the upper grades?\u00a0 Their emails when they have jobs?<\/p>\n

So . . . I have been on a quest in recent years to really and deliberately TEACH<\/strong> my students how to be independent workers, thinkers, readers, and problem solvers. I really want them to be reflective about their own needs. They need to know how to seek out help when they need it.\u00a0 Similarly, I want them to pick “just right” books and know when they are not making good book choices. I want them to set goals and reflect on them. They need to study their own behaviors and work to make changes.<\/p>\n

\"Independent<\/a><\/div>\n
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Help for Reader’s Workshop!<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
I think it’s why I love doing reading logs and status of the class so much–they help students be reflective on what they are doing. We’ve all had the students who wanted to read Harry Potter and weren’t ready…and we’ve all had those who are reading Magic Treehouse. Only Magic Treehouse. Again. We need to be deliberate in how we help those kiddos make their book choices.<\/div>\n
\"reading<\/a><\/div>\n
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Some things we need to take into consideration:<\/div>\n