Understanding "The Look"
of the Readers' Workshop
Allison Demas
Now
that you understand the components of
the Readers’ Workshop, I would like to focus on the
mini-lesson portion. The possible topics generally fall into one
or four categories: Routines, Word Attack Strategies, Phonics,
and Comprehension.
Routines should be addressed at the beginning
of the school year and then revisited when necessary. Examples
of topics that fall under routines are ‘how to work together
in a group,’ ‘how to have a Book Talk’ or ‘how
to share materials.’ This area addresses management. Without
management the most well prepared lessons in the world can go
right out the window.
Word Attack mini-lessons would be conducted in
a Shared Reading lesson (using enlarged text). Word Attack strategies
include such skills as finding smaller words in larger words,
sounding out the word, and determining the meaning of a vocabulary
word from contextual clues. This category addresses very specific
skills readers use to help themselves understand the text. The
skills are broken down into simple steps and are demonstrated
in an obvious manner. The student won’t have to guess at
what you are doing. They are also demonstrated repeatedly. You
don’t just teach a strategy once and assume that the children
understood it. By the same token, once the students do understand
the strategy and how to use it, you should move on. You can review
it periodically, but you don’t keep teaching the same lesson.
To teach Phonics, you can use the enlarged text
to focus on spelling patterns, blends and digraphs, and sound
explorations. When you choose a book you are not choosing it solely
for its phonetic content. Comprehension is the main reason you
choose a text for a lesson. It may, however, also lend itself
to phonics mini-lessons. For example, if you choose the poem “Seed,
Sprout, Flower” by Helen H. Moore, (portion below) the text
is addressing a science theme (seeds (S2b life cycles of organisms)).
However, you can use the text to focus on consonants or to teach
consonant blends (pl, spr, st, ) or to teach about the diphthong
/ou/:
A
seed is planted:
First a sprout,
then stem,
and leaves
and buds
come out.
Comprehension
skills can be taught in a Shared Reading lesson, however I feel
that the text may be too limiting. The skills addressed are very
basic ones, such as prediction and sequencing. Initially, you
can focus on these topics, however, you don’t want to limit
the children to just these skills. I personally find that my best
comprehension lessons come from Read Alouds.
(Click
here for a printable, one page, bullet point chart of the
above)
You can use a Read Aloud, such as The Talking Eggs
by Robert San Souci, to study character traits. Read Alouds, simply
by virtue of being more involved texts, lend themselves to more
in-depth lessons and discussions. You can study cause and effect,
main idea, or create a story map (setting, characters, problem
and solution).
Mini-lessons are not generic, one-size-fits-all lessons. They
should be specific to the needs of your students. You must know
your students well and choose your texts carefully.
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