Our school-wide professional development goal for the 2021- 2022 year will focus on implementation of Schoolwide, Inc., Writing and Reading Workshop Units, exploring resources for lessons and conferencing techniques.

 

Reading Workshop:

 

The goal for Reading Workshop is to teach students strategies for reading and comprehension.  The workshop model allows teachers to differentiate and meet the needs of all their students.  Reading Workshop strives to foster a love of reading and gives students chances to practice reading strategies independently and with guidance. 

 

~  Overview of Reading Workshop ~

 

• The mini-lessons for the Reading Workshop teach concepts, strategies, and techniques for reading and comprehension while encouraging students to read and interact with good literature.  Mini-lessons gives teachers the opportunity to give direct instruction to students and model the lessons using authentic literature. 

 

• ELA teachers will also use read-alouds to model  reading strategies.  It is also a time to expose children to a variety of genres and literary styles.  Teachers have an opportunity to show students the joys of reading and teach them how to think and discuss text.  It provides students with the opportunity to see the teacher model the lesson using an authentic text.

 

• Independent Reading is the heart of the Reading Workshop.  This is the time when students practice strategies modeled in the mini-lesson or practice reading.  Students can read alone, in pairs, or in small response groups.

 

• Teachers have the opportunity to confer with students or teach guided reading lessons or have a small-group lesson on a specific strategy or skill. 

 

• Students are given opportunities to respond and reflect about what they are reading. Responding to reading helps clarify their thinking, ponder questions, and develop divergent thinking.

 

• The class regroups to discuss what they learned or did in their groups, such as which strategies they used for reading, or projects they worked on.

 

How Will Things Look Different at Home?

 

The books that your child brings home should be those at their independent/just right reading level, or they may be books/novels that were used in guided reading groups. Students will learn how to select just right books in ELA class. As always, listen to your child read their book(s), be sure to ask them lots of questions, and if you notice sticky notes in their books, ask them why they are there. Your child will learn to bookmark text with reading strategies to help them comprehend. 

 

Writer’s Workshop is an effective way of organizing a writing class.

It works because it is based on the idea that students learn to write best when they write frequently, for extended periods of time, on topics of their own choosing.

 

 

 An example of a Writing Workshop class is as follows:

 

•  Mini-Lesson - A short lesson focused on a single topic that students need help with.
•  Status of the Class- A quick review to finding out what each

       student is working on.

•  Writing Time- Students write. Teachers

      conference with individual students or small groups.

•  Sharing- Writers read what they have written and get

      feedback from their audience.

 

ELA Instructional Resources by grade level:

 

Reading Units in grades K-8 –Schoolwide, Inc.- focus lesson (mini lesson) to teach reading strategies. The trade books are provided for teachers to read aloud and teach a specific reading strategy. Students pair/ share and have an opportunity to practice reading  strategies.

 

Writing Units in grades 5-8-Schoolwide, Inc.-  Focus lessons using mentor text to teach informational, narrative, and opinion writing genres.

 

Project Read Phonology/ Orton- Gillingham IMSE grades K-2

 

White Township School Grade Level Writing Rubrics in grades K-4

 

New Jersey Student Learning Writing Rubrics/Schoolwide, Inc.  Writing Rubrics grades 5-8

 

 

"You're never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read to a child."

~ Dr. Seuss