Launching Reading Workshop

A main component of our kindergarten curriculum is a strong literacy program.  Literacy development covers a broad range of skills that overlap and build upon one another to strengthen children's ability to read and write for many purposes.  

A balanced approach to literacy instruction includes four main components: Interactive Read Aloud with Accountable Talk, Reading Workshop, Writing Workshop and Word Work.  This post covers the introduction or what we call the "launching" of Reading Workshop as a part of our daily routine. Among the many resources I use, a bulk of my Reading Workshop is based upon the work of Lucy Calkins and her team of researchers at Teachers College Reading and Writing Project in NYC. I was fortunate to be a student for two graduate classes by one of Lucy's co-authors over the last two summers and have chosen to add her reading program this year to the array of instructional strategies we use at PPS.  

Reading Workshop not only gives students tools for reading independently, but also aims to build their self-confidence as they work with challenging texts.  By giving children lots of opportunities to read and the tools to do so, we begin to build life-long readers and learners.

Children learn to sit independently and self-select books that meet their interests.  In the lower portion of this photo one can see a typical "anchor chart" or guide which children can refer to during and after a reading lesson.  Each day our anchor charts grow with simple pictorial reminders about the day's lesson and the tool they learned.  I hang the anchor charts around the room so children can refer to them daily.

Reading Workshop began with reading non-fiction books that had many illustrations, offering ways children could talk about what they read and read to a partner.  In the beginning of the year, their reading encompasses reading the illustrations and asking questions about what they see.

When we read with a partner, we sit side by side (elbow to elbow, knee to knee), place the book in between and see-saw read, taking turns back and forth.

Richly illustrated non-fiction books about animals, the earth, and plants, strongly engaged children in the reading behaviors I taught daily.  Its fun to read alone, but as this class discovered, it's even more fun to read with someone else!

Readers share "wow" pages with partners, commenting and asking questions to learn more. 

Reading workshop moves children seamlessly through reading independently to reading with a partner to learn.  When reading with a partner it's important to "add a pinch of you" which is one's opinion, prediction, or connection they make when reading a text.  This further's one's comprehension and ability to ask what they author's purpose is and/or what the characters may be thinking or doing.  

I was so pleased to observe the ease with which this class reads independently and with a partner, a foundation for introducing them to reading joyfully.