I think that guided reading can have a place in Reading Workshop, especially with younger students. As a former looping teacher, I can tell you that without guided reading my struggling readers would not find a path to literacy. By second grade, I was doing far less guided reading and doing it in a very different way. I met with mixed ability groups, provided them choice within appropriate levels and focused on bigger picture things--primarily on mosaic strategies. Please don't assume that guided reading cannot work in a workshop setting. Guided reading groups can be set against a backdrop of reading workshop. Groups don't have to meet every day--and I am a firm believer that with children who have reached a transitional stage, they should not. If a workshop is an hour long and children meet for 15-20 minutes a few times a week, it can work. And it frees up the teacher to give more time to children who need more support.
Have you read On Solid Ground? I think Taberski does a fine job of presenting a blended workshop that really works. Lori On 9/17/06 6:35 AM, "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I could really use some input here! > My school has struggled to get out of the dark ages of reading for some > time. We finally made the big move to strategies about three years ago. We > even > had a big group of us go to a conference with Ellin, Debbie Miller, etc. > summer before last. The problem is that our specialist (who did not go to > the > conference, but is the one who started strategies school wide) has not really > followed up with enough training, follow through, etc., and many of the > teachers who should have been teaching strategies have not really been doing > it. I > just don't think that the teachers quite "get it" yet, and so they end up > falling back on old ways. My incoming 5th graders this year didn't even know > what schema is. Here is the problem. We have a new staff member who was a > reading specialist at her old school. We were very excited about her coming. > She has had lots of special training, etc. She is a teacher here. Long > story short, even though I have not "heard" what she is expert in yet, I now > strongly believe that she was doing guided reading in her old school. Guided > reading seems like a totally different thing to me than Reading workshop. It > is set up differently, the timing is different, etc. I only have a 110 > minute block each day for Reading and Writing, and so where does that leave > time > for the truly independent reading that I want my readers doing each day? > My fear is that because this is a strong personality coming in, who is > confident in what she has been doing, and because some grade levels are > struggling > with Reading Workshop, that we will cave in to yet another system. I don't > want that. I have seen the format that we are doing work too well at my > grade level, where we have actually been doing it, albeit imperfectly. > I was wondering if any, many, or a few of you have leveled groups during > your independent reading time for Reading Workshop? Do the two mix, and I'm > just not getting it? I'm feeling that what we really need here is more > support > in the school for strategy teaching in the reading workshop format. > Opinions? > Sherry > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > [email protected] > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > -- Lori Jackson District Literacy Coach & Mentor Todd County School District Box 87 Mission SD 57555 http:www.tcsdk12.org ph. 605.856.2211 Literacies for All Summer Institute "Literate Lives: A Human Right" July 12-15, 2007 Louisville, Kentucky http://www.ncte.org/profdev/conv/wlu _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org.
