Kindergarten Workshops, Part 2: Reader's Workshop

My husband has a workshop out in our garage.  Tools are scattered everywhere. Boxes of 
this and that are piled on top of each other.  A teddy bear somehow found its way into the mess.  And it IS a mess right now in the aftermath of major flooding in our area.  My husband is looking forward to a time when he can properly organize his workshop.

Recently, I needed to properly organize a workshop, too.  My "Reader's Workshop" had been evolving over the last few years since I gave up on literacy centers and The Daily 5.  I had grown weary of the commotion of so many different activities taking place at the same time in a small physical space.  I also felt there needed to be consistent expectations in the room for movement and volume.  So many children were distracted by the activities at neighboring tables or unclear of what to do at a center.  I don't like much "busy work" and prefer children to be engaged in authentic learning.  

The last few years, I tried to involve the entire class in Read to Self or Read to Someone for 15 minutes each day.  Unfortunately, it rarely looked like this....

And more often looked like this....

Since Writer's Workshop was working well in my classroom, I thought I should give Reader's Workshop a try, as well. 

All workshop models in education follow a tried and true instructional sequence sometimes called "I do, 2 do, you do."  

        "I do." First, the teacher shares a teaching point and models it.  A common teaching point in Reader's Workshop is "Readers read closely."  So, the teacher starts out by modeling how this is done.  For much of kindergarten, we are closely reading the pictures.  

        "2  do."  The second step is for the teacher and a student to show how to practice the teaching point side-by-side. This helps the students visualize more than one person practicing the teaching point.  

         "You do." Then, all the students are sent off to get their own book boxes and practice reading to themselves or partners. The teacher may circulate amongst the students and offer encouragement and/or pull aside a student or small group to work on their reading.  

At the end of the workshop, students gather together to share their successes ("celebrations")  or problems ("challenges.")  For example, yesterday one student celebrated the fact that he remembered to point to all the pictures and retell the story.  A few students reported the challenge of reading when someone at their table was trying to distract them.  We problem-solved and decided that it would be okay to take your book box and go read somewhere else.  No one has the right to disturb our precious reading time! 

In their book boxes, my kindergarteners have a variety of reading materials.  They start the year with alphabet, phonics, and environmental print cards that I've created.  Very shortly thereafter, we add copies of Weekly Reader and Reading A-Z booklets, as well as class booklets that we create.  As we learn poems during shared reading, I put them in poetry folders which go in the book boxes, too.  Leveled readers are also included after individuals read them in instructional settings. This year, I have decided to share books that I have read aloud to the class, as well.  

We have been engaged in Reader's Workshop for about six weeks now.  I've been enjoying using the teaching points suggested in a resource I found online.  It was created by the Park Hill School district. You can find it here:  Park Hill School District Reader's Workshop Curriculum  You'll have to click on Curriculum- Reading (PDF.)  

I am discovering that giving the students a daily purpose for reading is key to the success of an independent/partner reading time. I have also noticed that students are happily engaging with our read-aloud books. 

So, thus far, I like the looks of our Reader's Workshop .  Now, if I could just say the same for my husband's workshop...