Presented by Cindy Blevins

1. READER’S WORKSHOP Presented by Cindy Blevins blevins@blevinsenterprises.com

2. WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES • Share research that supports the • need for Reading Workshop. • Share how Reader’s Workshop • has worked for me. • Provide hands-on Reading- • Workshop activities • Provide internet access to practical • tools to use with Reader’s • Workshop.

3. ALARM! FROM: To Read or Not to Read (National Public Radio, 2007) . . . • The first generation of students raised in the midst of electronic media read less—and less well—than previous generations of students. • Students who read less, read less well. Students who read less well, do less well in school. People who do less well in school do less well in the workplace and participate less in civic life. • Internet reading produces shallower reading than book reading. When reading Internet materials, there is more emphasis on reading headlines and blurbs. Deeper reading is less likely to occur. • The reading proficiency of college graduates fell 23% in the past ten years. • Less than one out of three college graduates reads at a “proficiency” level—what used to be considered a proficient high school level of reading. • One of three high school students in the US drops out. • 55% of people who read at a “below basic” level are unemployed. • Half of the adults in this country do not read either to themselves or to their children.

4. WORD POVERTY FROM: Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain (Woof, 2007) . . . • By kindergarten, a gap of 32 million words already separates some children in linguistically impoverished homes from their more stimulated peers. • By the third grade, students who suffer from “word poverty” are often at a million word reading deficit; by the sixth grade, they are already three grades levels behind their average-performing peers. People who are undernourished need good food. Readers who are undernourished need good books.” --Kelly Gallagher, 2009

5. RESEARCH Reading Next Report

6. DEFINITION Reader’s Workshop is a rigorous learning environment that has roots in the traditional system in which apprentices learned the skill of their trade by working at the sides of master craftsmen and women. -- adapted from Fletcher and Portalupi (2001) Results: Students are given reading choice, time to read, and time to share their reading. In addition, they learn what good reader’s do and how to apply authentic reading strategies to independent reading as well as more difficult class texts. This improves student attitude, reading, and test scores. In addition, it increases the likelihood that students will continue reading outside of school.

7. BEST PRACTICES THE TEACHER . . . • is a reader • allows for DAILY student reading • allows students to self-select recreational reading • balances academic and recreational reading (50/50 rule) • makes sure students are surrounded with good books • plans lessons based on student need • conferences with individual students to help/encourage them in their reading • promotes student self-assessment • shows students what good readers do and provides opportunities for students to apply this learning • finds a balance between overteaching and underteaching academic texts • understands the cognitive development that comes when students wrestle with difficult text • connects academic text with high-interest authentic real-world reading • helps students uncover the value found in books

8. THE TEACHER is the NUMBER ONE motivator of student reading. Like a cold, students can’t “catch” what YOU don’t have! “The teacher teaches most by showing how he/she learns.“ -- Donald Graves

9. WORKSHOP RULES • bring your book to class every day • don’t read a book you don’t like • reading is thinking; be quiet and respectful of other readers • whisper when you confer with the teacher about your reading • read the whole time • read as well and as much as you can • practice reading strategies • record your reading on your reading record every day • write in your reading journal

10. GETTING STARTED • Reading survey • San Diego Quick Assessment • What did you read this summer? • Book Talks • Book selection • Set up reading record • Start reading/sharing

11. READING FOLDER/PORTFOLIOS PORTFOLIO • reading surveys (beg/end of year and analysis of reading) • self-assessments • special reading projects • at the end of year, transfer “ *items” from daily reading folder DAILY READING FOLDER • reading record* • “Books to Read” list* • “What Good Readers Do” list* • reading journal • handouts

12. THE ENVIRONMENT “Every rainy day at work, I wish I were home alone with a good book. Some classrooms are like rainy days—they invite me to pick up a book and start reading. On the other hand, I visit many classrooms where reading is the last thing I’m compelled to do. Surround me with great books and I want to read! Reading is thinking; quiet please.

