Reader's Workshop

Our literacy block takes up most of our morning. We start about 8:35 and go till 11am with snack and recess mixed in too. We start with word work, have reader's workshop, snack and recess, then literacy stations. My favorite part is definitely reader's workshop.

I have always used the workshop model, even when I taught three year olds. It is so easy and beneficial to the students. Mini lessons we cover include basic reader's workshop set up, to discussing inferring, prediction, and comparison about text.  After the lesson the children take their bags of books and poetry folders to a spot in the classroom. Their bag of books are made up of leveled reader's and paper emergent reader's we have done as a class. Their poetry folder holds all the songs and poems we have learned over the year.

After our read aloud, discussion, and response to the prompt we start our independent reading. Yes, we do this on day 1 of school. Is it perfect NO! But they learn my expectations quickly and I hold them to these all year.

Each day a different color bag of books changes their leveled books. I tell my children their level and teach them how to do this independently. This gives me time to get the rest of the class settled before pulling these students for one on one reading.

Children may sit where ever they would like and read with whom ever they like, provided they make good choices. The children may read with another child and we spend many lessons talking about what reading with a partner looks like (eyes on book) and sounds like (talking about book, making connections, sounding out words, and reading with pointing fingers).

Once settled, I pull the children who changed books to read one on one. During this time I complete running records, adjust leveled reader's, and assess sight word knowledge. Typically I get through 3-4 children.

After approx. 20 mins we clean up and have snack. 

I do have a literacy curriculum, we use Scott Foresman. I like the way they introduce grammar components, but I hate that they are letter of the week. We typically do this during our literacy mini lesson, but occasionally the book is super high quality and works for a reader's workshop lesson.

Often we don't have time to share and discuss as is typical workshop model, which I wish we did, but we often do so much discuss about our class book, we are discussed out.

I LOVE stations

I love math stations and literacy stations.

I had seen literacy stations done during my first grade student teaching, but it was a lot of directions by the teacher and very little student interaction. Ultimately it was busy work, while the teacher met with guided reading groups.

When I started in kindergarten last year, I searched the Internet and came across Deedee Wills' literacy station model and...WOW it just made sense. I got even luckier when my new classroom came with the Debbie Dillard's Literacy Stations book. I decided that groups of two were the way to go. Each day we would complete 2 stations for a total of 10 a week.I have 14 students the last two years so not all stations are done everyday.

This is a perfect first week center. I love the individual tubs for stations.

I chose to make one of my stations meet with me. I love meeting with only 2 students. Both students start on a basic warm up, usually spelling sight words with tiles, while I do a quick walk around to make sure everyone is on the right path.

The tub on the left holds each station and is numbered.

Obviously the first couple of weeks, I do not have a group, but with only 2 people in a group I find that the children settle into stations quickly. When working with just two children I can give them more individualized directed teaching, listen to them read, and assess easily.  after a short independent warm up, we work on decoding strategies. We then move to reading a book. As the year progresses, i read with one of the students and the other child works on a phonics activity or reads with a whisper phone.  

When possible, I try to avoid worksheets.

I am also blessed with an amazing assistant that pulls children i target as needing more directed teaching in phonics, sentence structure, and grammar.she pulls both strong and weak students and it changes weekly based on needed skills.

Nothing like a rainbow stamp pad to help with sight words.

What do the other children do while I'm working with children. They are participating in 9 other centers. Typically one is iPads, the children are allowed to choose any literacy app that we have talked about. one station is always ourWords Their Way Word Sort. I always try to do a literacy craft. This week we cut out pieces to recreate The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything. We also do lots of literacy games that include rhymes, beginning sound, and then transition it word families such as roll and beginning sound, sight word tally, clip it beginning sounds.

Domino Match

In math, we just do 1 station a day and do 7 in a rotation. I again do pairs, but often make the pairs different. Last year my pairs were typically boy/girl, but this year with only 3 boys that has been super difficult.

Halloween Tens Frame game.

 I again like to meet with one group, although I typically wait even longer than with literacy as it takes longer to learn how use manipulative appropriately. I love hands on math stations and try to include as many amipulatives as possible.

How do your stations look?