The tight and the loose
How did Reading and Writing feel last year?
What worked well for you, your grade level team, and your students?
What feels challenging? What is missing?
Are there areas in which you would like more support this year?
What other assessment tools do you use to guide your reading/writing instruction and your students’ growth toward the standards?
What is the Workshop
READING WORKSHOP
40-50 min session
At least 3 days/week
WRITING WORKSHOP
40-50 min session
At least 3 days/week
Reading and Writing Units of Study
Lucy Calkins
Minilessons at start of workshop
Reading and Writing workshops
Keep it tight - 10-15 mins
Access prior knowledge
Name the teaching point
Teaching new information
Active engagement/practice
Link back to teaching point before independent reading/writing
Classroom Layout
RUG AREA
Whole group instruction happens on the rug during mini lesson
Creates a sense of occasion and community
Must be located near the projector screen and/or easel in order to demonstrate during instruction
Anchor charts
Classroom charts are:
Clearly displayed
Easily accessible
Interactive
Serve as a record and reference for mini lesson strategies taught
While students read/write independently
Students:
Work in groups with peers and teacher
Read/write independently
Read/write with partners
Teacher:
Leads small reading/writing groups
Confers with readers/writers 1:1
Records notes, observations, data
Maintains norms, routines
Small Group instruction
Reading workshop
After mini lesson, during independent reading
Groups based on reading level - leveled book room
Groups targeting a strategy
Writing Workshop
After mini lesson, during independent writing
Groups based on writing proficiency
Groups targeting a strategy
Great resources for strategy groups
Classroom Layout
SMALL GROUP TABLE
Area designated for small group work in the classroom
Square, kidney, horseshoe table, etc
Seating for small group of students (3-5 kids)
Student conferences
Sitting with kids one-on-one during reading/writing
Coaching: don’t stop the student, but throwing out tips and praise “from the sideline”
Teaching: listen in, research for a focus area, compliment, teach it, apply it
Student partners
Students will have assigned reading/writing partners
Usually matched by approximately similar proficiency levels
Routines are set for them to meet frequently and collaborate on their reading/writing work
Classroom Layout
TABLE
or
DESK ARRANGEMENTS
Beyond the rug area, students should have available seating that lends itself to communication and collaboration
Tables, centers, stations, teams, etc
Space should be available for teacher to circulate and consult with groups, pairs, or individual students
Mentor texts
Used to demonstrate reading/writing skills in context
Engaging
Models craft, style, grammar, fluency
Your kits should have the necessary texts + additional ones you’ve added
Read Aloud
While close reading of mentor texts in reading/writing workshop will sometimes be presented to students through read aloud, it is expected that Read Aloud is its own separate block of time happening in the day. At least 10-15 minutes each day should be spent on Read Aloud.
Writing Celebrations
Students will celebrate the successful completion of every writing unit
Opportunity to showcase a published piece of writing
Celebrations can be as grand or as chill as you need them to be
How do you celebrate writing with your kids?
What are some examples of “chill” writing celebrations that require little prep?
What are some grander celebrations that you’ve organized?
Who have you invited to attend/participate?
Independent reading/writing
Students read every day to build stamina
Students read “just right” books consistently
Students use Post-It notes or a reading notebook to record their thinking while reading
Students write every day to build stamina
Students keep a writing notebook or folder to save their drafts
Students produce at least one published piece per unit
At end of workshop, close up the mini lesson
Mini lesson began:
Access prior knowledge
Name the teaching point
Teaching new information
Active engagement/practice
Link back to teaching point before independent reading/writing
Workshop conclusion:
Sharing
Students can connect the work they did back to the teaching point
Classroom Layout
CLASSROOM LIBRARY
Just Right books (F&P letters)
Organized by level
Organized by genre
Opportunities for kids to highlight favorites for each other
*Remember levels are for books, not children - Fountas & Pinnell
Classroom Layout
WRITING STATION
Station is easily accessible for students
Set up routine for students to gather their own writing materials when needed
Draft paper, publishing paper, pens, pencils, erasers, folders, highlighters, scissors, tape, paper clips, stapler, etc
Book binder available in literacy office
How does independent reading/writing go in your classroom?
How do your routines look and feel?
How have you made your classroom library more than a stack of books? How do you establish kids’ ownership, interest, accessibility?
What’s your procedure for kids to take books from your class library?
How does your writing station look? Any unique materials that enhance it?
Reading assessment
For trimester 1 and 3, F&P (Fountas & Pinnell) for grades 1-5
For trimester 2, Grades 1-3 will do DRA progress monitoring; Grades 4-5 will use quicker reading assessment (running record, Lucy benchmarks, DIBELS).
Reading scores posted on the data wall; 4-3-2-1 reported in Alma
Students grouped based on that data at least twice a year
Testing windows will fall at the end of each trimester
Reading assessment
Students will be assessed formatively as well as summatively throughout each unit, including:
Pre/Post comprehension tests from U of S with SBG rubrics
Post-its
Reading notebooks
Observations
Notes from conferences/small group
Writing assessment
My Favorite Memory - a writing prompt given at the beginning and end of every year in a students’ career at COJOWA. Work is filed in their blue cumulative folders to show growth
An On-Demand writing piece will be administered at the beginning and end of each unit or genre
Option to do all beginning On-Demands at the beginning of the year to show more growth
Writing assessment
Students will be assessed formatively as well as summatively throughout each unit, including:
Students’ formal writing pieces (ex: published narratives, opinion essays, info articles)
Writing genre SBG rubrics derived from U of S rubrics and checklists to measure students’ growth toward the standards
Students’ informal writing (ex: journals, freewrites, reading responses, sentence-level grammar)
Observations
Notes from conferences/small groups
Additional resources
Students should have regular access from the start of each unit to:
SBG rubrics
U of S checklists and rubrics
Student exemplars from U of S and previous classes
See the Elementary Hub to help registering your online resources for U of S