13. THE ENVIRONMENT • surround students with interesting books and info. about books/authors • value “reading talk” • provide cozy reading corners/listening centers • establish rules/procedures • play easy-listening music Classroom Photos

14. THE SCHEDULE Keep It SIMPLE and CONSISTENT! • Focus Activity • Mini-Lesson • Read • Share

15. THE SCHEDULE FOCUS ACTIVITIES • short • relevant • varied • contain accountability

16. THE SCHEDULE MINI-LESSONS • procedures • reading strategies • word study • fluency • comprehension • genres • authors • difficult class texts • real-world reading

17. THE SCHEDULE READING • read self-selected book • record homework/class reading on reading record • select new book • respond in reading journal • conference with teacher

18. THE SCHEDULE TEACHER/STUDENT READING CONFERENCES • Read with students before conferencing • Circulate to answer questions and hold short, mini-conferences with individual students to check for accountability, fluency, book fit, personal response, reading skills/strategies • Hold small-group conferences based on similar need, same book, same genre, etc. • In the Middle, pp. 263-270

19. SHARE GENERAL • best part • something descriptive, shocking, sweet, funny, etc. VOCABULARY • words/phrases (favorite, confusing) LITERARY ELEMENTS • characters, conflicts, themes, symbolism, etc. READING STRATEGIES • rereading, inferring, visualizing, etc.

20. Required Reading The Kill-A-Reader Casserole Take one large novel. Dice into as many pieces as possible. Douse with sticky notes. Remove book from oven every five minutes and insert worksheets. Add more sticky notes. Baste until novel is unrecognizable, far beyond well done. Serve in choppy, bite-size chunks. From Readicide by Kelly Gallagher

21. Required Reading • Know all adolescents go through key development • brain stages and that when they are not stretched by • longer, challenging texts in these periods of life their • cognitive windows run the risk of shutting down. • Implement the 50/50 Rule • Realize we are reading teachers not reading • assigners. • Find the “Sweet Spot” between over-teaching and • under-teaching a novel • Build students’ background knowledge throughout • the year. • Model what good reader’s do. • Help students see value of difficult texts—augment • novels with real world text. • Adopt a “Big Chunk/Little Chunk” Philosophy.

22. Required Reading Teaching Guide 1. Teacher “frames” the text (interest-getting pre-reading activities). 2. Teacher reads first few pages aloud to students, pausing to think out loud. 3. Teacher gives students a reading purpose (only focuses on one or two things). 4. Students read large chunk on their own. 5. Students discuss their reading (ideas/confusions). 6. Students do “Close Reading” to delve deeper. 7. Teacher presents students with a small chunk taken from the larger chunk to reread and analyze for a specific purpose.

23. FRAMING • Preview final exam essay question to provide a very specific reading purpose for the novel. • Preview some vocabulary to help students with archaic language. • Discuss the historical context of the story and how the time contributes to the meaning of the work. • Provide background on the author and what he was trying to accomplish with this work. • Create an anticipation guide to help students begin recognizing the universal truths found in the novel. • Discuss why students should read the novel and the value it offers the modern reader. • Do “Topic Floods.”

24. Close Reading • Read with a pencil in hand, and annotate the • text: underline/highlight key words/phrases—anything surprising, significant, or that raises questions—as well as make notes in the margins. • 2. Look for patterns in the things you’ve noticed about the text—repetitions, contradictions, similarities. • 3. Ask questions about the patterns you’ve noticed—especially “how” and “why.”

25. Topic Floods • Use Google to pull a number of articles related to the novel (related by theme, topic, time period, etc.). • Place students in groups and give each group a different article. • Groups read the article to capture its big idea on one sheet of paper using no more than 10 words. Students may use/draw symbols to augment their ten words. • Teacher randomly chooses a person from each group to share their article’s big idea with the class.

26. ASSESSMENT • Simple • Authentic • Meaningful • Rubrics • Student Self-Assessments

27. ASSESSMENT What you test is what you get. • 1. Which of the following themes is developed in the article? • the conflict between art and science • the importance of technology • the joy of exploration • the difficulty of being true to oneself Identify Golding’s central theme in Lord of the Flies and analyze how this theme is developed through the author’s use of symbolism. Cite specific examples from the text, making sure you move beyond simply summarizing.

28. GOAL REMEMBER: Our GOAL is to help students take the sour “reading lemons” they have tasted throughout the years and equip them with the tools they need to convert their reading lemons into lemonade—to enjoy reading and become independent and effective readers for the rest of their lives.

29. NOW WHAT? • Use the bibliography (independent reading/ teacher book clubs) • Share with/help other teachers • Subscribe to reading journals • Join a reading club • Go hear Teri Lesesne whenever she’s in your area and/or read her blog to keep up with the latest YA lit: http://professornana.livejournal.com/.

30. WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES • Shared research that supports • the need for Reading Workshop. • Shared how Reader’s Workshop • has worked for me. • Provided hands-on Reading- • Workshop activities • Provided internet access to • practical tools to use with • Reader’s Workshop.