Reader's Workshop

I believe that reader's workshop is an important part of having a classroom.  It is how I will instill the joy of reading in my students.  During reader's workshop I will also work on Allington's 6 T's; time, text, talk, task, teach.  I would begin each reader's workshop with a mini-lesson.  During this lesson, I will read the class an easy, below grade level book.  By doing this I will make sure that we can finish the story faster and that the students will be able to grasp the concepts that I fins important.  In my mini lesson I will focus on a specific goal that I want the students to learn.  It will also be a goal that I reinforce while they are doing their independent reading and I confer with them.  In independent reading, they will enjoy reading their books. I understand that it is important for the students to choose their own books.  This will allow them to discover the kind of reader that they are.  While they read, I will walk around the room, holding conferences with them.  In these conferences I will talk to them about what they are reading, and have them work on goals or skills I have set for them (fluency, vocabulary, etc.).    It will also be time for me to reiterate what we have gone over as a class in our mini-lesson.  I look forward to taking advantage of some one-on-one time with my students.  One important aspect of conferencing to me would be that I will allow the students to do all the answering while I only ask the questions.  Once the students are done with their reading for that day, I will have them complete a reading log about how long and how much they read.  Once they are done with a chapter, I will ask the students to summarize what they read in that chapter and have them predict what they believe will happen next.  Finally, I will allow the students to have share time.  In this time, I will give them the opportunity to discuss their books with me and their fellow classmates.  During share time I can ask the probing questions to help the class discover challenging ideas and reinforce ideas that they have already been taught.  It will also be a good time to let the students talk amongst their friends.  Share time will let the class here about what their friends are reading, and maybe open their eyes to what else is out there in the literary world.