DWilson

The aspects of independent reading were covered in chapter 7.  It is during this part of Reading Workshop that students have time to read their book selections, share in conversations with other students, and conference one-on-one with the teacher.  Teachers must provide an orderly environment and help children choose the right book.  To encourage communication between readers, students may participate in partner reading, story chats, or guided reading.  This chapter also provided information on different types of conferences.  I liked the "teacher to teacher" idea of wearing a hat to let students know that you should not be disturbed while conferencing or leading a small group.

Chapter 8 focused on effective assessment.  Listening to a student read provides information on fluency and reading level.  Other means of assessment are student interviews, anecdotal records, running records, checklists, oral and written retellings, and informal error analysis.  Rubrics are also useful for assessing students.  I thought the example of a rubric conference [pgs. 144-46] was interesting.

Chapters 4,5,and 6 focused on mini-lessons.  According to the authors, the mini-lessons are the glue that holds the Reading Workshop together.(p.52)  Chapter 4 included twenty days of mini-lessons that can be modified according to grade level.  Chapter 5 described the 8 key reading strategies, as well as a sampling of detailed lesson plans for each one.  A list of books for teaching skills and strategies was also found in chapter 5.  Literary elements and techniques were covered in chapter 6, and again the authors included book lists for teaching these skills.  The importance of modeling is stressed throughout these chapters.  While much of this is too advanced for kindergarten, I do plan to use some of the ideas with my class.

Chapter 1 covered the four basic components of the reading workshop.  It also offered many comparisons between the traditional approach to teaching reading and the reading workshop method.  Suggestions for organization and management of the reading workshop were discussed in chapter 2.  I liked the idea of students decorating a library pocket with their names on it and making a pocket chart for book checkout.  Chapter 3 offered strategies for planning and structuring the mini-lessons.  The authors suggested several activities for involving students without making them feel like they were in the "hot seat".  Some suggestions were story partners, thumbs up, thumbs down, listen and find, and shared reading.  I liked the teacher to teacher ideas that were included in each chapter.  There were some ideas I would like to try in my classroom, although most of it was not kindergarten appropriate.